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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I Am Afraid of Kony 2012

Kony 2012 scares me.

Not because the violence being spoken of is so brutal, or because it makes clear to us how broken the human race really is. Sadly, I've been aware of these things for a long time; part of me has become desenstized.

Kony 2012 scares me because until the plight of the child soldier was plastered haphazardly all over the social networking sites that our eyes stumble across every single day, we didn't bat an eyelid towards it.

Until the hands of a rich, white American named Jason Russell clicked the "upload video" option on YouTube, until he enabled us to click the "reblog", "retweet" and "share" options on our favourite social networking sites, we refused to step outside of our comfort zones.

We're still in our comfort zones. We still want to spend $30 in return for an "action pack" full of items we can hold in our hands, posters, stickers, bracelets... what would Africa do if we started demanding material items in return for clean water?

We want an excitingly named event, "cover the night", to make us feel empowered and like we can do something to change the world.

Did you know that 80% of the world has 20% of the world's wealth while 20% holds 80%? I am a final year student, thousands of pounds in debt, yet I am one of the richest people in this world. And I don't think putting up a bunch of posters to make a wanted criminal famous in a country in which he does not reside is going to make much of a difference.

Raising awareness is important, but if people never cared in the first place, how long will it be until this all fizzles out? How many well made YouTube videos is Jason Russell going to upload to make sure it doesn't?

Even if they do capture Kony, North Africa has been in debt for years. The political and economic situation there is so broken that this would be a victory for no other than a bunch of rich Americans. It will take more than money and the capturing of Kony to save the people of Uganda, it will take justice within their political system and neither Jason Russell or the American government can create that.

If you want to help Uganda, support charities that will send money and aid to the people there, charities that we don't have to question the authenticity of. And start questioning and researching, stop falling for a well made film that reduces you to nothing more than emotion, because your tears won't save the people of North Africa.