Earth

You know it’ll be a good day when you roll out of bed with a rant in your heart.

As you know, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that gay marriage is constitutional in all fifty states. Which immediately sparked a good amount of contradiction on my Facebook newsfeed from people on both sides. I’ve seen unmistakable joy: “we’re finally able to practice our freedom to love and marry who we choose.” And I’ve seen disgust. I’ve seen flat-out anger.

And of course I’ve seen the threats to move to Canada.

But the best one – oh my Lord, this is better than I could have imagined – was when a lady put up an article on Facebook about how homosexuality is considered different from other sins (in that it is more accepted by society than others) and someone commented, “Here’s the thing, though: it doesn’t affect you. So why does it matter?”

Um, what?

Number one: perhaps if you had read the article, sir, you may have seen that it was an article written to Christ-followers on how to approach homosexuality in a world that accepts this sin that is still considered in the realm of God to be just that: sin. Just as lying and adultery and theft and hate are sins. And there’s nothing in the Bible to say to detest one sin more than the other; but as followers of Christ, we are expected to lean away from those things that have been, are now, and forever will be detested by our God. But that article wasn’t written by someone trying to sway the homosexual community away from sin: it was written by a Christ-follower to Christ-followers as a guideline for how to approach homosexuality when we and our ideals are slowly becoming the vast minority in our nation. Just as homosexuals were shunned for so long, Christ-like morals and beliefs are slowly being elbowed out of sight, and comments like this gentleman’s are forcing us into silence about the foundational beliefs that we cling to.

You know what, the ruling doesn’t directly affect me. I am a straight woman with heterosexual inclinations, and I don’t know what it’s like to be told that I can’t marry in the way that I feel drawn. And honestly, I don’t care. Marry who you like, be with who makes you happy – I don’t give a rat’s ass. But it kills me when the motivation behind all this is equality, and while you can start planning your two-tux wedding, I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut when I think that it’s flat-out wrong (in the unbiblical sense) for fear of being called “small-minded” or “prejudiced.”

Oh, so you’re allowed to take part in that equality by the way you live and throw that in my face, but when I try to present my perspective or (God-forbid) reveal that my opinion is different than yours, I’m the one expected to change my mentality or keep my mouth shut.

What the hell is equal about that?

And this doesn’t just stop at homosexuality, it’s everywhere. The minute you open your mouth supporting a belief that has been traditionally upheld in this great nation, you’re suddenly twisted into the closed-minded, needs-to-be-shown-the-light bigot who has no tolerance for anybody else and their beliefs.

Is that not the same thing you’re doing to me?

This post is not a cry against homosexuality. I’m against it, I think it’s wrong, but that’s not the point of this post. Because my job is not to sway people on what they believe, just as I don’t want to be criticized on what I believe. But I am sick and tired of watching others arguing about “well, you shouldn’t think like that” and “well, maybe you should take a different perspective” and – like my new favorite comment – “it doesn’t affect you, so why does it matter?” Why state an opinion on something that doesn’t influence you directly?

The hell it doesn’t affect me. This decision does affect me, thank you very much. It affects me because now I have to figure out how to say what I think without “being offensive.” In the country that says “In God We Trust” and historically puts so much faith in God when the shit hits the fan, now His followers are having to curb their opinions and hold their tongues when the foundational things that they believe are wrong are not only being upheld by that country’s highest court, but also being thrown in their faces as “right.” And I tell you what, it matters because of comments like yours, sir. I could totally stay in the dark and keep my mouth shut on matters that won’t directly influence me.

But is that not how your landmark decision was passed yesterday? Did it not start with people tired of staying quiet in their closets for decades?

Or are only the supposedly-innovative thinkers allowed to have their say anymore?

While you’re looking at old documents trying to figure out what’s constitutional, why don’t you run on over to the Bill of Rights – the tip-damn-top of that little text – and check out that “freedom of speech” amendment.

It’s constitutional for me to say what I think, and you don’t have to like it. Just like it’s constitutional for you to marry who you like, and I don’t have to pretend that I support it.