How to Portray a Christian Family?

Community General Chat
, , , ,
#1

So for my story I’m starting to do research on christian beliefs. I want to portray them the best I can; so, I have a few questions, and also feel free to add any information you think could be useful to know.

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Specifically Transgenders
  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
  • What do they do in church
  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’
  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
  • Anything else I should know

Please if you find anything I have said offensive in any way, inform me immediately and I will change it

Thank you all in advance for your help :relaxed:

10 Likes
#2

My family’s religion is strictly Christianity so I can give some of my experiences.

4 Likes
#3

Honestly it depends, I mean, I’m catholic and I do not practice the religion regularly. There are different types:

  • Very serious ones - these are some Christians that take religion very seriously and base every decision and argument on the Bible, they are very traditional and conservative. They believe that everything the Bible says, is what is right. Therefore, most of these are against LGBTQ, abortion…
    They are very serious about the 10 commandments and capital sins.

Overall:

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community?
    Like I said, there are people that take it very seriously and they are against LGBTQ because the Bible says it’s not right (some say they will go to hell).
    On the other hand, recently the pope welcomed the LGBTQ community and endorsed them, permitted the civil marriage.

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
    Not really.

  • What do they do in church
    The mass here where I’m from has a duration of an hour and it’s basically some prayers, songs, readings from the Bible, and the most important part, absorbing Jesus’s holy bread. Before doing this, one should have gone to the priest to get purified from his or her sins.

  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’
    God.
    There is the Holy Trinity. Three entities who are the same but not at the same time:

  • God - creator of everything and humans to his image.
  • Jesus - God made as man; or his son
  • Holy Spirit

  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
    This may vary. You can do anything really, but conservatives will judge.

  • Anything else I should know: DM me for anything:)

3 Likes
#4

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community?
    It varies, I have a lot of family members who are LGBTQ+. Some of the older family members have adapted to it but their are still some who shun them.

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
    Not really. If you wear red to church though you might upset a few people.

  • What do they do in church
    It’s mostly just reading from the Bible, singing a few songs, letting people decide if they want to be baptized, and a mini family reunion afterwards.

  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’
    God/Jesus Christ

  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
    Everyone in my family drinks wine or something alcoholic along with having at least one tattoo. The older ones don’t though. We aren’t suppose to get tattoos/alter our bodies, use foul language, or in my family’s case get a divorce. I don’t really understand it though. I’m not really into going to church but I still categorize myself as a Christian.

  • Anything else I should know

4 Likes
#5

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Well My Family Believes That As Christians It Is Our Job To Love Everyone On This Earth Regardless Of Race, Gender, Age, Sexuality, And Sexual Orientation.

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements? My Parents Don’t It Really Depends But My Friend’s Parents Don’t Like Tops That Are Revealing They Are Lenient On Skirts Though Because Me And My Friend Go To A School With Uniforms With Skirts.

  • What do they do in church We Pray, Hold Hands, Sing, Praise the Lord, Announcements.

  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’ You Mean God, Jesus, And The Holy Spirit? I Really Don’tUnderstand This Question lol

  • What can and can’t they do. Well They Don’t Say We Can’t Do Things, They Suggest We Don’t Though, Like Drugs I’m Sure All Parents Think That Way Though.

  • Anything else I should know There Are A Lot Of Christians Who Don’t Go To Church And Stuff, You Don’t Have TO Go To Church To Be A Christian, Or Be Straight/Non-LGBTQ+ My Dad Was Homeless For A Bit As A Child And All He Could Do Was Pray Evrynight And Thank The Lord For His Blessings. Oh And A Lot Of The Christian Families My Family Is Friends With And My Own Family Included Have Stay-At-Home-Wives. There Is Nothing Wrong With It Either, Because They Depend On Their Husband, And Their Husband Depends On Them!

