I am a Caucasian, Christian, heterosexual married mother of two, and I support the National Day of Silence.
This event brings attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Visit www.dayofsilence.org for more details.
You may wonder why I would bring my ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status and religious affiliation into this conversation. I do so because there is a very loud voice from a strikingly similar demographic to mine that criticizes the Day of Silence and the people it is meant to help — and they often do so in front of media outlets.
Whether you are Christian or not, I want to raise awareness that there is more than one Christian voice about this matter. There are thousands of Christians who are applauding the decisions by Iowa’s Supreme Court and Vermont’s Legislature earlier this month to legalize gay marriage.
There are thousands of Christians who believe that working for the civil rights of sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people) is a moral and ethical and, yes, a religious issue.
Many members of the church I attend are proud owners of a “Love Thy Neighbor” shirt. These shirts say:
Love Thy Neighbor
Thy Homeless neighbor Thy Muslim neighbor
Thy Black neighbor
Thy Gay neighbor
Thy White neighbor
Thy Jewish neighbor
Thy Transgendered neighbor
Thy Christian neighbor
Thy Atheist neighbor
Thy Racist neighbor
Thy Addicted neighbor
Now, loving thy neighbor doesn’t mean that one has to agree with everything thy neighbor does. For instance, one doesn’t have to embrace racist attitudes or fail to set important boundaries with addicted family members. But Christians are called to love one another, and slandering people with name-calling, kicking them out of churches, and telling them they are not the work of God is not, in my opinion, loving them.
Furthermore, allowing practices to continue that make it uncomfortable at best — and unsafe at worst — for people to be honest about who they were born as is again, in my opinion, un-Christian.
Jesus was known for loving people who, in his time, were considered unworthy of love. As for me and my family, we follow this path of love as best we can.
This month, as Christians celebrate Easter and the renewal it brings, as Jews celebrate the miracle of Passover, and as many celebrate the coming of spring, let us not forget those who still feel silenced by our silence. Please join me in lifting your voice in support of the National Day of Silence on Friday, April 17, and in encouraging your youth to do the same.
For more information:
www.studio3b.org/servlet/the-Love-Thy-Neighbor-Items/Categories
