There has been a stirring debate on campus about the LGBTQ issue involving how members of that community and supporters of the individuals involved feel as though they should be more supported and more accepted on Houghton’s campus. Boldly, I here admit that, yes, I have a problem with this movement.
Many of you are probably thinking; “Oh boy, here it comes: the hate preaching and gay-condemning conservative Christian”. Well I’m here to tell everyone that is not the case. Yes, I am a conservative and I was raised in a Christian home with the view that being gay is wrong. However, I was not raised in a home filled with hate toward people who do not agree with my opinions.
Despite not agreeing with the views of the LGBTQ community, you are all still my brothers and sisters in Christ and I will love you as Jesus has commanded all Christians to love their neighbors.
But I will not support you in your actions to embrace the LGBTQ life.
There is a difference between the two. This distinction is where Houghton, in general, has a hard time distinguishing between acceptance and love. Therefore, let me give an example to show everyone what I mean.
Say I am addicted to pornography as well as drinking alcohol and I asked everyone I knew to accept and support my decision to do those things on a daily basis. Would many of you, knowing I am committing a sin, continue to support me and tell me what I am doing is okay? Thus accepting the fact that I will continue to do those things that you may think are wrong? I would tend to assume that no, most Christians would say what I am doing is not okay. Although they would not condone my actions, they would, for most part, love me anyway and do whatever they could to help me.
Just because people don’t accept the views of the LGBTQ community does not mean they do not love them for who they are inside. And so, if a member of the LGBTQ community asked me to support them in their decision, I would feel obligated to say no, even though I still love them. Furthermore, I would most likely receive some backlash for my difference of opinion.
There is a double standard for the LGBTQ community that no one likes to talk about; one that, although it may not sit well with many people, still needs to be brought to light.
In a nutshell, the present dialogue at Houghton says, “Christians need to support and accept the LGBTQ community more.” By making this claim, the LGBTQ community denies us our choice as Christians to stand up and say, “No, we do not want to support something we do not believe is right”.
If the LGBTQ community has the right to stand up for themselves and say, “support my choices,” I have the right to stand up and say, “no, I do not support your choices” without being ridiculed. But as I sit here writing this article, I know that many people would ridicule me.
I am tired of all the double standards being thrown around in today’s society. One is praised when supporting the LGBTQ community, but one is ridiculed and called names like “gay hater”, “too conservative”, or an “unloving” Christian when in opposition. I am tired of the way our society has deemed it “not okay’ to stand up for your faith. I am tired of the hate being preached from both sides of the spectrum. And lastly, I am tired of the continuous talks of acceptance.
Why can we not just live with the fact that people have different lifestyles? Not everyone will agree with each other and support each other’s decisions. There is such a strong desire to be accepted and loved by everyone. Yet, the world is a cruel place and, I hate to break it to you, not everybody will like everything you do. I have come to grips with that, but I think many other people still need to.
Talking about accepting one another is all well and good. If that is something you feel you want to do, then go ahead, it’s not my right to stop you. But in the end, the opinions of others don’t matter. The acceptance of a community of peers will not matter. The only person you should seek true approval and true acceptance from is God. If you feel that God has accepted you and loves you for who you are, then, in the end, that is all that matters.
2 replies on “Love Does Not Mean Acceptance”
If you believe that gays and lesbians and other people of evil Works our Brothers and Sisters in Christ you are just as confused as they are Luke 8 21
And he answered and said unto them my mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it
“I am tired of all the double standards being thrown around in today’s society. One is praised when supporting the LGBTQ community, but one is ridiculed and called names like “gay hater”, “too conservative”, or an “unloving” Christian when in opposition.”
Oh, cry me a river. So you can criticize LGBTQ people for their sexuality, but you throw a fit when others return the favor by calling you closeminded and homophobic? Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it. And y’all need to stop acting as though LGBTQ people and Christians face anywhere near the same level of discrimination and prejudice in society. So people call you mean names in the ~omg liberal media. Boo hoo. Call me when Christian kids are kicked out of their homes by their parents for being Christian, when Christian kids are forced into ex-Christian therapy, when Christians have to worry about divulging their Christian identity to others lest their physical safety be at risk, when Christians start killing themselves due to the hatred and prejudice they face, when religion is no longer a federally protected class so that Christians can be evicted and fired and denied service based on their faith. Then maybe you’ll have a clue.