4 Likes
#7

This is how my Christian family is:

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Specifically Transgenders

My mom always said that it isn’t right, that God doesn’t like that but we should never “cuss” them out, and we should not act rude towards them

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
    My mom lets me wear whatever I want unless it shows my boobs a whole ton. Ik that certain families don’t let their children wear clothes that has no Christian band names on it etc
  • What do they do in church
    Sermon, fellowship-personally:I eat
  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’
    I dunno how to explain this
  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
    **No:
    Drugs: it numms a part of ur brain and Christians don’t believe that’s correct

Sx before marriage: sx is something special a husband and wife should have

Cussing: honestly I cuss, I shouldn’t but I do.
My mom says it makes you uneducated
And the Bible says because it makes u look like u have •anger •pride

Certain music: no bad words or talking about s*x

Does (at least in my fam)
You can have a bf/gf but NO sexual relationship, making out is Okay but touching or s*x is not

Tattoos are okay

!!!: please note that these are my families standards others may be more strict

**

  • Anything else I should know
2 Likes
#8

I’m Christian, but only some of my family is Christian. I’m also more of a progressive Christian (which some other Christians consider “lukewarm Christians”), so my views on many topics differ greatly from more conservative Christians, or Christians from different branches/denominations. My family is not incredibly devout, and none of us go to mass regularly.

What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Specifically Transgenders
My grandma, a Catholic, does not care. She is accepting, just like the pope. The rest of my family are accepting of the LGBTQ+, though some don’t quiet understand the concept (like my Mom who comes from China). I personally am an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. From my experience, many Christians do believe being LGBTQ+ is a sin, but that we should “love the sinner, and hate the sin.” Concerning transgender people, some Christians believe everyone should embrace how God created them.

Do they have specific outfit requirements?
No, especially since I think that depends on the family. Usually just nothing super revealing. At my old Church, a Chinese Church, nobody cared about what others wore as long as it was nothing offensive or proactive. Nobody wore anything like that anyways. At my current Church, there are no rules about clothing.

What do they do in church
Depends on the Church.
I went to a Chinese Church for most of my life, and things were done a lot differently there. We went to a main room where a pastor preached from a Chinese bible for about 30-45 minutes, and then I went to bible study with other people my age. I haven’t been to a regular Church service in a while, since I usually attend a weekly youth group at my local Church. There, we hang out for 15 minutes, move into another room where we have a lesson about a broad topic the Bible covers, like love, family, self-care, how to be kinder, how to forgive. etc.). And finally, we go into smaller groups and read verses of the Bible and discuss.

My Chinese school was also a Church, and they preached the Bible there. A pastor would occasionally come as well; he’d recite some verses, explain the meaning, then lead a prayer.

Who do they believe as the ‘creator
We believe God is the creator of all. The Holy Trinity can be confusing.

What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
My family is fine with anything, and so am I. However, I know that some Christians are completely against tattoos. Drugs are not encouraged, but if someone does drugs once or twice, no one will really care unless it becomes a struggle of course. We won’t make you feel bad about it. Drinking is fine.

Anything else I should know
Not all Christians are forced into religion or born to it. I wasn’t. We’re not all brainwashed by the Church. I’ve seen too many stories portray all Christians in a toxic light unfortunately.

Thank you for reaching out! Have a nice day!

2 Likes
#9

Okay, so I do have a Christian family, but I also go to a Catholic high school where I’m surrounded by Sisters, and my family and their beliefs are quite similar.

2 Likes
#10

hi there, I grew up going to private christian school and am a christian (and a pretty crummy one at that) so maybe I can help with some of your questions. :yellow_heart: :sunflower:

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Specifically Transgenders
    For the most part, they’re pretty against it. There’s a few different verses they use to say that its a sin, and a lot of people I know have gotten really vocal about it on facebook, etc. It’s sad and personally I think they’ve taken things out of context, but that’s an aside.

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
    Some schools do, and certain denominations might be more strict on modesty than others. For example: there’s a verse somewhere that talks about head coverings and there’s one denomination that takes everything very literally - but this is definitely the exception, so for the most part there’s no outfit requirements/regulations.

  • What do they do in church
    Sing, give money (offering), listen to a sermon, take communion (bread and wine/juice), fellowship (greet others), pray, some have different readings/call and responses.

  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’
    They believe in a singular God that has 3 forms (a supernatural “king” form that is in heaven, a prophet form that came to earth 2000 years ago, and a spirit form that exists in people). It sounds crazy when I say it to myself, but yeah haha that’s what we believe.

