And now for the backlash

Some time has passed since people in California, Florida and Arizona voted on banning gay marriage by passing amendments that designate marriage as between one man and one woman. Personally, as I’ve stated before, I don’t care one way or the other about this as long as any wording that would allow gay marriage is clear. While I am a Christian, and I do consider homosexuality to be a sin, I personally do not feel that it is my place or the church’s place to dictate morality for the country. Just as I do not consider it my place to dictate morality, I also do not believe that the inverse should be true either. In Massachusetts, for instance, changes were made to the state’s educational system which instructed teachers to educate children, as young as six, about the “diversity” of same sex marriages. Not long after allowing gay marriage, grade school children suddenly began coming home with books about homosexual families. In Canada a pastor was jailed for speaking out against homosexuality.

While I do understand the homosexual’s desire to be allowed to marry, and the reasons that they give for that desire, I also feel that in giving one group of people rights, we do not remove the rights of another group of people. For instance, I would like to see wording that would guarantee my rights as a parent would not be trampled, should I decide to pull my children out of any “sensitivity” training classes. As a father of two young girls I do not see the need to discuss homosexuality with my daughters at this time in their lives, and I would hope that I would be allowed to have any discussions at a time of my choosing.

As a former Sunday school teacher to teens, the subject of homosexuality often came up and questions on how to react and or interact with homosexuals were asked. I always explained that we should treat everyone, gay or straight with love, and that as Christians it was our duty to love the sinner and hate the sin, but never to confuse the two. As a Bible believing Christian, I do believe homosexuality to be a sin against God, similar to lying, stealing, infidelity or any of the other sins humans are capable of committing. With this in mind my pastor, or those teachers of like faith, would not be doing too good a job as pastors if they were to contradict Biblical teachings in favor of being seen in a more popular light. As a result I would expect that any wording allowing gay marriage would take into account a pastor’s right to free speech and a pastor’s right to freedom of religion. Just as certain people can claim conscientious objector status to avoid going to war, so too should pastors be exempt from any possibility of being charged with a hate crime simply for stating the Bible’s position on homosexuality.

Recently reports of demonstrations and violence have surfaced surrounding proposition 8 in California. Both Christians championing Prop 8 and gay protestors, protesting Prop 8 have come in conflict several times in recent days. Reports have begun to circulate throughout the web of homosexual activists upsetting church services, and some calling for escalated violence on gay blog sites.

All of this leads me to wonder why. Doesn’t it seem a bit hypocritical to think that the way to fight having someone else’s morals imposed on you is to attempt to impose your morals on them? Isn’t it extremely hypocritical for those who complain about gay bashing or targeting by the straight community on gays, to be calling for the targeting of Christians?

In the last few years homosexuals have begun comparing themselves to African Americans, in that they too are stereotyped and discriminated against for who they are. I’ve always found these comparisons to be a stretch, because unlike African Americans, gay people are not “ALWAYS” easily identifiable. The average person does not make up their mind about a gay person within a split second of simply seeing them. In contrast, it is far easier for the average bigot to make a discriminating choice against a person just because their skin is not the right color.

Not having lived through the civil rights movement, I don’t have a viable way to compare the two, but I have noticed that the homosexual struggle has taken on an angrier path than that of the African American struggle. I have watched the struggle take on a mentality of us versus them, straight versus gay, and more importantly Christian versus homosexual. I feel that it is my responsibility to comment on recent events, and recent changes in gay rights. As a Christian, I feel it my responsibility to comment on the fact that we as the church cannot afford to ostracize the homosexual community any more than we can afford to ostracize the atheist community. As Christians it is our duty to speak to everyone in love, and to realize that the only way to change the heart of a person is through prayer and understanding.

It has upset me to no end to see so called “Christians” picket the graves of soldiers to prove a hateful point. It has grieved me to watch these same “Christians” reduce themselves to slinging slurs meant to hurt and tear down rather than words which comfort and inform people about God. I feel it my duty to remind Christians today that our God, though not a sinner, embraced and loved the world enough to die for it, gay and straight alike.

Christians are supposed to reflect God’s love and compassion for mankind rather than turn mankind away. Christians are supposed to be filled with the love of Christ and are called to take the high road, the narrow path, the path which leads all to the Cross. We cannot ever hope to make a difference in the world if we offer it the same hate and anger which consumes it. I’m not saying that we let our own morals take a back seat, or that we allow ourselves to become part of the world, but we are called to live in the world, and yet be separated from it.

Christians in America need to realize that while America was founded on Judeo Christian principals, it is no longer the same country it was 200 years ago. We are now a country made of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, gays, and straights. We cannot hope to impose our morality on them any more than they should ever attempt to impose their morality on us. Like with abortion and other moral issues, it is our job to remind our country that there is a God who loves them, but that they must come to Him on their own accord, and not through force. We need to remember that the war being waged is not a physical war, which can ever be won through intimidation and force, but a spiritual war, which can only be won on a spiritual plane.

So what is the answer? Do we just give up and allow gay marriage, or do we continue in the same hateful, destructive path we’re on now? Who’s to say that either of these is the only options before us? What ever happened to compromise? Can we not allow for civil unions, and give the homosexual community the same rights afforded to straight people, while retaining our rights as parents and Christians to worship as we please? Is it so difficult to find a happy medium where everyone will get at least some of what they want? All I know for sure is that the civil rights movement almost tore this country apart, and we as a country cannot bear yet another polarized struggle, meant to divide instead of unite.