I am a Christian. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I believe in the Bible. What I don't believe in is using my God to promote hate or discrimination. Hate is not what God stands for and using His name to help spread hateful agendas is something I believe God would disagree on. I will always try to stand up for what is right by using God's Word in a positive and kind way, as Jesus would have done. God's message is about LOVE. I hope my message is too.
My message is to fellow Christians and Americans (of any religion) that hate and/or discriminate- please stop. It's one thing to not like or to disagree with theology in this matter, but taking action on purpose to hurt another group of people is wrong. By taking action I am referring to picketing signs with hate messages, or preventing jobs from LGBT people because it is against your personal beliefs, or discriminating who can or cannot not buy from a BUSINESS, and most importantly who can or cannot marry based on gender. This is wrong. That's not a debate on scripture but rather an attack on a fellow person's life and livelihood.
To marry a person in America you could be an atheist, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddist, a Christian, just to name a few. Now all those people of those faiths can all be married as long as it is one man and one woman. As you can see faith doesn't determine if you are allowed to marry in America there are atheists that marry all the time and you don't see picket signs protesting their marriage. The church, synagogue, or mosque aren't the only places a person can get married yet America seems focused on religious marriage (holy matrimony) not just marriage.
Christianity doesn't own marriage and it is not the religion of America. Because America was founded on freedom of religion it only makes sense that any religion should not have a definitive say as to who can and cannot marry based on personal beliefs. Just like a church should not be forced to marry someone against their personal beliefs that same church can't prevent it because whether is a government official or a random internet person-nowadays anyone can officiate a wedding.
Today America saw that not one person's beliefs determined the beliefs of the country . Today on June 26, 2015, America finally joined the other leading nations in the world and put love first and gave equality to all. In my opinion God would be happy to see two people who love each other come together in His name to be married, but that's just my opinion. I certainly believe individual churches have the right to refuse a religious wedding if they don't interpret the Bible the same way I do. However this day is bigger than my own beliefs as it is great step forward for all Americans whatever their religion may be. As for my opinion the Bible has never talked about homosexual marriage in a committed relationship rather it has only pointed out homosexual rape, abuse, and sodomy. The verses in the Old Testament used against homosexuals were part of an old law system. We don't stone women, Christians get tattoos (some are even preachers), we eat all kinds a meat, we wear various types of clothes, people get divorced and there aren't protests, and we do these things on regular basis without the blink of eye. My marriage would be invalid if Christians didn't learn to expand their views on divorce, because according to the Bible divorce a sin along with remarrying a divorced person. How is my sin different than those of LGBT people? Yet Christians use a few verses in the same part of the Bible, out of context, to promote their version of what's right when clearly there are many other verses of the Bible that say they shouldn't do that. Those Old Testament laws were fulfilled by Jesus and Jesus never said a word against gays. There isn't a verse in the Bible that says man and man cannot marry definitely it's not clear cut and even if other Christian would wish to argue that it doesn't pertain to America as religion is not the law of the land. My beliefs or anyone's beliefs are not taken into account because that is the beauty of our country.
Freedom of religion is such a powerful thing, no one can persecute you with who you choose to worship or not worship, a luxury many Americans take for granted. Also in America a person shouldn't be able to use their religion to force others to believe what they believe. Now I know many other Christians may disagree with what I am saying, which is in their right, but opposing this ruling because it's against your beliefs is discriminating, it's forcing something onto someone else based on your religion and is very unAmerican. I can't force them to see how I see because that isn't how it works. I can pray for them though.
There are churches out there with a broader understanding of God and anyone can be married in those churches as they do exist. The issue at hand is how to disagree without discriminating. To tread on someone else's rights, love, and happiness is wrong as we all deserve the pursuit of happiness promised in the Declaration of Independence and we all deserve equality promised under the 14th amendment.
Lastly another troubling issue that many Christians forget is the founding of this country. While America has deep Christian roots, the Founding Fathers didn't want Christianity to be a conflict in how it was run. This is why they created a separation of church and state. Washington, Madison, Adams, and Jefferson, all Christian, strongly advocated for this separation. In recent years I have seen Christians enraged because public prayer is not allowed in public school. This is a false statement. In this country you can pray wherever and to whoever you like, including in the cafeteria before you eat your own food. I did and faced no opposition. However there is a difference when a public school teacher wants to dictate class prayer. As a Christian I wouldn't want my son to attend a class that had a teacher of different faith than mine, and then have that teacher lead him in prayer to his god or gods because my family is not part of that faith. So why do Christians think it would be acceptable to do this to others who may not share our religious beliefs? School is about learning, not about preaching, unless you as a parent decide you want God in your classroom, thus choosing to pay for a private school with that focus. I attended a private Christian school for 7 years, and it was a great education that was God based. However when I transitioned to public school I was glad I wasn't learning what the beliefs of my teachers were, as school was confusing enough without that. That is why there is separation of church and state otherwise we would be like an Islamic nation punishing those for not following the country's religion. While my God is my God to me and my family, I accept that there are other people in this world that see it differently than me, and many of those people happen to live in America not some far away country. I accept them for who they are as a human and if more people saw each other on a human level the less fighting there would be on a global level.
Peace, love, and hate are transcendental between all cultures and if we can use the first two emotions more often than the last we wouldn't have such a bad place to live. We are all mothers or fathers or wives or husbands or daughters or sons or brothers or sisters- we are connected, we are human. In America we can be so many things and I choose to be a Christian- the kind that loves my Savior, my family, and my neighbor without stipulations. I don't hate, I don't discriminate, I don't judge, and I ask my fellow Christians to do the same. As for my fellow Americans whether it is my God, or your god, or your own conscious that guides you, let your path be rid of the things that bring you down. Be the example for others to follow don't be brought down by the examples of your peers. When I see hate being promoted by people of any religion I shake my head because that isn't what it's about. I get extremely discouraged when I see Christians using God promoting hate or supporting discrimation because that I know is wrong. Instead of focusing on what divides us lets us focus on what unites us as Christians, which is our belief that Jesus is our Savior. Only belief in Christ will lead to eternal life not whether who was or wasn't right on debating the Bible. I know I will go to heaven because my soul was saved by Jesus dying for my sins. God won't exclude me or anyone that has accepted Jesus as their Savior, whether they are straight or gay. My message is to my fellow Christians that use the Bible against others, I have picked out some very important verses to help realize you shouldn't. Thank you for reading this, whoever you may be, and please be beacon in this world that desperately needs light.
Mark 12:31, Matthew 7: 1-5, Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:37, and James 4:11-12. These are the words I live by. As a straight married Christian woman, I will always fight for my brothers and sisters in Christ-gay or straight. As an American I will always fight what is best for this country. In this message I hope I have done both.
By: Stephanie Hanners