  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
    this is tough… so as a background, the between Christianity and Judaism is that in Christianity they believe that the law of Christ (the things he said when he came to earth and the message spread after) replaced the old law called the law of Moses. The old law had more physical things like the ones you described, and the new law has more internal things that are more subjective. There are lots of instances where the religious leaders (called pharisees) tried to catch Jesus not following a rule or practice of the old law to which he gets all angsty/holden caulfield-ish and calls them out for being posers and focusing on explicit rules rather than how they treat and love others. I think that’s why there aren’t many word-for-word do this/don’t do this - because the focus was on the internal rather than the custom itself. No hate for anything in particular, just explaining.

  • Anything else I should know
    oml, Jesus slayed the patriarchy, racial-discrimination, age/gender/ability norms, you name it. granted… things looked a lot different back then, so it might not look that way at first glance; but, like forreal this guy was ready to flip some tables on oppression in that time haha. I think if people looked more at his interactions with others instead of trying to find word for word do’s and don’ts Christians would be viewed in an entirely different way.

this doesn’t really relate to any question, but if you’re ever in need of a laugh, PM me and I can tell you some of the ridiculous things I had to do growing up in a private christian school in the bible belt hahaha

3 Likes
#11

Beliefs vary by denomination and by how strict they are with the religion.
For me growing up.

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community?
    Specifically Transgenders
    So, when I was younger, our church had a council to help provide guidance for LGBTQ+, but over the years, half the church has become accepting of the community. It has actually caused a split within the denomination with some believing in acceptance, and others not.

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
    There isn’t a “requirement” but more an expectation that you would wear nice clothes. No tank tops, shorts, jeans, etc.

  • What do they do in church
    Sing hymns (songs)
    Read scripture
    Pray
    Listen to a sermon (speech by pastor)
    Communion on first Sunday of the Month

  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’
    God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
    Basically God in three entities. One in the same.
    God created the heavens and earth, and sent Jesus, his Son, to die and save us from our sins.

  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
    Really depends on how strict the church is. Obviously drugs and tattoos are a desecration of God’s creation. However, I once had a pastor who had tattoos.
    I will say, in my church, gambling is a big no no.

  • Anything else I should know
    A lot of different beliefs are based on different denominations, and how the church service is held as well. Common denominations include:
    Catholic
    Methodist
    Lutheran
    Baptist
    Southern Baptist (there is a difference)
    Episcopal
    Presbyterian
    Seventh Day Adventist
    Mormon

I grew up Methodist, which we liked to say we were Catholics twice removed (Lutheran is between Methodist and Catholic)

1 Like
#12
  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Specifically Transgenders

My mom doesn’t care, she has lots of friends who are gay and has no issue with them. She doesn’t go like “you know homosexuality is a sin” or any of that, she lets them do what they want and doesn’t force bits of her lifestyle on them. My brother is y i k e s, he doesn’t want to date any woman just because that lots of transgender women look as if they’ve been women their entire life. Which is somewhat understandable. I’m not saying anymore about him because… he’s really involved with traditional views and strict about them. As for me, don’t generally care about any of it. I don’t get involved with other people’s sexualities :woman_shrugging: transgenders are fine I don’t think I would be comfortable dating someone transgender but in certain circumstances I might be open. I am a bit creeped out by the idea of non transitioning men claiming to transition but that isn’t transgenders, that’s people claiming to be.

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
    Not really, the only thing I’ve been told is that black is a mature color. That is pretty general though.

  • What do they do in church
    We don’t go to church, my mom has established more of a believe in God and the Bible over the church and pope. From the few times I have been there were two different approaches. One was more energetic and personal, the preacher clearly had an inviting personality it was a very simple gathering, to be honest, I tend to space out in things like this because I get bored easily :sweat:

The other type was more formal. The preacher was older, had robes one, a very calm voice. Again, I wouldn’t be able to tell the order in which we do things because I space out and we live far away from churches. Everyone in the pews sang some, my grandmother (she was the one who would take me) would get up to revive the blood and body of Christ.

  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’

God

  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)

Depends on the parents. For me, not tattoos (not even upset because they look painful :joy:) drugs is a no unless it’s for medical reasons. Alcohol is okay for my parents, but a no from me. Piercings are fine.

