Purple

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am somewhat very frightened to post about this topic... I do not want anyone to hate or despise me for any reason. But I feel something must be said.

I'm sure many of you have learned about and are possibly participating in the "Wear Purple to Stop Homosexual Bullying" event. I will not be wearing purple, but please, before you jump at my throat, allow me to explain.

There is not a single person in this world who should be mistreated because of who they are. Kids being driven to the point of suicide because of internet sex scandals? Horrendous! The Devil certainly knows how to work his evil. I cannot and will not ever hate these kids, these people, nor can I judge them. It simply is not my place. My place is to love.

I've been doing a lot of thinking on this topic (and please, I welcome honest, friendly discussion, but any hateful posts from either side of the issue will be deleted), and have come to this somewhat shaky conclusion:

People are people, no matter what race, gender, sexual preference, etc. However, God made man and woman to compliment each other, and I cannot advocate anything other than what God created to be. I understand that many people in today's society (and throughout history, too) have felt otherwise, and I'm not going to spread hater spam or do anything else to hurt them. I have many, many friends and even a few family members who believe very differently than I about this issue, and I still love them. The phrase goes something along the lines of "Love the sinner, hate the sin." I know most homosexuals feel as though they were born that way... how I can I hate them when they've never consciously known differently? I cannot. But at the same time, I cannot advocate something that is against everything I believe in.

To those who have been touched, hurt, or are truly suffering because of the recent tragedies, I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. I wish it had never happened. No family deserves to go through the pain of losing a child, no person deserves to go through the amount of torture and terror it takes to bring about suicide. I am also truly, deeply sorry for those who call themselves Christians but go about spreading hatred towards those who live this kind of lifestyle. I pray that God will prevail through everything, and give strength to those who need it and bring about righteousness and glory for Him. Anything less than that I fear above all.

I hope and pray I did not offend with this post... that was not the intent. I said at the beginning of this blog that it is about my journey and my faith and where God takes me, and this is an issue that every Christian - young and old - must address within themselves. This is simply my view on the subject. I will not wear purple for gay rights. However, be assured that on that day I will be praying especially for all those who have been victimized and their families. I will also be praying that my brothers and sisters in Christ remain vigilant and continue to develop their individual faiths, for it is only through faith that truth can be revealed.

I invite you to join me heartily and fervently in this endeavor. God bless.

It's Been Awhile....

It's been awhile since I've written anything on this or any other blog, but due to the occurrences of a government class today, I feel I have a good deal to write about.

The class? A basic government class. The topic? Amending the constitution. We were all to come up with an amendment that we thought needed to be made to the constitution of the United States. Of course, we had the typical: taxes, voting age, driving/drinking age, abortion, gay marriage....

I'm not here to preach about abortion or gay marriage (not today, anyway). I am here to preach on something that upset me more than the topics themselves (unfortunately, I'm pretty used to dealing with them. :-\ ). No... what angered me was how truly apathetic people in the class were. I realize it was not a debate class, but no one bothered to even mention people other than those in the amendment and how it would affect them! My class is full of good, moral, Christian people (Catholic AND Protestant), but there was not a single one who stood up for the fact that there might be issues. It did not require a huge debate, a screaming match, or anything of the sort. But if a person calls themselves a Christian, how can they sit back and watch while people defend their positions and not even mention ours?

There is a boy in my class who is enthralled by politics. I don't understand why... government bores me to death. But he is a Catholic boy, and I would think he would at least have something to say about the other side of the coin. But he didn't.

I'm not passing judgement on him at all, that isn't right. What I do want to put out there is that if you believe in something, you have to stand for it. Is it any wonder our nation is going to the dogs when we refuse to even bring God into the classroom? When our students, our teenagers, refuse to mention that they think something is wrong, because they're afraid it will be blown out of proportion?

We, as Christians, cannot be apathetic. We were told to make disciples. This doesn't mean hounding people until they are so sick of hearing about God that they want to scream. It means being an example, showing Christ in our words and our deeds, not just sitting back as the world pelts its nonsense at us. It is our job to be strong... not bend with the governmental winds.