It seems every week facebook offers a new cause to support via status update. I’m not sure how exactly new money gets funneled into cancer research or preventing teenagers from falling into a deep fryer, but people proudly support their moms, cats and loved ones in the chain letters of facebook.
Today I noticed a few friends who sported: NAME is a straight ally and today is National Coming Out Day. I’m coming out for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality because it’s 2010 and almost 90% of LGBT youth experience harassment in school, and too many lives have been lost. Donate your status and join me by clicking here: http://bit.ly/cX0mcD
I almost reposted. Or shared. Or liked. Or whatever the facebook version of retweet might be. And I’m nothing close to a gay-rights activist. Or even a passive participant in the sexual orientation conversation. I’m pretty anopinionated (isn’t that the state of being without opinion? And what’s with me making up all kinds of words and phrases today?).
However, these support statuses came on the heels of last week’s Glee (and apparently, as a show, you either love or hate it) which broached the topic of faith and spirituality but slid in the homosexuality card. One of the characters, Kurt, a self-proclaimed atheist (who I believe technically would fall under the umbrella of agnostic, but the one who makes up words shouldn’t get all pointy-pointy) states that he has difficulty believing in a god who would make him gay and then make him endure the criticisms of Christians who torment him for being that way. That, on top of his mother dying at a young age.
I hate that when opportunity for dialogue arises, conversation immediately turns there. Have we not made any impression on the world beyond this topic? But a wise person listens to his critic to make sure there is no validity in his argument.
I appreciated that Glee gave us a story, a person. We wanted Kurt to have his dad back. We wanted Kurt to feel loved and supported. Maybe some of us even wanted Kurt to know that Jesus wept. And a story takes it from “how do you feel about homosexuality” to “how can we help Kurt?”
I almost re-whatevered my status not because this particular issue lies close to my heart, but because I want to rage against it being an issue.
They’re not issues, they’re people.
No person deserves to be bullied or ridiculed because they experience love. I don’t care what side of the fence you land on with the born-that-way vs. choice, sin vs. not sin, and clergy-ordaining issues. If you’re one who follows Jesus, then our first instinct should be to realize that any person is worth protecting simply because they’re human. Take your choice of Matt, Mark, Luke or John and you’ll see Jesus do that every time.
Oh, now, stop with your she-thinks-you-can-do-anything-so-what-about-sin? thoughts. Why immediately go there? Why immediately protect your issue rather than living in the reality of a real person? Please don’t contribute to the case for shows to portray Christians as less-than-loving. Don’t be scared to be wrong.
Now, Finn’s later turning from the faith of grilled cheesus gives fodder for future discussion, but let’s save that for another day… that’s a whole new chapter to read.