I can already see it happening.
Today, the Supreme Court struck down some provisions in the Defense of Marriage Act. All political posturing aside, what it did was pave the way for the legalization of gay marriage.
Within thirty seconds of the ruling, Facebook and Twitter lit up with posts defining the two camps: Either you hate gay people (and so does God) or you support gay marriage.
I'm not in either camp. And the vast majority of Christians I know aren't either.
However, I feel like I have no voice. Unless I embrace either extreme, I am labelled as a "homophobe" or a "sellout."
But here's the truth. I don't hate gay people. I don't hate ANYONE. I didn't even hate Osama Bin Laden (someone we were supposed to hate, right?), and I was sharply critical of the celebrations of his death. The Bible says, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls, when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice; or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn His wrath away from them."(Proverbs 24:17-18).
I don't hate anyone. I have gay family members- I'm heading to a 4th of July cookout with some of them next week and I'm really looking forward to it. There are gay people that attend my church. I'm happy they are there, and I hope they truly feel a part of the community.
I also don't support gay marriage. I believe it is wrong.
Unfortunately, now, I am hated by both sides. This is where a majority of Christians find themselves in this issue. We don't hate anyone. We don't believe God hates anyone. We don't believe gay marriage is right. Where is the representation for that voice in the current dialogue?
Where is the voice that is saying, "We don't have to agree with everything you do in order to love you?" "You don't have to agree with everything we do in order for you to love us?" Where is that voice? Where is the semblance of reason where a Christian can love someone without agreeing with 100% of what a person does or says, and where is the semblance of reason where a non-Christian can love a Christian without agreeing with 100% of what THEY say or do?
There is none.
There is only the neo-McCarthyism speech and thought police that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, falls into one of the two extreme camps. Either you hate gays or you support gay marriage. If you don't support gay marriage, you hate gays and so does God. Or worse, you "fear" gays and are stoking more fear. If you support gay marriage, you're a sellout and an apostate.
Well, I'm getting tired of being forced into either of those camps. Neither of those camps represent me. Most Christians I know feel the exact way that I do (the ones that don't tend to think gay marriage is okay. There isn't anyone I know that hates gay people or thinks that God does).
So, here's my statement: I don't support gay marriage, and I think gay people are wonderful. I believe that God created all people in His image, and are therefore worthy of dignity and respect. I also believe that marriage was created by God, and He set it up between man and woman, and therefore IT is worthy of dignity and respect. That's why I believe what I believe.
I don't have to agree with your political or lifestyle stands to extend love to you, and I would appreciate it if you would extend me the same courtesy. There. I've said it.
I'm not sure if I will get a firestorm on this one, but whatever you do, please try to avoid the automatic default mode of pushing me into one of the two previously culturally established camps. I'm not in either one of them, and I'm tired of being accused of being in one of them. Read my statement above and ask yourself, "Could there be room for people who don't support gay marriage AND don't hate gay people at all?"
Today, the Supreme Court struck down some provisions in the Defense of Marriage Act. All political posturing aside, what it did was pave the way for the legalization of gay marriage.
Within thirty seconds of the ruling, Facebook and Twitter lit up with posts defining the two camps: Either you hate gay people (and so does God) or you support gay marriage.
I'm not in either camp. And the vast majority of Christians I know aren't either.
However, I feel like I have no voice. Unless I embrace either extreme, I am labelled as a "homophobe" or a "sellout."
But here's the truth. I don't hate gay people. I don't hate ANYONE. I didn't even hate Osama Bin Laden (someone we were supposed to hate, right?), and I was sharply critical of the celebrations of his death. The Bible says, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls, when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice; or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn His wrath away from them."(Proverbs 24:17-18).
I don't hate anyone. I have gay family members- I'm heading to a 4th of July cookout with some of them next week and I'm really looking forward to it. There are gay people that attend my church. I'm happy they are there, and I hope they truly feel a part of the community.
I also don't support gay marriage. I believe it is wrong.
Unfortunately, now, I am hated by both sides. This is where a majority of Christians find themselves in this issue. We don't hate anyone. We don't believe God hates anyone. We don't believe gay marriage is right. Where is the representation for that voice in the current dialogue?
