I posted this photo to Facebook last night and then stepped
away from my computer to get the kids ready for bed. As one friend put it, “That was like dropping a water balloon off
of a building and then not waiting around to see who got soaked.” He was right.
By the time I sat back down in front of my computer, a heated debate had
erupted all over my wall.
What instantly struck me was the fact that most of the
people completely missed the point of the picture. The point was NOT to condone, condemn nor
debate homosexuality; the point was that bigotry is an act of hatefulness, one
clearly depicted in the images of the adults and children holding signs. The point is bigotry in any form is wrong.
Many people quoted Scripture which was focused on
homosexuality; again, not the point of the picture. The picture is making a comparison between
acts of love and acts of hate. No matter
how you personally feel about homosexuality, you don’t have the right to judge
other people. Bigotry comes in many
forms. It can be against color, race,
religion, sexual preference, etc.
Bigotry in all forms is simply a cowardly act of spreading hatred. It is not an action of love.
No one holds a sign up that reads: “God hates you,” as an act of love. No one holds a sign up that reads: “God hates Fags,” as an act of love. Jesus didn’t and wouldn’t act this way; nor
should His followers.
Ironically, a passage of Scripture that was not quoted in
the debate was Mark 12:28-33. It reads
like this:
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.
Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the
commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than
these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in
saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him
with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is
more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Last I checked, loving your neighbor didn’t mean shoving a
sign in their face that says God hates them or that they are going to hell.
Again, the above picture was not about whether
you think homosexuality is right or wrong; it is about bigotry being wrong.
“Faith, hope and love…but
the greatest of these is love.” I
Corinthians 13:13
Great post, Susan, with a message we seem to forget all too often.
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