October 13, 2014

Dear Elaina,

This isn’t the original letter you were going to share this week. That letter can wait, this cannot. You lost a friend this weekend. Well, she was more of an acquaintance than a friend, but, because of something she posted and the hate filled responses of some of her friends, you lashed out and then severed your ties. Why do you care so much about the plight of gay people? You’re not gay, and as far as you know no one in your family is gay, so why is this such a hot button for you?

You spent a lot of time thinking about that and the honest answer is it has more to do with your religious beliefs. Many things this person posts are about religion and how one is supposed to act, feel, worship, and love one another. In the next post, she posts about banning gay marriage. While her hypocrisy makes you mad, the issue runs much deeper. And, for point of clarification, the legalization of gay marriage is a political issue, not a religious one.

You believe that God made every one of us in His image, even gay people, so how can gay people be “wrong” or an “abomination”? God is all powerful, so would God create a person and then label them an abomination if they act on the way He made them? How can one of His creations be more powerful than Him and defy the nature He gave them? Some people believe homosexuality is a choice, but you don’t have time for that level of ignorance in this letter. If God has created all of us, then He created ALL OF US.

You also don’t believe God made a mistake. There are over 1500 species of mammals who exhibit homosexual tendencies for the sheer pleasure of the experience. Did God make a mistake over 1500 times?  Not the God you believe in. The God you believe in has a plan, has a reason, and He made us all exactly the way He intended, whether we understand it or not.

In the post that ended your friendship, you were told you’d be judged and found lacking because you don’t believe homosexuality is a sin. That took you back. Really? According to them, God is going to send you to hell because you refuse to believe gay people are an abomination. They voiced their fall back cliche, “love the sinner, hate the sin,” but Elaina, you don’t believe homosexuality is a sin.

Imagine being that young man or that young woman sitting in church, feeling different from your peers, being told you were made by God and then being told you were an abomination because of the way He made you. Put yourself in their shoes for a second and feel the confusion, the worry, and the feeling of being forsaken. You’ve watched students go through this self-discovery and watched the cruelty they endured in the name of God. Their hypocrisy sickened you. “Love everyone. God makes no junk. Homosexuals are abominations.” You stood back and watched, powerless to help because of your position.

According to the Bible, sex before marriage is a sin. Yet gay people aren’t allowed to marry thus they either abstain forever or they sin. Okay, so then they are sinners like the rest of us who didn’t wait until we were married. They’re not an abomination because of their orientation, they sinned because they didn’t wait. Oh but wait, they’re not allowed to marry.

Elaina, the God you have always worshipped is a God who loves us all. He created us all in his likeness and sent us his only Son to teach us to love one another. You can’t imagine life without that God. This weekend took a toll on you. Your realized you would rather go to hell loving everyone, considering everyone equal, and not spreading words of hatred and intolerance, than believe God made a mistake when he made homosexuals. You’d rather go to hell than believe God is cruel, unjust, and unmerciful.

You let them shake you, Elaina. You allowed their hate and intolerance to worm its way into your heart, and for a few hours you considered renouncing your faith. They used the Bible to preach intolerance, and it nearly broke you. You did not want to be associated with their hate and bigotry.

In times of need and uncertain faith, you turn to your Bible. You read through the 10 Commandments again. Interestingly enough, none of them are about homosexuality. Most important to you is Matthew 22:37-40.

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Well Elaina, those are the laws you try to live your life by and if refusing to believe any of God’s creations are an abomination will send you to hell, then get ready. The God you love with all of your heart created everyone. It’s not your job or anyone else’s to judge His creations.

It’s not about homosexuality. It is about God and His love.

This week, remember that. Don’t let the haters shake your faith.

Elaina