Where is the voice that is saying, "We don't have to agree with everything you do in order to love you?" "You don't have to agree with everything we do in order for you to love us?" Where is that voice? Where is the semblance of reason where a Christian can love someone without agreeing with 100% of what a person does or says, and where is the semblance of reason where a non-Christian can love a Christian without agreeing with 100% of what THEY say or do?
There is none.
There is only the neo-McCarthyism speech and thought police that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, falls into one of the two extreme camps. Either you hate gays or you support gay marriage. If you don't support gay marriage, you hate gays and so does God. Or worse, you "fear" gays and are stoking more fear. If you support gay marriage, you're a sellout and an apostate.
Well, I'm getting tired of being forced into either of those camps. Neither of those camps represent me. Most Christians I know feel the exact way that I do (the ones that don't tend to think gay marriage is okay. There isn't anyone I know that hates gay people or thinks that God does).
So, here's my statement: I don't support gay marriage, and I think gay people are wonderful. I believe that God created all people in His image, and are therefore worthy of dignity and respect. I also believe that marriage was created by God, and He set it up between man and woman, and therefore IT is worthy of dignity and respect. That's why I believe what I believe.
I don't have to agree with your political or lifestyle stands to extend love to you, and I would appreciate it if you would extend me the same courtesy. There. I've said it.
I'm not sure if I will get a firestorm on this one, but whatever you do, please try to avoid the automatic default mode of pushing me into one of the two previously culturally established camps. I'm not in either one of them, and I'm tired of being accused of being in one of them. Read my statement above and ask yourself, "Could there be room for people who don't support gay marriage AND don't hate gay people at all?"
Love it, Dave. I'm in exactly the same boat, and I wish people were more understanding of this position. Too often, I've seen ultimatums from my friends stating that either I support homosexuals in their life decisions or I might as well be waving a "God hates fags" flyer over my head. That's not a fair ultimatum at all. I can't name one person on this planet with whom I agree 100 percent of the time...yet I can still extend love and respect to them. This issue is no different. I truly believe a homosexual relationship/marriage to be wrong, but that doesn't mean that everything that this person does is wrong or that I hate them.
ReplyDeleteAll that to be said, I'm glad our government has retreated from it's nanny-hood slightly. I'm hoping that this isn't the only thing that our federal government takes back-steps on. They need to let people decide for themselves how to live their lives as long as they aren't encroaching on the rights of others. Nobody wants a government that interferes in their lives all while chanting, "Mommy knows best!"
Amen. Many of us Christians feel the same and are not in the business of judgement. Disagreement? Sure. That doesn't erase love and compassion. We all fall short of the glory of God. Not one among us is worthy.
ReplyDeleteComing to terms w/ basic human rights can be inconvenient and sometimes painful. Sorry you have to go through all that. 50 years ago there were pastors who didn't "hate" black people, but weren't about to welcome them as equals into their congregation...
ReplyDeleteHardly the same thing at all.
DeleteCare to elaborate?
DeleteAlex, I don't know if you did this intentionally or not (I don't know you, so I'll assume you did this unintentionally) but your comment about pastors not hating black people but still being unwilling to accept them into their churches was deceitful.
DeleteThis is a blog about the polarization of extremes- if you don't support gay marriage you obviously hate gay people. I don't support gay marriage and I don't hate gay people. Your subtle assumption is that I secretly do. You equate acceptance of gay marriage with acceptance of the homosexual, and that is the thing that is wrong with this whole dang country. This nation seems to think that unless I put a stamp of approval on anything and everything pertaining to your particular group that I hate or won't accept. WRONG!
You are, like this blog says, trying to force me into one of the two camps. I don't fit in either. One can love the homosexual person and still believe gay marriage to be wrong. And, as a final thought, homosexual persons such as my aunt and my cousin are always welcome at the church that I pastor.
Race and sexual preference are not the same thing. One you are born with and the other you choose.
ReplyDeleteWrong on this. Gay people don't choose to be that way, they are "born" that way. Why are they born that way? Because they are born sinners like you and me. Some are born destined to become alcoholics, some liars, some thieves. Satan knows which buttons to push to get us to "act" or believe in a certain way, so yes, gay people ARE born that way, not because of genetics, because we live in a fallen world, and we are born sinners one way or another. I'm a fellow gay person lover, having two sisters who are, and having spent five weeks living and surrounded by them. I think I know the mind of a gay person pretty well. I also know that GOD uses us sinners to bring other sinners to Christ. He uses alcoholics to bring other alcoholics to Christ, and so why can't He use gay people to bring other gay people to Christ? Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us to think outside of the box. Just because we get saved, we don't stop being and alcoholic, we only eventually stop drinking. Just because a gay person becomes a Christian, he won't automatically stop being gay unless and ONLY unless the Holy Spirit convicts him to. That choice is up to GOD, and only HE knows how, when, and if to do it. That's my $.02.
