Being Gay is not a choice – loving Gay people doesn’t make me a bad Christian

Response to a homophobic, “christian” rant

An open letter to Lanny, who religiously attacks every post that even hints at human acceptance as a personal attack on her belief that homosexuality, is an abomination and that God condemns everyone who doesn’t agree with her interpretation of the bible.
Lanny, in this latest attack on people I love and because of the hurt you have caused them I have been forced to un-friend you on Facebook. This is not because I have stopped considering you my friend or have stopped caring about what happens to you but because I can no longer give you a platform to use in your injury of others. Those that I love deserve my protection and by removing your soapbox, I have given them that. That being said, you have filled my comment box with your view of life and now I am going to respond. Pointless though it may be. Lanny honey – you seriously need to give this a rest. While I will defend your right to have an opinion and to state your opinion, this is ridiculous. Where do you find the time or the energy to fuel such fear and hatred?
Defending someone’s God given freedoms is not forcing anything down your throat. While every special interest group, including Christians have some who have an agenda and some who are nuts and some who in it for the money and some who give everyone else a bad name, most of the people I know do not have a “gay” agenda. They are simply human beings that feel and hurt just like you do, asking for some basic human considerations. This is in many ways what the civil rights movement was about. That was the battle for our parents’ generation and this is the battle for ours. It isn’t sinister; they aren’t asking people to become gay any more than black people were demanding that everyone become black. They are asking to be accepted. They are asking to be given legal status. They are asking to be allowed to hold the hand of their dying partner without requiring a court order. They are asking to be able to walk down the street without abuse being hurled at them. There is no front of the bus that they can sit in or lunch counter they can sit at but their public displays of affection are their way of asking you to acknowledge that they are entitled to the same rights everyone else has OR…..or maybe they like affection and they don’t care what you think about it. I don’t speak for them.
What I do, by voicing my support publicly is stand with a large group of other people and demand that racists, bigots and homophobes come out of the dirty cracks they like to hide in and expose themselves to the light. If you are not one of those people and only God can see and judge your heart, then you have nothing to fear. There are many good people who out of fear, ignorance or abuse, cannot stand with me. That doesn’t make them homophobic or racist. But if you are one of those people who chooses to hate someone because they don’t bow to your superior knowledge of what God wants, then you will find yourself standing with fewer and fewer because people, yes even Christians are beginning to understand that God’s call was for us to love not judge.
Christians are beginning to understand that the way they abused their own marriage was a greater threat to the sanctity of marriage than anything an outside group could have ever done. Do you need me to say that again or do you just want to take a moment and reflect on your own life and marriage and how much it contributes to God’s ideal. It is sobering to think that our broken lives and selfish choices are the vessels that God uses to show His love to the world. If I were God and needed a press agent, I personally wouldn’t have chosen some of you. You probably wouldn’t have chosen me either.
Many Christians now believe that we are not threatened by things we don’t understand, that science can be right, that superstitions about imaginary witches and fairies can’t hurt us and that the Harry Potter books are well written entertaining fantasies about imaginary magic. We also believe that unicorns aren’t evil and seeing cleavage won’t turn you into a pervert. We have a new understanding about not following our spiritual leaders blindly, especially into back rooms where they like to grope us or worse. Some of us are now actually using all the information given to us by the past, by our religion, by science, by our own personal experiences, to make healthy intelligent loving choices about God, our fellow man and the vast and diverse world around us.
We, and we are a growing number, also believe that we can learn something from other religions and cultures in the world. We believe in a loving God that created all men in His image, yes that includes black people and Asian people. Shockingly I guess that means that many Christians no longer believe that God is white or even British. (You may gasp here in you need more oxygen).
Many of us believe that forgiveness and grace has been extended to all men of all religions, color and sexual orientation, yes, even red heads. (The gene that creates red heads has been proven scientifically to be caused by genetics and not Satan himself and for those Christians still living by choice in the dark ages…epilepsy is caused by genetic brain disorder and is not a sign of demon possession).
Many of you may disagree with me and that is your right but I challenge you to educate yourselves before you set your opinion in stone. There are many books I can suggest but the best one is called “Between XX and XY” by Gerald N. Callahan, PH.D. This book discusses sexual orientation from a scientific standpoint.
