Research!

I fear all homophobiacs

K, well I'll kick off a few comments on the Christian front.

I'm a Christian. I do not suffer from homophobia. Some Christians do. Some sides of religion are just ugly as hell and they bring out the worst rather than the best in people.

I do believe that homosexuality is a sin. As a Christian I have to believe this because this is what I read from the Bible and what I can ascertain from it's teachings. That is not a popular concept at all, and to be honest I don't care much for it. Be that as it may, there's no call in the Bible or anywhere else to berate people for their choice. God provided free will to all, and people may exercise that free will however they see fit. God's people don't always pick up on that part.

If anyone wishes to know what I believe, I will tell them. If I feel compelled to speak on what I believe un-asked, I will do so. Once. I won't preach to people, nor will I belittle anyone that has made a choice that doesn't agree with my beliefs. That is entirely their business, and between them and God whether or not they believe in him.

The huge misconception among the 'religious' is that you absolutely HAVE to do everything in your power to save someone, and that what you do matters more than anything else. I think this is a HUGE misunderstanding of scripture. As Christians we have a responsibility to live lives that reflect the little glory we've been shown. However our works don't save us. We can't 'earn' our way into heaven anymore than we can proclaim someone 'saved'. In the end that's God's job.

At any rate, that misconception is what spurs a lot of the more zealous folks to berate, belittle, and bully non-believers and, in the case of this question, homosexuals into seeing things their way. And while I don't know that it's exactly homophobia, it is pretty damn stupid.

My sister, who was recently married to her partner, was fortunate to live in an environment that was extremely gay friendly. However, even in that environment they would still have people yell slurs at them from cars, or the occasional comment made at a social gathering. It made her feel like an outcast, regardless of how much love and understanding her family heaped on her. It doesn't take much at all to make people feel like scum.

As for my opinion, as a human being and especially as an American I feel that everyone has the right to pursue their lives and their happiness anyway they can so long as it doesn't hurt others. If a man finds his perfect match in another man, or even an imperfect match, that's their business and best of luck to them. After seeing so many years of 'proper' marriages dissolve and disintegrate from abuse, selfishness, and idiocy, I can't in any good conscience claim that the sanctity of marriage is being violated by the union of two people of the same sex. They could probably do it better anyway.