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ReplyDeleteAt what point did you choose to be straight Michael?
ReplyDeleteI apologize for not responding sooner. The demands of life! Alex, you use of the term "straight" which presupposes the construct of sexual orientation. Since I don't accept the mythology of sexual orientation, I cannot answer your question. The fact is everyone is born heterosexual in terms of biology. This is beyond dispute.
DeleteI have never chosen engage in homosexuality. To do so would be physically, emotionally, and in my case, morally wrong. As for your comment to Mary about the GLBT kids have been relentlessly bullied in school. Kids get bullied for lots of choices that they make from their hair color, style of dress, and even religious activities. Making an unpopular choice does not make any less a choice.
Those who molest children make a choice to do so even when they know the legal consequences of their actions. They are making the choice in spite of the consequences, to follow a sexual preference.
Since you appear to love questions, let me pose one for you to consider. What long, term, in-depth, peer reviewed study of homosexuality lead to the 1973 decision by APA to no longer consider it a mental disorder?
I agree that you are not born homosexual. If that were the case, then every set of identical twins would also have matching sexual preference- which they don't.
ReplyDeleteI'm Jewish because my mother is Jewish. Her mother was Jewish and so on up to father Abraham. Race doesn't indicate a different kind of human, it indicates ancestral roots. My adopted sister has them Africa.
Homosexuality doesn't indicate anything other than sexual preference. So I agree it is not the same thing. It is not same thing as what African Americans have dealt with in this nation. The Underground Railroad. The prejudice the Dr. King fought against. It does not compare to the gas chambers, the death marches, the pits where my people were forced into & buried alive - no this is not the same.
Christians do not disagree with homosexuality because of who people are. I was once terrified in a cab Bc I realized that the anti Semitic driver was likely to hurt me IF he realized who my ancestors were. I don't practice Judaism. I believe Jesus is the Messiah. I'm a Christian, but all that man cared about was my blood. My actions or lifestyle were irrelevant. he believed all Jews were evil.
Honestly, I disagree with homosexuality because I believe it's morally wrong. I don't hate homosexuals. Just like my JESUS I love people. Now, if that makes me intolerant in your viewpoint - so be it. But it just goes to show that you don't know what real intolerance is. True persecution.
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DeleteHi Mary, if you think that you are bieng persecuted because of your anti homosexual opinions, you should probably look up the defenition of persecution, and while you're at it, maybe re examine history. As far as homosexuality being nothing more than a sexual preference, give this some thought: GLBT kids have been relentlessly bullied in school. What kid would willingly subject themself to that? I'm really curious about the pinnacle moment in your childhood when you made your choice to be straight. Please share.
ReplyDeleteInteresting response. I never said I felt persecuted for my opinions. Far from it. I have been discriminated against because of my ancestry. Therein lies the difference.
ReplyDeleteI take persecution seriously - which is why I don't bully, threaten, condone similar behavior, or force my opinion on others. I choose to believe that the Bible is right & we must change our ways. However if you disagree with me, I don't believe that makes you less of a human than I am. And I won't pay you the discourtesy of treating you with less dignity or honesty just because you see things differently than I do. I believe homosexuality is not the same as race. That's my opinion. If you don't agree with me that's absolutely your right.
Well stated, David. We pro-gay-people will be persecuted by both sides. If we don't agree with gay marriage we are discounted, if we do, we aren't true Christians. I prefer NOT to engage in the debate as my call is to evangelism. I'm glad I'm not a pastor and have to take a stand. We can't attract the gay community by "ticking" them off. Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ abolished the law and entered us into the age of grace. Thus, a gay person and a heterosexual person can stand before Christ. If the gay person had accepted Christ he gets into heave, and if the heterosexual had rejected Christ, he does not. The ONLY way to not get into heaven has NOTHING to do with gay or heterosexual, it has to do with an attitude of moral independence from GOD and Christ, that's all.
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