Another good book about God and the world is called – “Love Wins”. It will also challenge you to re-think the flavor of the Kool-Aid you have been drinking to this point. I am not saying that I believe everything written in these books or that I am suggesting that this is the only way to think – I am simply asking that you DO think. Open yourselves up to learning something new. Allow your beliefs to be challenged. Give yourself permission to evolve.
I recognize that for some this is hearsay but may I remind you that for most of the Christians I know, your entire religion was started by a heretic. If Martin Luther had not re-written the creed and gone against the popular teaching of the church of the time – you would all still be Catholic and listening to the bible in Latin. (Catholic’s chill – that wasn’t a dig at you – even the Catholic Church has evolved since Martin Luther’s time).
We can argue forever if God created gay people or was it pesticides in our apple juice but frankly people, on the basis of this discussion about acceptance, who cares what the cause is. (Yes, I care about pesticide in the apple juice but that will have to wait for another blog – we can’t solve all the problems of the world in one sitting.)
For those parents who knew from day one that their child was different and choose to love them, accept them as they were, and support them in their quest for a peaceful and happy life, I salute you and your choices and I believe my God and the bible does as well.
For everyone who lives a life that defies the “norm”, keep fighting. Don’t ever give up. When you feel alone remember that behind you legions who support you and are cheering you on. Keep going.
For everyone who loves “My Little Pony”; keep making your own choices based on what works for you and don’t worry about what other’s running in the herd, think about it. (See my blog on Bronies if you are confused).
For every person of color who has at one time or another been faced with racism from another race or your own, continue to fight for your space on earth. You are worthy. You have rights. You belong here. The world has something to learn from you. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever allow their view of you to become your view of yourself. Don’t ever wish you were white because in doing so the blood of the nations is then on your hands too. To whom much is given – much is required.
For everyone who is being bullied by someone else – expose them. You have the power of the internet and you are not alone. You may feel like their view of you is correct but the truth is you just haven’t asked the right people for their opinion. The people who love you and have proven that to you are the ONLY ones who have earned the right to have an opinion about you. Tell someone. Go on Facebook and tell the world. Remember that it gets better. It really does. Talk to someone about how you are feeling. If they don’t help you, talk to someone else. Keep going. Keep fighting back. Never let them get to you.
For every school where bullies are still allowed to shun, torment, or victimize whether in person or through social media, I hope that everyone who sees it will call them out on it. There is an accountability folks. Bullies can no longer hide behind their IP addresses – someone out there knows who you are and they will have the guts to expose you. Your day is over. It stops now.
Many of you would be shocked to know that slavery still exists – even in the town where you live. Please educate yourselves and be part of the solution and not part of the problem. For slaves, I pray that someone will speak up and shine the light on the situation. I hope that we will all support organizations that battle slavery. I hope we will talk about it. Get it out in the open which is the beginning of finding a solution.
For every black, brown, red, yellow, purple and green person on the planet, I stand with you. I may not agree with everything your culture does or stands for, we may end up in some very loud debates about your treatment of women, your diet or your soccer team but I am willing to engage. I am not afraid of you or your ways. I am willing to listen and learn from you as I hope you are willing to so the same from me.
To religious, judgmental, self-serving, self-appointed, mini-gods, who think that their personal interpretation of the bible should be forced on everyone around them, I remind you – God forces no one. God gave everyone, including the people you don’t like, choices. Allow others to make their choice without a running commentary from you. Allow God to do the work He is capable of doing in their hearts and minds. He doesn’t need you as a His personal helper.
Is this all black and white? Of course not, there are a million shades of gray (no, I am not getting into THAT discussion now.)
Should we ignore evil? No. Who gets to decide what is evil? Ultimately you do.
All I am asking you to do is educate yourselves on both sides of the argument before accepting what you have been traditionally taught. Be respectful to the God-Image in every man when voicing your opinion. Be careful of the herd mentality. It is how the Nazis were able to do what they did.
Let love be your guide and common sense your compass. Learn from the past but continue to push away from it and onto the future. Fight injustice. Defend the weak. Care for the marginalized in your society. Question conformity. Question authority. Demand answers from your leaders. Vote. Care.
Hold your head high knowing that it is not your looks, your intelligence or your perfection that makes you worthy. It is your heart, your ability to forgive and your contribution to the world around you. Go be the change that only you can be for the betterment of mankind.
It all starts in your heart – it all starts with you.