Love. I was writing a reflection paper for one of my classes on a heavily debated topic in American society when this topic came to mind. The reflection paper I was writing was pertaining to my thoughts about gay marriage. I stated my opinion on it, yet I also found myself commenting on how hateful people are towards those that see that issue differently from them. This is not just a problem with LGBT rights, but others as well. How often do we chose our friends because we have something in common with them or agree with them? I believe a better question might be how people treat those who don't agree with them differently, even if they do not realize it.
I am not trying to elaborate on my opinion about gay marriage here. That is not the point of this article, but I am always willing to share my thoughts with anyone who asks. The point of this is to share my thoughts on how a lot of society treats those with differing opinions from our own.
A big lie that many have accepted is that in order to love and accept someone, you have to agree with everything they do. That is completely false and I have proof of this in my own life. One of my best friends and I differ in many ways. We had more in common when we were younger and I would say that was what provided such a solid foundation for our friendship. Even though we disagree on a lot of things, she and I are still able to have civil discussions and respect each other's opinions. My friendship with her has taught me a lot about how to love others well. It is so important to listen to someone's reasoning for their opinion for multiple reasons. Not only does it show that you care, but in some circumstances, you might be able to learn something from them even if you do not agree with it. If you want to be able to convince them of anything, then you need to show that you care enough about them as a person to understand why they feel the way they feel. I know a man that once said, "People are not going to care about how much you know until they know how much you care." There is so much truth in that statement and maybe the message of it is the root of the problem. Maybe we don't care about others as much as we could or maybe we are simply just stubborn.
As a Christian and follower of Jesus, I want to apologize for any Christians that might not have represented Christ well in regarding the duty of loving others. Give them grace. We all fall short. I fall short in this. Christ calls us to love others well, because He loved us first. You again don't have to agree with everything pertaining to the person though.
Overall, it is very rare that you are going to agree with everything everyone does. This issues applies to so many other issues rather than just gay marriage. There is no reason to be rude and hateful about differences between you and another person. Rarely does any good come from this, plus unnecessary tension exists. There is really no point in the grand scheme of things.