Love, hate & gay marriage

I have been trying to formulate this particular blog for quite a while. I realize this is a very touchy subject, and I may even lose some friends over it, although I hope not. So before I go any further, I want to say I love you all, and what is expressed here is only my opinion, and I ask you to respect my right to this opinion as I respect your right to disagree.

In the state of California, there is probably no hotter topic in recent years as that of Gay marriage. It is a political hot spot, and this makes me very sad. Marriage was designed as a symbol of love, but now the topic of marriage has become a topic surrounded by hate. There is even a NOH8 campaign, where the supporters of gay marriage are calling out to end the hatred of gay people, as they perceive the writers of Prop 8 as hating all gay people. And I can"t say they are wrong, because I don't know the hearts of the writers. I do see that many so called Christian groups tend to cringe at the mere mention of the word "gay" or "homosexual", at the same time many gay people, especially those who end up on the news, tend to cringe at the term "Christian" or "Republican". On both sides of this issue hate seems to be flowing. People have long ago forgotten that marriage is supposed to be about love. Gay marriage supporters, at least the most outspoken ones, seem to just be demanding the right to have a ceremony performed, and the opposition just seem to want to stop them because they are gay.

In my opinion (and now you all can direct your hate at me if you want to) we should throw out the term marriage all together. It has long ago lost the meanings it was intended for, and become a tool of political, and social manipulation. There should be a social contract that two people who love each other, and want to join there lives together before the state can enter into; and this should be open to all. There should also be a religious ceremony people can enter into, and each individual church could decide who can and can't be joined in a ceremony at their church. Okay, now that you all think I'm crazy, I'm going to get a little crazier and risk diving into the homosexual issue a bit farther.

I grew up in a very conservative family, and homosexuality was a big no-no. I was taught, as most conservative Christian churches in the 70's taught (and many still teach) that homosexuality was a terrible sin. I would call myself, for at last the first half of my life, a homophobe. When I was in college I had no thought that there might be homosexual people at my nice Christian college. But now, I look at my facebook friends list and many of my friends from college, as it turns out, are gay (I was involved in Theatre...go figure). And I realize that most of them were gay even in college. I admit that if I had been smart enough in college to figure that out, it would have creeped me out. But now, as I have come to realize, these friends are the same wonderful caring people I had become friends with. Their sexual orientation did not turn them into the evil nasty creatures that so many Christian leaders and churches like to tell us all gay people are. I have many gay friends at both of my work places, and they also are not the monsters that are portrayed from so many pulpits.

I am not sure how the homosexual lifestyle has become the #1 unforgivable sin in so many churches. The thing I hear over and over from church leaders is that the Bible says its a sin, and the Bible doesn't change. So I have been looking at my Bible and yes, there in Leviticus 18 it does say that it is wrong for a man to lay with a man as he lays with a woman. But I continue to look through Leviticus, and in the very next chapter it says that you are not to have tattoos or to trim the sides of the hair on your head or the edges of your beard. Yet I don"t hear many church groups condemning the tattooed. And out side of strict Jewish denominations, I don't see a lot of full beards and side curls on men. And in I Corinthians it list homosexuality as a sin, but it is right there along with the greedy, the thieves and drunkards. Yet very few churches today still speak out of the great evils of greed and drunkeness. And churches certainly have not declared a battle on the greedy or the drunks the way the have on the homosexual

What I think I am trying to say is that whether you think homosexuality is a sin or not, the response a Christian should have is that of love, not fear and hatred. God calls us to love all people, He made them all after all. In the end it is up to each person to stand before God for all their actions, and when I stand before God, I don't want God to see me as someone who hated or mistreated someone because of their sexual orientation. I want to be someone who showed God's love to everyone. Now let me issue a challenge to all my Christian friends out there. If you are one who feels that homosexuality is wrong, I just want to challenge you to reach out to a person you may know who is a homosexual, get to know them. Be their friend. Get to know them as a person, putting aside your own bias. I think you may be surprised to find that they are wonderful people. And to those of you who already have gay friends, be sure to let them know they are loved, amid all the hate floating around.

Okay, for any I've offended, feel free to drop me as a friend if you want...I still love you.