Over the last month or two, one thing we've heard all about all over facebook and twitter is about Amendment One. I very lightly advocated against amendment one. Mainly I just asked folks to be aware of what they were voting on before they went to the polls. Unfortunately, most people were not aware of what exactly they were voting on. It somehow turned into a gay marriage debate.No matter where you stand on gay marriage, you could have still voted against this terrible piece of legislation. It wouldn't have meant anything against you personally. You can still not be in agreeance with someone and have voted against this amendment. This amendment may or may not have affected you personally, but all the same, it's not all about you (or me).
In my eyes (maybe I'm crazy), but allowing someone the same right as me to wed who I choose is exactly that, a right. I believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everyone. It doesn't matter if someone isn't the same as me or doesn't believe in the same things I believe in. That is obsolete. You can still be strong in your Christian beliefs and want basic rights for everyone. Someone else's marriage, whether it be a straight or gay doesn't affect me. In other words, it's none of my business.
While I don't think government has a right to decide marriage, I also don't think churches should be forced to marry anyone they do not choose to marry. It's as simple as that. I have many different kinds of friends, and I love and respect each of them. That's the way I was raised. My entire life, I have always tried to treat people with love and respect because it's how I would like to be treated. This isn't a crazy concept, but accepting someone who might be different than you is hard for some folks to do. I understand it's not the easiest thing in the world, but denying someone a basic right (which by the way our state already had a law to begin with), is not o.k. in my book.
I have and still do identify myself as a conservative more or less leaning libertarian, and so often I am lumped into belonging to a certain political group. Most people have probably always assumed I am a staunch hard-core republican, which isn't necessarily true, but I still relate to many republican values. I've also more recently been called a "liberal" for my stance on gay marriage. So because of ONE issue, I am now a bleeding heart? I don't think so. No offense to anyone who identifies as "liberal", but it's not me.
Why must we label one another? We all do it. Even I do it all the time. It's not necessarily right, but there's not one single person who is reading this that hasn't been guilty of it before. I don't want to be placed or generalized into one certain group. I am my own person. I guarantee you if you've ever really got to know me, you know there's nobody else like me. And I hope that we could all say that. We should each be our own person. You're the only carbon copy of you that there is. Why would you want to be somebody else?
I also realize it's hard for some Christians to say they're ok with gay marriage. The way I see it, God created us all equal in his eyes. We are all loved by God and are all his children. We are all called to show Christ's love through our actions and words. These actions and words are not just meant for people who are exactly like us. That's too easy. You can't be scared of what you don't understand. We as humans don't understand a lot. That's what makes us human. But continuing to degrade someone because they are different than you is ludicrous. So I come to you with an open heart, and ask you to try harder. If I as a republican, white southerner can be accepting of others, why can't anyone else?
I leave you with a favorite Bible verse of mine:
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. "
- 1 John 4:7-8
