Amendment One: North Carolina doesn't love gay people, but God does.

"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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Twisted Words

A lot of you will know about the state of Tennessee's "license to bully" bill. If passed, the bill will allow students to bully their gay peers as long as they can back it up with political or religious reasoning.

Today I want to write to you as a Christian because I feel like an explanation is in order. Someone needs to tell you that God never intended for people to act in this way, this is not what Christianity is about.

For a really long time I tried to figure out what I thought about homosexuality, whether it was right or wrong. Though one thing I never questioned was God's love for people in the LGBT community. God created each one of us and loves us all so much; this I never doubted. So, recently, I've come to the conclusion that, quite frankly, it doesn't really matter whether being gay is right or wrong. That isn't what God wants us to be worrying about. 

There's a problem with the establishment that we call the Church, you see. Not the Body of Christ, but the Church. That building we go to every Sunday morning. The Church spends so much time debating and worrying and stressing out that it forgets to tell us to love. It forgets to tell us to forgive and have faith, because all it wants to do is figure out whether it's okay to allow a gay priest to preach in its buildings. This has become so important to those of us in the Church (myself included) that we get so bogged down in debating issues rather than simply loving people. When God became Jesus He didn't spend all His time arguing with people, He spent it healing the sick, feeding the hungry, raising the dead, giving water to the thirsty... I just don't think He's very happy with what we've turned Him into.

So if Tennessee pass this bill they're allowing their people to believe that God doesn't really love us, that forgiveness isn't available to everyone, and they're being allowed to completely disregard Jesus. If these people knew their Bibles they wouldn't even consider this bill because in 1 John 4:16 it clearly states:

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him."

Please sign the petition linked below to stop this bill being passed.

Stop Tennessee's "License to Bully" Bill