Bending and Twisting

"Stand up and walk out of your history." - Phil McGraw

Today was quite a day.
Where do I even begin?

Well, for starters, we are discussing homosexuality in my Marriage & Family class.
And our professor brought in a guest today.
And guess what?
He was gay.
And he told us all about why we should accept gay people.
He told us he has been living with a partner for 11 years.
Here are some interesting quotes from said gay man (didn't catch his name):
"Believe me - I tried everything to make myself straight, but I couldn't deny who I am."
"I was raped when I was three...I have known I was gay since I was little."
"I don't think life is supposed to be miserable - I think we should be happy."
"I believe in Jesus Christ."
"Some people go their whole lives without knowing true love; it's a shame - why should gay people not experience it?"
"I have decided to accept who I am..."
"I think there is a lot in the Bible that has been written by men, not God ... I think there is a lot that isn't of God..."

Interesting, huh?
He allowed questions at the end...but I couldn't just ask him my questions without losing my cool.

And so, as he spoke, I jotted down some interesting thoughts of my own.

"Maybe you did try to rehabilitate yourself to become straight. But do you know that being gay isn't something you are born in to? Do you not believe that it is something satan uses for our destruction? Do you refuse to believe that because then you would have to struggle with yourself every single day to deal with it and still be accountable to God?"

"Yes, a horrible, terrible, inconceivably bad thing happened to you. I cannot begin to imagine to know what it has been like living with that. But then you said you knew you were gay when you were little...do you think your rape had nothing to do with that 'discovery'? Do you know that in a recent study, 7 out of 8 people who identified themselves as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual had rape, alcoholism, etc. in their past, usually childhood? Do you really believe this originated in your brain by some abnormality in your DNA? Since you believe in things beyond our own planet, you therefore do believe that there is an evil force in our world - and you also believe he had nothing to do with your pain and struggles with yourself?"

"Who said life is supposed to be happy all the time? Through Jesus, yes, we can have hope in a future beyond our own stunted lives - that should make us happy. But does that mean we get to do whatever we want and 'be happy' all the time?"

"You believe in Jesus Christ? Maybe you believe in part of Him. You can only serve two masters. No, I am not perfect. I have my own struggles, we all have our own problems. But we can learn from each other. You do not know everything. You, like everyone else, needs Jesus' cleansing blood. But we cannot pick and choose which teachings we want to believe."

"Yeah, some people do go their whole entire lives without knowing romantic love. That can disappoint our human nature, our human desire to fulfill that kind of need. But what is more important than that love? Following God's commands - He loves us more than any human ever could. Shouldn't we, out of love, serve Him first, not our human desires?"

"You have decided to accept who you are? You've given up! I can't imagine going my entire life struggling with something like that, and why God allowed that to happen to you, I cannot answer. But I can see that He allowed it to test your trust and reliance in Him and His word. But living an entire life fighting something like that would be hard - apparently too hard for you. You have stopped fighting it because it's easier. No, it won't ever go away. But that doesn't mean that God's commands do."

"Unfortunately, you believe those commands were put into the Bible by men, therefore justifying your decision. How can something be so clear to me, yet so unfounded to you? I cannot explain it any more, I can only hope that you change your mind."

Whew.
If I had been speaking with him alone, I might have said these things to him.
But I feel inadequate to try and dissuade him - I feel like someone with more religious ability than me should confront people about issues like these.
I am still growing and learning.
If you disagree with me, please leave your comments.

And after that, I went to Sonic.
And the lady who brought my drink was crying, for heaven's sake!
She said she had a terrible toothache, but they were short workers, and couldn't find any to take her shift, so she had to stay there instead of go to the doctor.
I wish I could have been bold enough to barge in there and advocate for her.
But I told her I was sorry she was in pain, and I hoped she would feel better.
I am a mouse.
And I didn't even think to pray with her.

Like I said, I am not prepared.
I am selfish.
Totally focused on me, me, me.
But I am willing to change and grow.
That makes the difference.

"You can bend it and twist it. You can misuse it and abuse it. But even God can't change the truth." - Michael Levy