May as well start of with a bang, eh?

Homosexuality is not a new topic for me to be writing/speaking out about. I wrote an article about it for the school newspaper, have done numerous studies and reports on it for classes, and pretty much don't miss any opportunity to share my views on it. (What can I say? I like stirring up controversy.)

This isn't going to be about the "Christian" view of homosexuality. But it IS about gay rights, and it IS about the dignity and equality of all people, no matter their sexual orientation.

I recently read in a facebook message written by a Christian friend of mine that there is "nothing more traitorous" than Christians embracing the "unorthodox lifestyle of homosexuality." Though I know this friend's heart is in the right place, this deeply troubles me. Nothing more traitorous to God than being gay? Not only is that not biblical, it's just downright insulting.

Contrary to popular belief, you can love Jesus and be gay. Whatever you believe about the "righteousness" of a Christian living a gay lifestyle, you cannot (intelligently) argue the fact that it is not a choice. Sin affects everyone, and Christians are not immune from any particular sin. Just as someone is born a pathological liar, someone is born gay (this is not me likening the sin of lying to homosexuality; I'm just using that "lifestyle sin" as an example).

However, I stray from my point. My point is this: how can anyone argue, by ANY logic, that homosexuality is "the worst sin?" Please give me biblical (or logical) evidence that homosexuality is worse than any other sin issue someone may struggle with. Actually, in Matthew 12, Jesus says that all sin will be forgiven except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. So really, if anyone's going to get all up in arms about a particular issue, shouldn't it be that?

Homosexuality is not mentioned in the Bible nearly as much as other sins such as greed, theft, lying, and murder. Why is it that so many conservative Christians seem to cling to this one issue so tightly? Is it because they don't struggle with it, so they don't know the agonizing dilemmas that Jesus-following gay individuals face everyday? Is it because it's starting to become more culturally accepted in America? Is it because the media has created a stereotype of gays that is silly and demeaning?

Like I said, I'm not trying to argue about the "correctness" of homosexuality and whether or not you can be a Christian and live a gay lifestyle and all of that. I'm simply asking, why do we pick on gay people so much? No wonder they hate Christians. We treat them like the modern-day lepers. Which, by the way, is exactly the opposite of what Jesus did.

This brings me to the issue of gay rights. My view on the whole thing is this (and this will come up many more times as an explanation for why I believe what I do): we have to respect the separation of Church and state. What if we had a Muslim president and s/he started making all of these rules based on things s/he believed to be true because of the Qur'an? What if it was illegal not to bow five times a day towards Mecca? What if it was illegal to eat or have sex during the month of Ramadan? We would be pissed, that's what. But that's exactly what we're doing by criminalizing homosexuality. The only basis Christians who are anti-homosexuality have for their beliefs is what they interpret the Bible to be saying. So how, then, is it fair to make laws based on that? (I am, of course, ignoring all of the more ridiculous reasons Christians [and others] give to be anti-gay, including things such as: gay people can't reproduce; "if we let them marry, can people marry animals next?;" "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve;" etc.)

Whatever you believe about homosexuality, I don't think it's okay to treat those who practice it like social outcasts. The Bible says a lot of things are wrong (yes, even in the New Testament) that we don't enforce. Why do we harp on this one thing? Why do we endorse and even celebrate movies that show and glamorize premarital sex? Why don't we go on heated tirades about liars, gluttons, thieves, or the prideful? Why don't we create entire websites, entire friend groups, entire organizations around these issues?

I think the answer lies in the fact that we have all struggled with most, if not each, of those sins in some capacity. Homosexuality, to those of us who have never struggled with it, can seem like a mystery, an anomaly, or even an unnatural perversion. We can not empathize with those who are gay, perhaps, because we have no idea what it's like to be so. But think about this: what if the roles were reversed, and you were told that being straight was a sin? Could you just flip a switch and change?

I believe I have crossed into rambling territory and I am currently distracted by the Yankees game, so I think I'll be wrapping this up now :]

Discuss.