A lot of crud showed up in my feed tonight, and I wanna say some things about it.
Sunday, after Bubba Watson won the Masters, I tweeted:
congratulations to the winner of this year’s masters, a guy who thinks gay people are wrong http://t.co/43v8Vrdaec
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) April 13, 2014Outsports, a blog in this network I'm honored to have here, shared a quote from Watson:
"I've met Jason [Collins, first openly gay NBA player], said, ‘Hey,' to him, because he used to play for the Suns when I had the Suns tickets. I respect anybody that's gay ... I'm not saying I'm better than others. I'm not saying he's wrong. I'm saying I love him. If he called me right now and said, ‘Hey,' or any person that was gay called me, I'd go to dinner with them any time. It's just my belief system on the Bible says you can't be gay. That's a sin. So somebody living in sin I believe to be wrong."
1. As an Outsports commenter pointed out, Collins never played for the Suns, so I guess Watson was thinking of somebody else.
2. Based on the replies I usually get, the vast majority of my Twitter followers and folks who comment on my posts generally share my convictions on social issues. I don't wanna waste anyone's time with preaching to the choir, but there are clearly at least a few of y'all who aren't with me on this, and I've got to tell you about it, should you want to hear about it.
3. I have zero respect for any set of beliefs that excludes people for being how they were born. You think God didn't intend for people to be gay? Well then, you explain why there are so many gay folks who come out in the face of enormous scrutiny. You explain that they're actually confused, or ruined, or something. You're the one holding the holy book. Explain this. If you can't, then neither can you explain it to yourself. This wouldn't be a big deal if you were talking about fishing lures or tacos. You are talking about the freedoms of other people. Bang that gavel if you know how it sounds.
4. As I understand it, there are interpretations of every major faith that allow for the inclusion of gay folks. I can only speak with much authority on Christianity, a faith I am well familiar with. I know that lots of folks practice it every day without excluding gay folks, lesbian folks, bisexual folks, or transgender folks.
5. Religious persecution is out there. Challenging one's beliefs is not persecution, and neither is criticizing a statement from someone who holds those beliefs. You are accountable for believing these things. You can respond to this however you want, but human history is populated with people who suffered horrible wrongs and disenfranchisement and death for their beliefs. If you really feel like you belong here, then please, take a step forward.
6. Please be nice. There are people out there who are dislocating their shoulders to scrape their fingertips against what you hold, peacefully, every day of your life.