Always On the Go....

This has been a FUN week.  New job orientation has been super information packed, pretty much non-stop information being crammed into my poor head after taking 3 finals while studying for my last one - which happens to be COMPREHENSIVE for the whole freakin' semester. 

Clint's applying for pretty much his dream job which is design in the motorcycle field.  It's in Portland, Oregon.  If this works out, which I pray it does, then I've got some research to do in German/French departments at other colleges in that area.  This would normally scare me to death but after Clint being so unhappy about his degree and lack of employment, I'm not so scared anymore.  I'm ready for us to start our life together, and yes I am naive enough to want to start completely happy with where we are in life.  I've come to terms about where I'm at and am not upset about it.  I did not have a normal college career/experience - what college student loses at least one family member/close friend a year, survives severe allergy attacks, and almost dies from a severe concussion?  I couldn't focus on where I wanted to go in life after losing my grandpa.  I worked until I was able to do so.  So if this job in Oregon works out, then I'll be investing in a new iPhone so Clint and I can face-time each other.

Now to broach a topic that some friends have today and has been a major headline in the national media - gay marriage.  I'm so pissed off at how this is being used as a political advantage that clearly sets apart Christians from the rest.

I'm not going to TOUCH this with a 100 ft pole with anybody unless I know for a fact it's CLOSE friends who won't jump down my throat for having an opinion.  Probably the only family I may mention this to when brought up is my mom and my sister.  I won't state where I stand either via Facebook or Twitter because I don't want to cause fellow friends to stumble from all this conflict and because I think those that do are seeking attention.  Not that this hasn't been on my mind.....thank you Barrack O'Bama.  I guess I'm trying to organize my thoughts on this and hopefully my blog is an OK place to do so. 

Morally and as a Christian, I am against gay marriage.  (It also just isn't natural, in regards to the penis is made to compliment the vagina, and vice versa.  Oops I just used some anatomy terms.  Please forgive me.  And yes those who are of homosexual preference have to resort to strap-ons or have issues with pooping and sometimes need surgery to fix the sphincter.)

Yet LEGALLY, I'm for it.  Why?  The quickest and easiest answers that come to my mind is the golden rule and equal rights - which I'll come to here in a bit.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  I would be devastated if it was illegal for me to marry Clint.  NOT THE SAME AT ALL.....I know it's completely different.  But still the more Christians and conservatives fight to prevent homosexuals from being allowed to marry, the further away people who need God are pushed by people who are supposed to be examples of Christ.

But homosexuality is one of those forbidden sins! Nick-picking sins will just lead you to your own sins.  To judge or to not to judge?  I don't know.  There's scripture telling us to not judge, yet there's scripture for us to call out a fellow Christian when they've strayed.  This is where you need to think really hard about your relationship with God and pray to see what you should do when presented something as difficult as this.   I see it as more judging fellow Christians in the sense of helping out a brother/sister and based on the LOVE that we're supposed to show and have for one another - the LOVE OF A FAMILY.  Whether we like it or not, we're a family, those of more experience or of (biblical) knowledge or of more clear calm collected thought, whomever is able to give sound advice based on LOVE not JUDGMENT is who we should turn to.  Like a family, we bicker, we divorce (separation in churches over not being able to come to an agreement in doctrine), we sin, we build each other up, we look forward to seeing our family our church, we long for love, we give and receive love.  Do you stop loving the brother who is tempted by alcohol?  Do you stop loving the sister who has a baby out of wedlock?  Do you stop loving the autistic brother who doesn't know how to love in return?  Do you stop loving your wife or husband of 50 yrs when they lose their mind in old age and say every mean hurtful thing imaginable to you?  Do you stop loving the abusive father?  Do you stop loving the brother who struggles with temptation and attractions that he cannot control and takes advantage of women?  Not if there was any love given to you in return for yours. 

Judging should be done as a reflection of the love of Christ, not as a I'm right you are wrong stubbornness to prove a point.  Doing it in a I'm right you're wrong way to prove YOUR point is SELFISH.      

The way I see it is the more conservatives try to fight this, the more us Christians will be persecuted in the future.  We are kinda setting ourselves up for it too by fighting whole-heartedly against this issue as our Christian "duty."  I mean even if gay marriage was to remain illegal, people of homosexual disposition will STILL look for that special companion, the "ONE," to spend the rest of their lives with.  Now I do not like this one bit. 

