Love is Love

So this week, the supreme court did some pretty big things. They dealt with major issues and even if they weren't fully sweeping with their decisions, they made it pretty obvious how they think the country should be heading with regards to two major social issues. They first ruled on affirmative action discriminating against white students applying for college. Their ruling was very interesting, but thats not what this is about. They also ruled on DOMA (defense of marriage act, signed by Bill Clinton in the 90's) and about the Prop 8 appeal that had put a stop to gay marriages in California until the appeal process was over. I'm not going to try and pretend that I know exactly what their rulings meant and all the legal business, but what I do know is that they are making moves toward equal rights for gay americans.

Now, I am a Christian and I believe in the Word, that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and that as a Christian it is my duty to show love to everyone just as Jesus would. So can I really be okay with Gay Marriage? Can I be okay with equal rights for all people? To be honest, saying the words "Gay Marriage" in the same breath makes me uncomfortable. Marriage is very sacred to me, and in the depths of me, those two words together sit a little funny with me. But regardless of how I personally feel, as humans, we deserve to love and love equally. I'm not one of those people who think that just because a man can marry and man and a woman can marry a woman, that the next thing coming is people wanting to marry their pet pig. Let's be real people, are we comparing human to human love to something as silly as that? Whether we want to believe it or not, marriage in America is in shambles, and straight people aren't doing it all that well, contrary to how we would all like to pretend we are doing.

In the bible it says a "man shall marry a woman" and "do not lay with another man" but the bible also says that women should not be in power. And most importantly it says you should love everybody. Ever heard of the "golden rule" , yeah, that comes from the bible. Let me give you this one piece from the bible:  James 4:11-12 (11) Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister judges them and speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on it. (12) There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you  to judge your neighbor?

Oh my gosh, there it is. Do not judge your neighbor. We can remember that the bible says don't be gay, but we can't remember to not judge our neighbor? How can we pick and choose which parts of the bible we believe to be true? That's right, we can't. The thing that I have always taken home the most from church, church camp, reading my bible is the basis of love. Love, love love. Love yourself, love others, Love Jesus, love. Love is an important human feeling. And we all love. But can we choose who we love?

A really smart friend of mine once asked me if I could remember making a conscious decision to be attracted to men. I thought about it, and said of course not. Of course not. Now I put myself in the shoes of gay men and women and wonder, did they ever THINK about who they were attracted to? Did they make a conscious decision to be like, hey yeah, I'm gay? Most likely not.

I'm not trying to make this long and crazy, but I know its getting there. I don't want to change your mind if you don't believe what I believe, I just have to get this off my chest. If society told me that I was wrong for loving Jordan and told me I couldn't marry him I would be devastated. I love just like everybody else loves. Jordan and I's love is no different than many other gay or straight couples in the world. So why do we treat gay people as second class citizens? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Right now gay couples are fighting for equal rights, they aren't fighting for everybody to jump for joy and be gay just like them, all they want is to be treated equal in the eyes of the country. Isn't our country based on freedom? We have been built up on certain religious beliefs, but church and state are to be separate. So why, legally, from a state perspective, are gay rights wrong? Religion is not to play a role in laws, etc, so why are we letting our personal (based on religion) beliefs rule this debate? We all don't have to agree, but isn't that why this country is great, we have freedom.

What really brought me to this rant today is hearing this song:
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Same Love
Do yourself a favor and watch the video and listen to the words. I was literally in tears hearing those words for the first time. I just hope that my children can grow up in a world filled with love, less hate and with the understanding that everybody should be treated equally.