As a new mom, I've had to learn that there is a very careful, incredibly meticulous art to disagreeing. I never dwelt too heavily on whether or not my son's clothes were organic cotton, or thought twice about the ingredients in his Johnson & Johnson's bath time soap. I bring him most places barefoot and let him climb up the slide at the playground. Now, I don't know how "correct" all of that is, but here's what I do know: some of you will disagree with my parenting.
There are those who will scan over the prior paragraph and think little of it or maybe even agree. Some will read and think, "I prefer my parenting style over hers", to which I say, "To each his own". However, there are also those who will chastise, belittle and mock those of us with similar mindsets, both publicly and privately, until we are convinced that we must be what they say we are: bad parents, unloving parents, careless parents.
I'm not here to convict, in fact, I'm not even looking to discuss parenting styles and preferences. This is simply my most personal and prevalent example to suggest that perhaps we have lost the art of disagreeing, or at least that we lack the ability to do it well.
Examples of this loss are evident in every niche of society, from LGBT community bashings to race violence and poor cultural assumptions. A woman in a hijab is not always a terrorist and a man covered in tattoos is not always irresponsible or uneducated. As a Louisiana girl, I believe Phil Robertson said it best:
"Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate." -Phil Robertson
We have lost the ability to believe differently and get along. As a Christian, I believe there are many poor stereotypes that I've had to falsely pay for within these last few weeks, even though I cry in terror and hope for rebuilding right alongside my homosexual brothers and sisters.
A little over a year ago, gay marriage was legalized in many parts of the United States, and our nation was sent into chaos. Two weeks ago, horror struck a predominantly homosexual nightclub, and yet again, we misguidedly rant in hate and repulsion against one another. Lives were lost, and we somehow lose sight of that fact because we are so heavily rooted in our pride that we drown one another with it.
Think on this: what would our world be if we set aside pride in the face of difference?
"Love beyond difference. Love beyond opinion. Love beyond faults and limits. Love beyond race, beyond age, beyond gender. Love when who I am is not who you are, when where I am is not where you are, and what I am is not what you choose to be. Love brothers and sisters who love brothers or sisters.
What matters is Christ, and Christ is love. So in all things, on all days, love."
