One of the reasons why I created this blog was because Facebook isn't the greatest platform for having political discussions. A while back, I was trolled by a few Christians after posting that the struggle for LGBT rights (e.g. marriage equality) was similar to the struggle for civil rights for people of color in the 1960s. They informed me that being gay was a sin and thus, if I'm a Christian, I shouldn't be supporting gay rights. Interestingly, the arguments against gay rights parallel those against racial integration.
While church history shows us that intellectual uniformity is impossible, it's becoming increasingly disturbing to me that some American Christians are crying "persecution" when they can't legislate their beliefs on people, when stores like Target say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," or when Christian decorations such as a Ten Commandments monument are not allowed to be displayed in a government building like a courthouse, while at the same time protesting the building of mosques, discriminating against atheists, or censoring the teaching of topics such as evolution in public schools which have broad scientific consensus. To me, not being allowed to persecute others or shove your religious beliefs in their face, especially when you are in the majority, does not equal persecution. Maybe a lot of American Christians need to have some discussions with people like Christians from China, gay Christians, Muslim Americans, or Palestinians in Israel to hear some real examples of persecution.
Predictably, the recent topic of marriage equality in the Supreme Court has some Christians (amplified by the media) protesting against allowing the same rights they enjoy extended to their fellow citizens who happen to be gay. Do they really think they will win more people to Christ by blocking other people from being treated equally under the law? What they don't seem to realize is that not only are they discriminating against other human beings, they are damaging the ability of young Christians like myself to spread the Good News. Indeed, most non-Christians in the US today have come to associate the label of "Christian" with being judgemental, hypocritical, anti-gay, insensitive, and too political, and the reality is that "Many of those outside of Christianity ... reject Jesus because they feel rejected by Christians" (quoted from unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity ... And Why It Matters in this review). Ouch.
So as for me, I think it's important to communicate that Christians, being a diverse group, can have different views on things like gay marriage which may not align with common dogma. Personally, my relationship with my gay and lesbian friends and colleagues is more important than having certain Christian friends approve of me. And as an American who wants to see freedom and justice for all, who would want people in the majority to stand up for me if I were a minority against whom the law was discriminating (even though it would not directly affect them or bolster their self-interest), and who does not accept the out-of-context biblical interpretations being used against gay people, or the image of a God who sets people up for a life of loneliness when it is not good for us to be alone, how can I not support marriage equality? In fact, there was a time when interracial marriage similar to my own would have been illegal in some states. So I heartily agree with this guy:
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