Who Do We Think We Are?

Today, I'm thinking about equality. Maybe it's because I've received a number of notices about the passage of Proposition 8 as well as Arkansas and Florida voting for anti-equality legislation. I still have a hard time understanding why, in this day and age, so many people harbor such resentment against those who they consider to be different than they are. The funny thing is, if you really think about it, every single person is different that us. Pure and simple, this is oppression.

In many ways, I am very lucky. I'm a heterosexual, white married woman with two children. I live a middle class lifestyle. In my life, I truly have no laws that prevent me from some of the most basic human rights. I often wonder what it would be like if all of sudden, a group of people who didn't know me decided that I could no longer enjoy the benefits of having a spouse. I could no longer make decisions for my spouse, I would be denied health benefits, or discriminated against because I was married to someone this group didn't approve of. Frankly, it would be awful. Yet that's what so many people do.

Jesus teaches us that it is not our job to judge others. This is a key theme within the New Testament. From saying that we shouldn't point out the speck in someone else eye when we have a log in our own to flat out saying that's God's job to judge another. Isn't that what we are doing here? Aren't we judging someone else based on our "logs?" If we believe that we, as humans, are created in God's image, doesn't that apply to EVERYONE! We are called to love God and love our neighbor. And our neighbor includes everyone, not just those who we like or are like us. We don't have to agree or like someone else's choices. Because if we aren't careful, someone who doesn't like our choice will make laws against us.