Really depends on the person and parents. Sure some strict Christians will judge but if I got a giant serpent tattoo twisting down my arm, it’s not just going to be Christians judging me lol

  • Anything else I should know

Swearing is fine in my household, if I were LGTBQ+ the only person I would worry about harming me intentionally would be my brother, he has a lot of issues and I wouldn’t say that this is caused by Christianity more so Christianity is a noble excuse for his views. Oujia boards, bloody Mary, everything surrounding paranormal and rituals is almost always a hard no for my family. I asked my mom what she would do if someone got her, not a real one but a replica, of a dybbuk box or a haunted doll, she said “get rid of that sh*t” :joy:

2 Likes
#13

What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Specifically transgenders.
My family is Christian, and my parents have strong opinions on it. They believe gender is eternal and that marriage is between a man and a woman. Of course they were raised in a different day and age where it’s not as commonly talked about as it is now. I would say my parents are very laid back, however.
My friend is transgender (girl to boy), and my parents were quite confused about it. I was best friends with them and we always just thought they were a tomboy, but when they began transitioning into a male it was the most natural thing in the world. To this day, we are close friends and we even starred in a musical together.
It was a learning period for me and my parents to understand the community more.
I’m friends with many people in the community, but I am straight and have religious beliefs on the matter. My parents and I view it as a personal agency. My parents and I don’t have to personally agree with it, we just have to respect and love people regardless. People should be able to do what they’d please without hatred or disrespect unless you are doing something illegal like murdering someone… Then I’m going to throw some shade and call the cops.

Do they have specific outfit requirements?
Just to remain modest. It’s equal for both genders: nothing more than a couple inches above the knee, covered shoulders, etc. Just basically a one-piece bathing suit with some basketball shorts is the requirement. I guess it depends on the sub-section of Christianity as Christianity just refers to the belief in Christ.

What do they do in church?
We have prayer, hymns, sacrament, and a few talks prepared by some members.

What can and can’t they do?
Tattoos are discouraged. My church is very open to these sort of things, however. Typically there isn’t shunning for disobedience to these rules, they’re just guidelines. It honestly depends on what specific church you are referring to. We are discouraged from drinking alcohol, smoking, having premarital woohoo, and cussing (this is the one people follow the least :joy:).

2 Likes
#14

I grew up protestant for half my life, I’m now church of Ireland

1 Like
#15

  • What are their opinions on the LGBTQ+ community? Specifically Transgenders
    There are three branches of Christianity: Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox, and in those branches are even more branches in which carry different views on this so it varies. Sometimes even between people who go to the same church.

  • Do they have specific outfit requirements?
    Most Pentecostal woman (in the Protestant branch) believe in abstaining from wearing men’s clothing and for some jeans are in that category so I’ve met quite a few who only wear dresses an skirts. As for everyone else, most Christians believe in dressing in modesty as in don’t show too much skin.

  • What do they do in church
    A typical church service for Protestants: Sing praise and worship songs, a few prayers (everyone in the church is praying), and a sermon/preach at the end to then close with a last song.

  • Who do they believe as the ‘creator’
    God or the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit

  • What can and can’t they do. (ex; drugs, tattoos, etc)
    Varies, biggest rule of them all is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else you could possibly imagine as a sin for Christians is up to debate for every branch of Christianity there is.

  • Anything else I should know
    A lot of young Christians I’ve met (including myself) face cognitive dissonance at times. We believe in something and know we probably shouldn’t engage in it but we don’t ever have the guts to either stand up for that belief in front of others or not give in to the pressure of not being accepted. I lived with versions of myself where one resided at church and at home and one outside with my friends. It’s a common experience.

2 Likes
#17

Heyy I’m a teacher in christian beliefs. I just want to say that you can portray a Christian family like you want. A lot of Christian families aren’t that strict anymore and are almost like people who don’t believe. Although a lot of Christians don’t believe anymore, they just call them self Christian because they want to belong somewhere.

There are some strict believers like the Jehovah Witnesses. They take the Bible literally and see the Bible as there Instruction manual for there life. They go door to door to convert. They have their own court and do not go to the police in case of problems, but discuss this within. They do not have premarital sex.

You have also the mormon. They are conservative. They do not drink alcohol or caffeine, do not smoke. They don’t have premarital sex. They often wear a camisole and have the book of the Mormons. It has long been said that the men had multiple wives. This has long been prohibited, but today polygamy is allowed again and they do this more often again.

1 Like
#18

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

#19