A few years ago, I was standing in line at a convenience store with a friend of mine who's lesbian. As we were moving up in line, a male customer walked through the door and as he shuffled by my friend, he whispered under his breath, "Dike." I didn't even know this happened until we got into the car and she explained what happened. I didn't know what to say, so I just shook my head in disbelief.
And then I have this other friend whom I've shared countless conversations with about his agony in feeling like he'll never be able to share a life with someone because of the bans on gay marriage in the state of Texas. Although I've tried to put myself in his shoes and understand what it must be like to feel the way he feels, I can't come close.
I'll admit that the people I have the hardest time loving are the ones who have quick objections to homosexuality and gay marriage. When it comes to the church, it's been my number one resentment over the years. But the truth is, I don't have the power to change what other people believe. However, with all the latest controversy surrounding the freedom of religion laws that have been floating around lately, I can encourage and support my gay friends and the LGBT community.
And so, I write this as an encouragement to those who are feeling left out and singled out by the laws of this nation.
First, I'd like to say that the God I believe in is all-inclusive. My God loves everyone and doesn't base love off of personal belief systems. My God loves indiscriminately. As you know, not all people hold to this view of God. But that's okay. We're all wired differently, with differing understandings of the world and its people.
Secondly, I'd like to point to the teachings of Jesus, one specifically. Whether everything Jesus did or said was historically accurate, I don't know, but just going from the scriptures it seems he was a representation of what it meant in ancient Rome and the surrounding cities to be a marginalized peasant who took a stand against the things that threatened the fabric of God's love within humanity.
I could easily replace the word tax collector with homosexual and find that the point Jesus was driving at was this: God loves the people whom society dislikes the most. And Jesus used his life as an open book to what it looks like to not discriminate against those society deemed worthless, unattractive, or threats to its religious status quo. Jesus showed his audience that being a tax collector, or an adulterer, or a "public threat" was just a social taboo and not a characteristic that exempted one from being part of this thing called the kingdom of God - or the spiritual realm in which everyone shares a part.
Much like today, the religious culture Jesus was born into was wedded with government culture. The priests of his day were just as politically aligned as the priests of our day, and the minority faced the same persecution and problems that minorities face today.
The religion of his day was just as wrapped up in politics as it is today, which is why his messages stand relevant after two millennia.
And so, what did Jesus say to the minority, the outcast, and the threat to the status quo? He said things like love your enemies and turn the other cheek and do not resist evil but overcome evil with love.
Friends, we Christians, Muslims, and any other religious people who have this hard-wiring in us that tells us some people are left out of the kingdom of God have a lot to learn from you. The Christian culture in America and other nations has become so intertwined with patriotism and politics that love your enemies and do not resist evil has transformed into bogus concepts like just war and capital punishment and bans on gay marriage.
We have a lot to learn from your perseverance, patience, and humility. You've had to face challenges that most of us probably will never see. You've had to wipe the spit from your face, erase the whispers from your ears, and cry tears of sorrow that most of us will never cry.
But I challenge you to not resist evil with evil, but to overcome evil with love. Why? Because it's the only way our religious culture will ever see that God's love extends to everyone and not just those who believe a certain way or ascribe to certain dogmatic principles. You're the teachers and we're the pupils. You're putting on display what it looks like to thrive and love in a culture that doesn't love back. You're showing the world what it looks like to be who you were created to be as the stones come hurling toward you. You're showing the world what God's love really looks like by withstanding the strong currents of national and international discrimination and bigotry, all the while doing the best you can in loving your significant others and the people around you.
I believe that in my lifetime, I'll see an American Christian culture that will accept the LGBT community as their own. I believe I'll get to witness breakthroughs in Christian thought when it comes to gay rights, and you are gonna be the frontrunners for that through your love, patience, humility, kindness, and faith.
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