I have been pretty quiet on my blog for over a month, yet it's been during a time that amazing things have been happening in Utah. With gay marriage currently a reality here, we have also experienced a push back from a lot of people. The Deseret News, for example, has been full of opinion pieces about Judicial tyranny, freedom of speech, and political correctness.
I let myself get a little bit too involved in the readers' comments sections of the newspapers, but I feel more compelled than ever to speak up for what I believe to be right. Here is a response to comments on the forums:
In one article from the Deseret News' editorial board, the writers claimed the following: "Utah has not changed its definition of marriage. A single federal judge has used a novel interpretation of the Constitution to prevent enforcement of that widely used definition."
My response:
Actually, Utah voters changed the definition of marriage during the 2004 election; as it turns that law that narrowly defines marriage is in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
What concerns me most about this editorial and other articles is the dishonesty presented in the arguments. Surely the board is better informed of the functions of the three branches of government. Deep down, the editorial board knows that it is the duty of the judge to determine whether or laws passed by legislators or a popular vote are fair and don't violate one's Constitutional rights. You are not telling the truth when you call Judge Shelby and "activist judge" who "overreached his authority."
Stick to your religious convictions; fight for your religious freedom; but don't continue with these dishonest editorials. I expect more from a newspaper owned by a church that claims to be above this.
Of course, Facebook and Twitter has been full of posts about this topic, and I wanted to share some snippets from some other blogs that were shared over the past week.
Rachel Held Evans wrote some compelling words in her blog, and I thought the following hit the target:
"In short, we like to gang up. We like to fashion weapons out of the verses that affect us the least and then “clobber” the minority with them. Or better yet, conjure up some saccharine language about speaking the truth in love before breaking out our spec-removing tweezers to help get our minds off of these uncomfortable logs in our own eyes.
"We see this in the story of the religious leaders who ganged up on the woman caught in adultery. She was such an easy target: a woman, probably poor, disempowered, and charged with the go-to favorite of the self-righteous—sexual sin. When they brought her to Jesus, they were using her as an example to test him, to see how “biblical” his response to her would be. (See Deuteronomy 22:23-14.) Jesus knelt down and scribbled in the sand before saying, “He who is without sin can cast the first stone.” They dropped their stones."
Micah J. Murray wrote a blog post last June that has been passed around several times this past week. Here's some things he had to say about the oft-used phrase "love the sinner, but hate the sin":
"It’s a special sort of condescending love we’ve reserved for the gay community. We’ll agree to love them, accept them, welcome them – but we reserve the right to see them as different. We reserve the right to say “them” instead of “us”. We embrace them with arms full of disclaimers about how all the sinners are welcome here. And yet, they’re the only ones we constantly remind of their status as sinners, welcome sinners.
"In all this, we turn our backs on all the gay brothers and sisters already in our church, already saved, already following Jesus. Our us vs. them narrative leaves little space for those who didn’t choose to be gay but did choose to follow Jesus. Using “gay” and “sinner” interchangeably, we force them away from the Table and into the shadows."
I continue to ponder why we let what others say about us have so much power. Why do we struggle so much to be accepted? I believe it is because we are not meant to be alone. After all, it was mentioned in the creation that "it is not good that man be alone." Unfortunately, we often use words to isolate people. We say things to condemn the sins of others instead of quietly living life with the intention of eliminating our own sins; we have mistakenly learned that the easiest path to self improvement is by condemning others.
The good news is I am seeing a major shift in attitudes. While I believe there will be a tremendous amount of backlash towards the gay community in Utah for a next several months, I believe we will also witness more allies coming forward and speaking up for us. I have hope for seeing a massive outpouring of love that will spread out and change this state in country for the better.
I let myself get a little bit too involved in the readers' comments sections of the newspapers, but I feel more compelled than ever to speak up for what I believe to be right. Here is a response to comments on the forums:
In one article from the Deseret News' editorial board, the writers claimed the following: "Utah has not changed its definition of marriage. A single federal judge has used a novel interpretation of the Constitution to prevent enforcement of that widely used definition."
My response:
Actually, Utah voters changed the definition of marriage during the 2004 election; as it turns that law that narrowly defines marriage is in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
What concerns me most about this editorial and other articles is the dishonesty presented in the arguments. Surely the board is better informed of the functions of the three branches of government. Deep down, the editorial board knows that it is the duty of the judge to determine whether or laws passed by legislators or a popular vote are fair and don't violate one's Constitutional rights. You are not telling the truth when you call Judge Shelby and "activist judge" who "overreached his authority."
Stick to your religious convictions; fight for your religious freedom; but don't continue with these dishonest editorials. I expect more from a newspaper owned by a church that claims to be above this.
Of course, Facebook and Twitter has been full of posts about this topic, and I wanted to share some snippets from some other blogs that were shared over the past week.
Rachel Held Evans wrote some compelling words in her blog, and I thought the following hit the target:
"In short, we like to gang up. We like to fashion weapons out of the verses that affect us the least and then “clobber” the minority with them. Or better yet, conjure up some saccharine language about speaking the truth in love before breaking out our spec-removing tweezers to help get our minds off of these uncomfortable logs in our own eyes.
"We see this in the story of the religious leaders who ganged up on the woman caught in adultery. She was such an easy target: a woman, probably poor, disempowered, and charged with the go-to favorite of the self-righteous—sexual sin. When they brought her to Jesus, they were using her as an example to test him, to see how “biblical” his response to her would be. (See Deuteronomy 22:23-14.) Jesus knelt down and scribbled in the sand before saying, “He who is without sin can cast the first stone.” They dropped their stones."
Micah J. Murray wrote a blog post last June that has been passed around several times this past week. Here's some things he had to say about the oft-used phrase "love the sinner, but hate the sin":
"It’s a special sort of condescending love we’ve reserved for the gay community. We’ll agree to love them, accept them, welcome them – but we reserve the right to see them as different. We reserve the right to say “them” instead of “us”. We embrace them with arms full of disclaimers about how all the sinners are welcome here. And yet, they’re the only ones we constantly remind of their status as sinners, welcome sinners.
"In all this, we turn our backs on all the gay brothers and sisters already in our church, already saved, already following Jesus. Our us vs. them narrative leaves little space for those who didn’t choose to be gay but did choose to follow Jesus. Using “gay” and “sinner” interchangeably, we force them away from the Table and into the shadows."
I continue to ponder why we let what others say about us have so much power. Why do we struggle so much to be accepted? I believe it is because we are not meant to be alone. After all, it was mentioned in the creation that "it is not good that man be alone." Unfortunately, we often use words to isolate people. We say things to condemn the sins of others instead of quietly living life with the intention of eliminating our own sins; we have mistakenly learned that the easiest path to self improvement is by condemning others.
The good news is I am seeing a major shift in attitudes. While I believe there will be a tremendous amount of backlash towards the gay community in Utah for a next several months, I believe we will also witness more allies coming forward and speaking up for us. I have hope for seeing a massive outpouring of love that will spread out and change this state in country for the better.
