On May 8th North Carolina
will vote for or against Amendment 1. This is an amendment which seeks to
recognize same sex unions in the state of North Carolina. I wasn’t aware of
this when I raised a question in Bible Study last Wednesday night about the
same sex issue.
This group is more relaxed than the traditional
Wednesday, Bible Study. It’s open to and attended by those of any faiths and it
is to discuss and entertain any questions we have about God as it relates to
the world. Questions were encouraged by the facilitators as…
“If Jesus were standing right here, right now, what would you ask Him?"
The
entire group was restless and clearly uneasy when I… A Christian who is known to study, and show herself approved stated
that I was having trouble finding ground to stand against Same Sex Marriage
when Jesus never mentioned anything about homosexuality in any of His
teachings. We have proof in the Bible that homosexuals were active then. I also
said we can clearly see that most heterosexual couples no longer hold marriage
sacred, so what are we holding out for? I referenced the Kim Kardashian 72 Day
marriage debacle.
I understand that Kim
K. is not a Christian and in all fairness, she makes no claims to be. She is an
entertainer (and an opportunist) and should be no one’s example, but why is her
right to disregard marriage permitted when there are people (albeit of the same
sex) who would look at it as a privilege, perhaps to be cherished for the rest
of their lives? Please tell me why Jesus would say we should deny them
that.
The severe stares and soul
searching behind the dozen pairs of eyes were intense! There were many unspoken
questions.
One unuttered question being posed was “exactly why do you
care so much?” I for the first time that evening thought I saw people glancing
at my naked, left ring finger. I heard myself saying “I am not Gay – not that
there’s anything wrong with that” (first of many Seinfeld references). I
received some nervous chuckles in response, but I felt the situation and the
obvious boldness of my question begged the answer.
Why "do" I care?
Realizing I was already in too deep to simply let it go, I
continued to my peers who were 98% white. “As a person of color, I am sensitive
to injustice. I guess I need to obtain a better understanding, not of the
church’s position on this matter, but of Christ’s position concerning this.”
After an uncomfortable silence, I was told perfunctorily by the facilitator, “I
will get back to you on this.”
I have found in my life, that God is
good. He always answers me when I call. There is no question I have EVER sought
an answer to that wasn’t addressed. I got an entire sermon on Sunday in which
the Senior Pastor of a HUGE congregation (easily in the thousands) addressed
these issues directly. He was unable to say what Jesus said about it, because
Jesus didn’t say anything about being homosexual, but he did reiterate the
Church’s position on it as illustrated in the Bible, and urged a strong call to
recommit to sanctity of marriage and holiness prior to it. The consecrated
union of marriage is something that this modern, NYC Native has always
subscribed to, believe it or not.
Having said that, I am not ready to share how I intend to vote on May
8th. Not sure if I will know until I go into the booth and close the curtains
behind me. This is an intimate blog but the psyche, spirit and human conditions
are quite, illogical. Right now mine is not black or white, but varying shades
of gray.
Thoughts?
