Think love...Do not teach Hate

I grew up in a very conservative Christian home, albeit in the very deep South. The South where bigotry dies hard and my mother went to high school at an all white school. I wouldn't call my parents bigots, but I also wouldn't say they were progressive either. I was never taught hate, but love and appreciation for all of God's creatures. But, tolerance for all men is something that the stereotypical Christian home doesn't exactly embrace. While Christians believe they are doing the "right" thing by preaching The "Word", they often pick and choose which verses apply and which don't.


My husband asked me earlier today what I was going to blog about today and I wasn't sure. You never know where as a writer your next inspiration will come from. Then it happened. Something a friend posted via Facebook, and I knew. It was immediate. It was inspiring. It was something I needed to get off my chest. It was exactly what I wanted to share about my family. The way I raise my children. What I teach my children. It was a poll. 'Do you support gay marriage?"

My answer wasn't something I had to think about. It was something I feel so strongly about that I can't believe it is something that The United States of America is so divided on. We believe in religious freedom, we were founded on it. We believe in freedom of speech. We believe all men were created equal.....really? That is what we say. Do we believe it? Not so much.


I believe it. I have taught my children tolerance for ALL. For everyone. That is ALL INCLUSIVE. That means, it doesn't matter who you love, what the color of your skin is, if you believe in God, or Santa Clause or The Boogeyman. We love everyone. Why? Because it is the human thing to do. Regardless of your religious beliefs, and especially if they are Christian, God said love everyone, and forgive everyone, and vengeance is Mine.


That doesn't mean I don't think you have the right to your opinion. We all know the old addage about opinions. I believe that I am responsible for me, my actions, my deeds. I am not responsible for the morality of others. Nor are you. I know, I know, preach My word and all that. Fine preach all you want. State your case, state your belief, state your opinion. But, remember this, you live in a country that was founded on, and by those, trying to escape religious persecution.

We have seperation of Church and State for a reason. It is unamerican to try and mandate morality which is derived from religious beliefs.

We have experienced our share of bigotry in my house. We live in the proverbial "Bible Belt", and we live in a very "white" township where it is not at all uncommon to see a Confederate flag flying in the front yard, or back of a 4 X 4, loud and proud. My son was in second grade and developed a friendship with a little girl in his class who was "brown". She was Indian, that is not to say she was Native American but that she was from the middle east, specifically India. He came home and told me the boys at school were being mean to him to the point it escalated to pushing him down and kicking on the playground.

But, we will not be deterred, we will not give in. We forgive those who trespass against us, and we love our neighbors, regardless of age, creed, color or beliefs.