"People killin', people dyin',
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'.
Can you practice what you preach,
And would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father help us,
Send some guidance from above,
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love?"
- Where is the Love?, The Black Eyed Peas
In 2003 Where is the Love? by The Black Eyed Peas became the longest-serving British number one in five years and the best selling record of the year in the UK. I think more than anything this song and the response it was given shows how much we're all crying out for love, for change, for pain and brokenness to end.
Today we found out that Amendment One has been passed in North Carolina; it's horrendous news. In this day and age, in our current society, we're made to believe that most of the human race, especially in the western world, is becoming reasonably liberal, opening themselves up to change and growth. Today we can clearly see that that is not the case. Only 39% of voters voted against the amendment and it says a lot about the state of the world.
I am a Christian and I feel like I do a lot of apologising for those who act out of bitterness and hatred, and today isn't the day when I'm about to stop apologising.
Tami Fitzgerald, head of the pro-amendment group, Vote FOR Marriage NC said:
"I think we've built a huge coalition across North Carolina of people who believe godly values..."
I'm sorry, I didn't realise that "godly values" involved discrimination and stopping even civil partnerships? And how can you, a human being, a tiny little insignificant human being, say that you know what "godly values" even are? This response is simply small minded people trying to prove a point, and not out of love.
I think these people are forgetting one thing. They're forgetting what this world was founded on, why this world was made: they're forgetting love. And that's really sad because at the same time they're trying to say that they represent Christianity, that they represent what Jesus wants, but would He really want this? Would He really want a group of people to feel entirely discriminated against and hated? Jesus befriended everyone, people from all walks of life; do you really think He would treat gay people like this?
Maybe my views are simple. They're not full of political jargon and they're pretty much opinion based, but I think this world is crying out for love. I think the people who voted for this amendment to go through want love as much as those who voted against it, and I just think they're not sure how to go about finding it. When we vote we have a great responsibility, and if we call ourselves Christians we need to use that vote in a way that will glorify God, not our own bitterness and personal judgements.
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Well said. I am tired of being told that in order to be Christian we all have to think the same way about sexuality. There are numerous Bible verses that we don't uphold in this day and age (notably food laws, and punishing people by death for touching the skin of dead animals etc.) but in this day and age we still honour laws which discriminate against women and other minorities.
ReplyDeleteGay marriage was already illegal in 30 states, including North Carolina before this amendment. They didn't even need to pass it - except now they take away any legal entitlements that these couples had.
As such it is purely vindictive. No-one in the gay community was trying to sabotage straight couples getting married - they can continue to do so and receive all the legal benefits such as childcare and healthcare.
What's more disturbing is the fact that the amendment drew most of its support from the black community who themselves had to overcome the struggle of segregation. Clearly many once discriminated against themselves feel that civil rights do not extend to people whose sexual orientation is different.
Whatever I, as a Christian, believe about whether homosexuality is ok or not, God gave people a choice and we have no right to punish other people for being who they are.
I'd like to see these people stand up against world poverty with the same energy that they spend persecuting gay people. Why? Because I believe in What Would Jesus Do? And Jesus devoted most of his teaching to the poor and the oppressed, not to bashing gays.
Also I should point out that North Carolina is only one of 31 states who have made this constitutionally illegal and, to the credit of the 40%, several counties voted solidly against it.
ReplyDeleteWake County (Raleigh), Durham, Orange, Chatham, Mecklenburg and Watoga, and Buncomb Counties all voted against discriminating.