dumb and doma

Y'all, I live in the South. North Carolina born and raised. (spin it like a helicopter!...no?) A state that just this past summer voted to add a constitutional amendement that defines marriage as 1 man + 1 woman.

Boy, I am not proud.

With Supreme Court hearings this week concerning California's Prop 8 and DOMA legistlation, my Facebook newsfeed has been blowing up with arguements, opinions, and red equals signs.

People on both sides of this debate get ridiculous, but there is one group of folks that just dumbfounds me:

The parents who righteously oppose marriage equality.

Why?

Because it's my opinion that no human can know the meaning of "unconditional love" like a parent does. I can only imagine holding your child for the first time and feeling the overwhelming truth of God's grace and mercy rush in.

We don't get to decide whom we love.

And I don't buy into "love the sinner, hate the sin". That's not love. That sin that you find so detestable in a person is woven into the fabric of their very being. It is as much a part of them as his eyes or her laugh. Hating a person's orientation is the same as hating the sinner.

And I'm sorry, I just can't hate people's kids. Maybe I get mad at them for walking through my grass or driving recklessly through our neighborhood, but I refuse to hate them for loving differently than I do.

So to my friends with kids: when I see you post against gay marriage, I always have to wonder how you would react if your child had a closet to come out of.

Never EVER would I want my son or daughter to feel like they are unnatural, dysfunctional, or anything less than how God desired. How could I preach the love of Jesus Christ and yet want to deny my children the respect and value that they deserve?

I hope those friends's kids all turn out to be nice, straight boys and girls for the simple fact that no child should have to face fear, shame, and disappointment at the hands of their parents.

But if even one of them blossoms into a gay adult, I hope that those same parents find it in their hearts to mourn NOT the loss of a son or daughter, but instead mourn a culture that discriminates against a social minority.

I would be devastated if my children couldn't safely create and raise their own families all because their lifestyle was deemed inferior to my own.

God created every living thing with a purpose, and I believe he created gays lovingly - not as an abomination. Maybe it is the pupose of the homo sapien to teach the hetero sapien about love.