Now I know Christ didn't just roll over and didn't call out people who did sin.  Repent and be baptized.  I'm not saying we're to just say, "Well we don't want to pass judgement on your lives and shouldn't - what you do doesn't concern us " Not in the least. 

Now to equal rights, as long as gay marriage is more of an equal rights issue - Christians and conservatives will probably lose this battle no matter how hard we preach or try to show them the error of their ways, etc.   Christians used to own slaves back when there was slavery.  Christians used to be in favor (and some still are) of segregation.  The Berlin Wall segregated Christians and nonChristians alike and some of the Socialistic Democrats claimed to be Christian.  The Berlin Wall came down though.  Christian men used to think that even Christian women didn't deserve to have the same equal rights as non-Christian men and Christian men alike.  When it comes to equal rights, I just don't see a point in fighting this.  I will say that gay marriages will need to be clearly performed in the court setting.  But this is my morals speaking and if that was written into law, then Christians would have a whole new issue on their hands.  Then we would have homosexuals fighting to have equal rights to get married in the church of their choice and we as Christians will fight like hell against it.  If it comes to this point, I will be against it. 

I guess my main concern with Christians being so against this is we're treating these people who are very mislead like they are the devil.  Homosexuals have souls, they have minds, they have feelings, and most importantly they have rights just like us.  This world is not our home, we should not be trying to force those who are of this world to be of like mind as us.  When anyone is forced against their will, that same will is BENT against that which is being forced on them or what they are being forced to do. 

Morally I'm against gay marriage. Morally I'm against obesity/disregard of health, drunkenness, abuse of any kind, animal cruelty, neglect, laziness, irresponsibility, rascism, abortion......this list could go on for forever.  I'm against sex before marriage, yet I'm so very guilty of this sin.  I have been drunk before.  One thing I'm very very against is being irresponsible with your reproductiveness and bringing a child into this world when you do not have the means or the care to responsibly provide the absolute BEST for this child.  I cannot condemn abortion because if I was raped I do not think I would keep the baby.  If I did, it would be a terrible struggle.  The stupid teenager who just was careless - yeah I think they should carry that baby to full term just so they won't think it's a get-out-of-jail pass, but then this is back to the disregard of the well-being of the child.  Can't force someone to give themselves full care to meet health needs, how could that same someone be forced to take care of a being that they are opposed to?

Ooops tangents....dangerous risky ground. 
Morally as a Christian I am against gay marriage. 
Legally in regards of equal rights, I'm not against gay marriage BECAUSE
*I with all my heart believe fighting this will only result in future persecution for us as Christians. 
The more we fight it and condemn homosexuality legally, the more we're hurting ourselves.  People are think we're judgmental and willing to condemn.  Any close gay friend of mine when I'm put on the spot, I say I don't necessarily agree with it but I do not think gay marriage should be illegal. 


Another reason why I won't voice my opinion - I fear the response of my fellow Christians who will immediately tell me I'm wrong and try setting me straight.  I may be wrong.  I fully accept that. But I believe it's so very wrong of us to discriminate these people to the point to where they feel that they have to be hostile to us.  I already receive that reaction when I mention that I am a Christian, that look where they feel like they need to watch themselves and be on guard - not because they know it's wrong, not because they are faking, but because they have learned the hard way to tip-toe around Christians to not upset them.  I have learned that unfortunately as well.  Wouldn't it be better to say, I don't agree with this but I cannot stop you from it? I love you, but if you make this choice then I fear for your soul, but I cannot stop you.  I believe as a Christian that homosexuality is wrong, but as a United States of America citizen I believe discrimination and limitation based on one's sexual preference is wrong.  This is supposed to be the land where people come to escape persecution.  Those of you who say but I'm a Christian first then a USA citizen - if worshiping God as a Christian was illegal, I would choose my God over the country.  I struggle placing God before all not so much with my country and what not....more so with over Clint whom I love dearly and just letting God be in control. 

I don't know why it disturbs me so deep down to the core that people use the reason I'm a Christian to why they don't approve of same sex marriage.  That in all of this is what bothers me the most - treating these people like they're dirt is not the answer.