EDITOR’S DESK: With gay marriage, live and let live (VIDEO)
A Milligan church displayed an anti-gay marriage sign last week, and we posted a photo of it on our Facebook page.
Then battle lines were drawn.
When Milligan Assembly of God displayed a sign that stated, "This church does not marry homosexuals," our Facebook fans — and a ton of their friends — turned out in droves.
"That's discrimination, any way you look at it," one woman said.
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"The general statement is they will not perform the ceremony," another woman said. "That's not hate, just a truthful statement."
The discussion touched on familiar topics — the church should love the sinner, hate the sin, some said; sexual orientation is innate, so legalizing same-sex marriage in Florida was long overdue, others said — but many of the comments devolved into attacks on Christianity, The Bible and even on other Facebook users.
TWO ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM
Social media attracts diverse perspectives that I'd bet many of our readers don't hear every day.
For instance, if you're a Christian living in Baker — Florida's most conservative community, according to the website Business Insider — you may not encounter too many people who outright deny God's existence or blame organized religion for much of the world's problems.
But that sentiment was typical among 400 comments made about the viral photo.
"More and more young people are not choosing to live a life ruled by an ancient, and I mean ancient, religion that is out of touch with reality," one woman said.
This is a fairly expected go-to argument when issues challenging traditional values crop up. However, what isn't so familiar are some of the subversive images users posted in the seemingly endless message threads. Particular among them was Baphomet, a goat-headed symbol of the occult that celebrates' humans' sinful and spiritual nature.
So on one end of the spectrum were comments glorifying God and encouraging the church to take a more loving approach in expressing its views, and on the other end were Satanic symbols and messages.
And somewhere in the middle laid a voice of reason.
"Seems like a lot of the people on these comments just like to go around and argue with people," one man said.
Indeed — especially for an issue that people may never see eye to eye about.
IT IS WHAT IT IS
Same-sex marriage is a complicated issue. Many Christians follow The Bible word for word and believe marriage is between one man and one woman. Heterosexual union opens the relationship to fertility, which is God's plan, the faithful say.
Then there are people who fall in love with someone of the same sex, that's the only reality they've known, and they feel that is a heaven-sent relationship. For them, same-sex marriage's legalization means securing long-sought equal rights, not redefining ancient tradition.
If you're in the first group of folks, you may firmly believe you're saving souls, but if you're in the second group of folks, you may feel, as one man told reporter Brian Hughes, like "a second-class citizen."
Then there's the political comparison of same-sex marriage to the legalization of interracial marriage. No one wants to be racist, so similarly, no one should want to deny gay couples their rights — right?
And if you do, you must be a bigot. If you don't, you must be a sinner, right?
Not exactly.
Sometimes, I believe, it just is what it is. (An expression that makes no sense, but what better expression for issues of divinity and equality that are far beyond any mere mortal's grasp?)
LIVING IN COMMUNITY
We are called to live in community with each other; this is a Christian principle.
So it was refreshing to see so many Christians stand up for gay people, speak out against persecuting them, and preach Christ's message of love.
Still, there's a long way to go.
Too many people in the message threads instead fanned the flames. They called each other names and made snap judgments.
And it all seemed so pointless. If you're a staunch Christian who believes engaging in homosexual acts is a sin, someone calling you a bigot won't make you rethink your position; and if you're a gay Christian, or a gay non-Christian, someone thumping a Bible won't convince you to change what you feel in your heart.
So if you're not going to change someone's mind, why not call it a draw and just get along with each other?
I'm reminded of a story about Mother Teresa, who once said a baker spit on her face when she requested bread for orphans.
She wiped the spit away and said, "I will keep this for me, but please give something for my children."
The baker donated the bread.
Mother Teresa changed his heart through her humility, which, by contrast, reflected the baker's hatred back on him.
Similarly, everyone wants the same thing — to live authentic lives and be treated with dignity — and everyone has an opinion and wants to be heard. But sometimes that opinion becomes a raised voice, which escalates to a yell, becomes a scream and incites a war.
But fighting hatred with hatred only begets more hatred.
Look, some battles are necessary, and thank God for our service members defending our country. But this war on social media isn't.
Sometimes, with hot-button issues like faith and sexuality, it is what it is.
So why don't we all just live and let live?
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR’S DESK: With gay marriage, live and let live (VIDEO)
