There will always be hate in the world. For some, unknown reason, we as humans cannot simply exist in harmony. For some, hatred and aggression are their go-to methods of handing things that make them uncomfortable. And with homosexuality, many people use the argument “God hates homosexuals” or “it’s against the Bible” or “it’s wrong."

No.Stop.

The fact of the matter is we do not have the right to judge the sinfulness of another human. We are all equals in God’s eyes, and each of us in need of redemption. “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8). Christ died for every one of us. Not just the straight, not just the priests or the holy men.

All of us: Man, Woman, Child, Gay, Straight, Single-mother. Christ died to forgive all our sins.

No one has the right to justify their hate with the Christian faith. They don’t get to tell me that God, a God of Love and compassion, a God who tells us to Love one another, hates His own creation. And they especially don’t get to tell me that He has given them the divine right to judge another human for their sins.

Because we are all guilty of sin. We are all guilty of sinning against God and His Commandments. The sin of adultery is one many have committed; and, it’s the same sin people would condemn gays for, for that is the sin they are committing. Love is not a sin. And how can one say that their sin is less when it is, in fact, the same sin of having sex outside of marriage? All of us are guilty of sin and in need of God’s mercy, so where do we get away with telling someone that they are undeserving of that mercy? That their sin is so great they cannot be forgiven? That God hates them?

We cannot know the mind of God, but Jesus tells us that God is Love. That’s God’s greatest commandment is “love your neighbor.” How can we love our neighbor if all we tell them is that God, a loving, compassionate God, hates them? Where do we get away with twisting God’s image to suit our own personal comfort levels?

Some will argue that the Bible specifically prohibits homosexuality, saying; “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination," (Leviticus 18:2). Yes, the Old Testament does say this, but as with everything historical, context must be taken into account. The Old Testament also says that a rape victim must marry her rapist, and that a woman can be sold as a slave for life, whereas a man is free after six years. The Bible is an OLD document, the Old Testament even older. It was written for a different people of a different time— a patriarchy dominated by religion that viewed women as wives, home keepers, and bartering objects.

If someone is going to use the Bible to justify their hate for homosexuals, then they must also stand by every other literal translation. They cannot pick and choose.

Our charge in this life is not to judge each other. Christ never tells us to punish one another. He welcomes the outcasts, the sinners, the lepers, the whores. Our charge is to be more Christ-like, and Christ never picketed a funeral, shouting that the deceased was going to Hell. Christ never tried to beat the homosexuality out of someone. Christ loves all of us, every single one of us, with a love we cannot comprehend.

So, if homosexuality makes you uncomfortable, if you feel the need to hate it, don’t use your faith as an excuse. People have used faith to justify horrific things, do not be one of them. It is not our place to judge our fellow man. It is our place to try, to love God, and to love our neighbor, for they too are God’s precious child. Christians are New Testament people who live by the one Commandment that our Lord gave us “to love one another as I have loved you,” (John 13:34-35).