Wednesday, March 27, 2013

I stand for love.

The issue of marriage equality cuts me to the core. I personally believe that everyone is equal, and everyone has the right to marry who they love. As far as I'm concerned, MY Jesus loves everyone, MY God beautifully crafted every single one of us, and, as we approach this Easter weekend, the most important point of all is that OUR Jesus died for everyone.

For every single one of us.

There were no stipulations.

There were no strings.

God's mercy and grace is nondiscriminatory.

That being said, if you don't agree with me, I don't love you any less. We are all entitled to our own opinions and I think things would go further if people would just have civil conversations. You can still be friends and not agree. Some of those dearest to me are wholeheartedly opposed to marriage equality. I still love them. I still respect them.

What makes me crazy is seeing how fellow Christians approach the issue. The way I've seen many Christians act about this goes against everything we have been taught. I grew up in a private Christian school. I've been a Baptist for as long as I can remember. The strongest message I have always been taught is that "God is Love". My Bible says "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2) So, why do we do it? When were we bestowed the divine right to pass judgement on others? I must have fallen asleep during that sermon.

Jesus says in John 13:34 "As I have loved you, so you must love one another." How has he loved us? Unconditionally. He goes on in Verse 35 to say "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." When all you do is tell someone everything you think they're doing wrong, is that showing them Christ's love?

There are so many people in my life, who I love so dearly, that are gay. Having literally grown up around some of them, I am a firm believer that homosexuality is not "a choice". Luckily, most of these people in my life embrace who they are and are open about it, but others are resentful and hate that it is something they can't "overcome". It is the latter that have solidified my opinion on whether it is a choice, or not. It is also the latter that break my heart. It hurts me that our society has made it so difficult for people to be comfortable in their own skin. Whether it's due to their sexuality, what they look like, or how much money they make. We, as a whole, have become this judgmental monster...we actively seek opportunities to judge people. I, too, am guilty of this.

I see a lot of Christians use the argument that gays have chosen a sinful lifestyle. We ALL choose sinful lifestyles every single day. My Bible says that sin is sin and no sin is greater than another. Heck, 1 John 3:15 says that if you hate someone, you are a murderer. You know that really pretty girl that you just hate, because you wish you looked like her? Yeah, you basically murdered her....oh, and it was because you're envious of her? Mark that as another "Deadly Sin" you just committed. Even if being gay were a choice, who are we, as Christians, to decide what they are and are not allowed to do? I cannot tell you how many times I have heard "[He/She] is gay and still goes to church! Can you believe that? Why bother, right? They're going to hell anyway, lol" Seriously? Are we just turning people away over their sin now? Is it now up to us to determine who is makes it in? Guess I slept through that sermon too. I chose to over-eat today, that's Gluttony, another "Deadly Sin"...I guess I'll just stop going to church now. There goes my daughter's chance at Private School! And why is the thought of someone going to hell something to be laughed over?

Yes, the Bible does clearly state that homosexuality is a sin, along with those other silly sins I've been mentioning, but it does not clearly state that you cannot get married because you're a sinner.

Sin is sin.

"...I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners." - Mark 2:17

He came for the Sinners.

We are all Sinners.

Moral of the Story: At the end of the day, I stand for love. This country was built on the basis of freedom of religion. I believe that within that falls freedom of love and the right to marry whomever you choose.