Topic #5: Bigotry?

Hypocrisy An article on CNN Opinion has raised an issue about same-sex marriage, and with over 6 thousand comments, the article has stirred numbers of peoples emotions and thoughts. The title reads, Bigotry drags marriage back to Supreme Court. There is an editors note in the beginning, acknowledging the writer, LZ Granderson, as the journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and also as a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary, and of course, suggesting the readers to follow him on twitter. Right from the start, anyone can predict what the article will try to convey: same-sex marriage should be legalized. Granderson, surprisingly, opens his commentary with a story back in the summer of 1958. The story involves an interracial couple, authorized with a marriage certificate, who were sent to jail because the police officers stormed into the couples house and said [the certificate]s no good here. The journalist moves on to say how only two-thirds of Americans would be fine if a family member marries interracially. Granderson comments on the statistic: The laws have changed, but sadly, our culture in many aspects, still lags behind. He, then, talks about the relationship between the racism of back then and homophobia of today. He says, both are offsprings from the same parents: bigotry and fear. Is racism wrong? Yes. Is homophobia wrong? Sure. Hating on people with different sexuality is as wrong as hating on people with different races; the Old Testament instructs us to love our neighbor, not to tell our neighbors God hates them and bully them in school. Now, here is where Granderson lost me. Parents see their child playing near fire. Should the parents not warn or tell the kids the danger of playing close to fire? A high school student finds his friend smoking. Should he not convince his friend to stop smoking? I notice my roommate partying all night and not attending

classes. Should I not remind him of the consequences of his actions? When Christians hear their neighbors believe in something untrue, the Christians should help their neighbors to the right path. It is correct to say someone has homophobia when he curses gays and lesbians because he despise them but it is not correct to say someone has homophobia when he does not vote for same-sex marriage because he is Christian. Why? The former person shows an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people, (from Dictionary.com), simply put, fear of homosexuality. The latter person shows his firmness of belief despite the media and culture, simply put, fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 declares, Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge. A Christian should fear the Lord so that he may be able to know what is true and what is not. When Christians fear the Lord, they will know conforming to the societys view on same-sex marriage is not right. America had its own growing pain as a nation: racism. The journalist points out, racism was wrong long ago, and it still is. The journalist further points out, ban of same-sex marriage is wrong, and it always will be. I, then, look into the unchanging Words of the unchanging God. God makes a covenant with Abraham (or Abram, his name has not changed, yet), all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Gen. 12:3). Did God pick certain types of people to be blessed through Abraham? Nope. Should we pick certain races of people to welcome in and shun away? Nope. God does not seem to segregate people by their colors. The Old Testament agrees with calling racism wrong, always did, and always do. What about homophobia? Well, actually, the Old Testament does not say anything about homophobia, but it does talk about homosexual relationship. God commands Moses to give His instructions to the Israelites, and one of the instructions is, Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman (Lev. 18:22). As any not-so-innocent person would know, marriage usually

involves sex. I doubt everyone practices no-sex-until-married, regardless of their sexual orientation. So, how ironic would it be for Christians to believe a male should not have a sexual intercourse with another male, and at the same time believe a male should get married to another male? God calls the act of homosexual relationship detestable. And to clarify, any kinds of heterosexual relationship are not pleasing to God, as He lists out numerous possible heterosexual relationships and calls those wicked. Granderson continues his article. He talks about an example of shaming bigotry. He tells of one conversation between two people, about responsible procreation. One person says the procreation is a reason why a marriage should only allowed between a man and a woman. One person, as the journalist says, destroys that reasoning by giving an example where the state should not allow a couple older than 55 to marry, because there are not a lot of children coming out of that marriage. He gives another example, where a couple drove 740 miles roundtrip for 52 weeks just to foster and raise a child, because gay adoption was not legal in their state. A question I want to ask is, what makes someones opinion a shameful bigotry and others opinion a justified right to call another persons opinion a bigotry? Granderson says bigotry, I say hypocrisy. He speaks of his opinions as universally accepted, and labels others with different views as intolerance to accept his own views. There is a God whose opinion is absolute, ultimate. It is essential to acknowledge Gods thoughts and will and He wants (and tells) us to love our neighbors as ourselves (whether they have similar opinions or not). There will be persecutions for holding Gods opinion as truth. I, even, may fall sometimes and not listen to God for knowledge and truth. But, there is one thing I truly know: God will help me whenever I stumble, just like He picked up the Israelites who repeatedly sinned against Him. I also know God will guide me to the right path

like He has guided the Israelites with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:21). He is with me, and I am with Him. I was always little hesitant to talk about same-sex marriage, because all I wanted was to be accepted by people. Now, I have a bit more confidence to say what I believe in. If LZ Granderson can proclaim his views that boldly, I should be even bolder when I proclaim Gods truth. Of course, I shall proclaim with love and a caring heart, not with hatred or a condescending tone.