*Disclaimer: This article in no way is meant to bash any religious persons or anyone in the LGBT community. It is an expression and response to the article published on BuzzFeed last week about how fighting for equality cannot be a fight if all groups are not considered.*

This week, a writer for Buzzfeed posted an article about the pastor of the hosts of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. The article frequently talked about the pastor’s stance on same-sex marriage and how time and time again he stood by his belief. The author also claimed that when she spoke to someone from the church, she was directed to a statement on the church’s homepage about Biblical marriage. The entire article read like she was shaming the pastor and how important it was that Chip and Joanna stand up and speak about their stance. I won’t link the article because I don’t feel like it deserves anymore traffic, but you can google it and read it if you want. Regardless, here is what I have to say to the author.

To start, no matter what your OPINIONS or BELIEFS are on same-sex marriage, that gives you no right to shame or hate anyone who has a different OPINION or BELIEF. I put those two words in caps for a reason: because that’s what they are. Somewhere along this past year, mainstream media got the idea that if someone thinks differently than you, that automatically makes them a bad person or their beliefs wrong. Newsflash, that is not true. For example, I believe that the economy is stronger when there is less government involvement and regulations and one of the kids in my econ class believes the opposite. That does not make her a bad person. In fact, she’s pretty cool and a great person to hang out with. Your opinions do not make you superior to people who don’t share them. If you want people to respect you, start respecting them.

This next point is more for the general public, but still relates. Please PLEASE stop calling for “equal religion” and a “hate-free environment” for religions if you are not going to include Christianity in that description. One big issue I have with mainstream and today’s society is that, once again, we believe that different opinions are wrong. So many people fight so hard for equal reception of Muslims and other groups (which I get why) but, from personal experience, I’ve found that a lot of those same people won’t defend Christianity when it gets similar treatment. What I’m getting at is that you cannot expect people to defend your fight or stances if you won’t even consider theirs.

I could talk for hours on end about this topic, but I’ll conclude by saying this. Every single religious group or domestic group or whatever group you want has some form of extremists. Those are the people who go overboard and shove their beliefs in your face as the only way. In some cultures, those extremists will even give their lives for it. Here’s the thing: the reason groups get bad reputations is because of extremists. It’s time to stop generalizing every person who identifies as the same religion or nationality or sex as extremists as bad people. That argument is the same argument used for equal treatment of Islam, Homosexuality, Feminism, etc. You really want to stop hate? Stop spreading it. Stop creating a “scandal” out of something that literally no one knew about one week ago and would not have known about a week from now. The Gaines’ have the right to believe what they want, just like you do (the author). Every single person on this earth has the right and choice to live their life the way they choose. That’s why we have free will. This December, we all need to remember that as we encounter multiple people who all have their own opinions. Happy Holidays.