In honor of a blog post that I recently saw that was by a man named Dan Pearce, the man who writes Single Dad Laughing (http://www.danoah.com). Before I get to that, though, there is something else that I wanted to say. I recently became a Christian, after a long while of being a pantheist. ANYWAYS, back to the point.
In a post on Single Dad Laughing, Dan discusses his annoyance with religious folks who say that being a homosexual is "wrong" and "sinful." Everyone in America (and probably some other countries) have seen the signs held up by the Westboro Baptist Church that say "God hates f*gs."
It frustrates me that people think that it's okay to rag on people based on who they love. Don't all religious texts at least mention loving your neighbor? That means your gay neighbor, your addicted neighbor, your undocumented neighbor, your elderly neighbor, your Buddhist neighbor...
America, as many know, is a nation that is supposed to be all about freedom and equality. It even says it in our national anthem, "...The home of the free and the home of the brave." People aren't really equal in this country. People aren't really free in this country.
I remember reading an article a year or so ago about a ten-year-old who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance until all people are equal and free. I've observed that this is a country that was/is all about oppressing people that we feel to be inferior. Native Americans, African-Americans, the Japanese, women, and now it's anyone who falls anywhere on the spectrum, except for heterosexuality.
This is not a country where everyone is equal. The only group that is considered free and equal this country are the Christian, right-wing, white men. Why? Because people believe them to be better than everyone else. Okay, they think that they're better than everyone else.
People who think it's okay to say that someone else's life is wrong are just bullies. That's all it is. It's bullying.
I'm not here to say whether or not homosexuality is right or wrong, natural or genetic. I'm here to say that it's not okay for people to bully others based on anything. Religion (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, race, gender, nationality, color, creed... It's not okay to bully or ridicule anyone based on any reason that you can come up with, even if your religion says that it's wrong.
Let's face it, everyone has does something that someone else can and will consider sinful. Faith is not an excuse to bully or ridicule or hate. Isn't religion all about love? The last time that I checked, the Bible was all about love. Every single religious text mentions love in some way or another.
The Christian religion, to me, is the biggest culprit of this ridicule and bullying. The Westboro Baptist Church, for example, regularly goes out and holds up signs that say basically say "God hates everyone that isn't exactly like me." However, the Catholic Church is worse than the WBC.
The Catholic Church, in the name of God, refuses to allow women into the priesthood. They blatantly discriminate against homosexuals (except for that new pope that they have that said that it doesn't matter if priests are homosexual as long as they are Christ-like).
Now, I'm not saying that people from these specific religions are all like this. I'm saying that the vast majority are.
It's not okay to bully based on trivial things.
(The article that I'm honoring, in case you're curious: http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html/)
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