Ok, readers. I'm about to make you uncomfortable. Promise. But something has really been bothering me, and I need to talk about it. Gay Marriage. (anyone still reading?) Ok, good. Now I understand that there are some of you who feel VERY strongly about homosexuality being a sin (and YES, I know what the BIBLE says) but I have been so shocked and saddened at the way Christians have reacted to Proposition 8 in this recent election, and I would feel like a phoney if I didn't speak my mind.
Proposition 8, for those of you (Canadians?) who might not know, is a proposition in the state of California that elects to change the constitution to redefine marriage as ONLY between a MAN and a WOMAN. The same issue was being voted on in Florida, called Proposition 2. On Tuesday, residents of those states were able to vote on the issue, and both propositions were PASSED. In other words, if you're gay and want to get married in Florida or California, you CAN'T. There will be a law in both states' constitution saying no.
This, my friends, is blatant discrimination. Here's why:
If you can't find anyone within the group a piece of legislation it's affecting that's in favor of it, it's DISCRIMINATORY. Get it? NONE of the people who this law is targeting are in support of it! Only those who aren't the subject of the proposition are for it. I sincerely doubt that any same-sex couples are out there supporting this proposition.
It's disgusting that the only social group where it's tolerated by the Christian community or sometimes yes, even ENCOURAGED to be discriminated against are homosexuals. In this society, you wouldn't even think of writing a proposition that denied blacks or native americans the right to marry. It wouldn't even be discussed.
You can believe that homosexuality is something you're born with, or something you choose. But this constitutional law is saying that these people do not have the same rights as the rest of us.
What if we made an amendment for a different group of people, say for example: Jews. Just because the Jewish religion does not see Jesus Christ as their Savior, should we forbid all Jews from walking the same sidewalks as Christians? Or, because African-Americans have darker skin than Caucasians, should they drink from separate fountains?
Mike Tsao posted a really insightful thesis about this issue. In it, he says, "If Proposition 8 were about "values," whatever that means, then you should be able to slice and dice the population any way you want and find people on either side of the issue, regardless of whether they're personally harmed or helped by their position. Example: I'm in favor of women having voting rights, even though I'm a man." That's what it means to vote for VALUES.
But I get it, folks. Most people voted yes on Prop 8 because they believed they had to protect "VALUES." So let's investigate these values, shall we?
Is it because people say it's not "Natural?" That only men and women together can bear children? Then, if that's the case, childless heterosexual couples are deviant. Should Dan and I not have the right to marry if we decide not to have children? What about couples who are infertile? Since they can't have children, they violate the definition of marriage?
If that's the case, then it should be illegal for post-menopausal women to marry. They can't bear children. You see, the value can't be about procreation.
Is it because marriage has traditionally been only between a man and a woman? Hmmm... well let's see: Traditionally black men were lynched for even courting white women. Traditionally it was illegal for an Asiatic person to marry a Caucasian person, and before that in the United States it was illegal for Asian and Native American people to marry at all.
Traditionally slaves in the U.S. could not marry at all! In just the last 20 years it was established that people in United States prisons could marry; before that, not all could. It certainly seems that marriage has certainly changed over the years as society has evolved.
Maybe people are afraid that if gay people could get married, then they could adopt children and raise them in a weird environment? If that's the case, then every person appearing on Cops should be immediately sterilized. Please don't get the government involved in deciding what is and what isn't a "normal" environment for kids. And how could anyone possibly think that it's more acceptable for a child to be raised in an abusive, drug-trafficking, dangerous and abusive family in the ghetto by a HETEROSEXUAL unmarried mother and father who is never around, than by two SAME-SEX people who love the child unconditionally, have the financial means, the education, the extended-family support to protect, love, and raise a tolerant and loving child?! It's uncomprehendible to me.
Alright, let's talk about Religion: Well, what if someone doesn't believe in YOUR God? Do they still have to live by YOUR rules? Christians, we often talk about how blessed we are to live in a FREE country, with the freedom to openly practice our religion and our beliefs, yet don't we understand that that SAME freedom extends to every American? That EVERYONE deserves the right to their own beliefs: muslims, jews, atheists, hindus, and yes, gays. Even if they don't believe what you do, and as much as you want them to, they have every right to believe whatever they want.
Or is it the value that gays are icky to you? Icky people who do icky things in their cold, dark, sinful hearts? That's NOT a value. That's a JUDGEMENT, and it also goes by another name: HATRED.
Above all, Jesus calls us to LOVE. And the message that Christians are sending to the gay community is not about LOVE. It's not making them want to turn to Christ and learn more about your churches. Do you really think that this is fixing anything?! No, it's not about love. It's isolation. Whether you choose to admit it or not, it's sending the message that we are better than them and they are second-class sinning citizens.
The judging. The name-calling. The ignorance. The Bible-banging. It's got to stop. And for those of you that voted yes on the amendment to take away the right for same-sex marriage? May you all be blessed with a gay child.
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