Fighting Ignorance!!

I just got back from vacation on the mendocino coast. It was nice and I enjoyed going down to the beach and playing my guitar in front of the crashing waves. But, the real reason I am blogging is I just read a post from a friend of mine who wanted to open up dialogue on the topic. But seeing how his blog website is so difficult, I decided to post as my comment. The topic was homosexuality and how the Christian church has come to view it. There were some things I disaggreed with on the post, but most of it I think I understood. I find this topic facsinating, because for some reason, I think it causes more controversy and ignorance than most moral arguments today. I think this mostly stems from the wrong perception that Christians get when they read the Bible about anything. I don't claim to be Bible scholar or anything, I'm just saying that people make their own conclusions as to what it is saying which can be completely off base. I grew up in a Christian home and church and was taught that homosexualty is wrong. As a child, you hear this, even read it in the Bible, then watch how people react or comment every time a homosexual comes nearby. Naturally, the emphasis starts to turn to the homosexual rather than homosexuality. So you find yourself being disgusted with homosexuals and avoiding them at all costs. If this sounds personal, it was. I used to feel this way. And the more society began to embrace homosexuals, the more I hated them. I believe this is where America's church is at with their opinion on homosexuality. I remember having a discussion a long time ago with some church members and family members about whether someone could be born a homosexual or not. I, like many others, believed their was no way someone could be born a homosexual. God wouldn't allow it to happen. Who was I to question what God would allow or wouldn't? And besides, He allowed a Starbucks to be built across the street from another Starbucks, so anything's possible. Anyway, through time, I've grown older and wiser and by His Grace, I've started to see some things more clearly. I was completely wrong and am still ashamed to this day that I thought the way I did. And I am not afraid to admit that the American Church is wrong too. Somehow, we've made homosexuality to be the sin of all sins that is unforgiveable. Apparently we've forgotten that we struggle with all kinds of sins every day. See, that's when my opinion started to change. When I started to notice my need for Grace and Mercy was evident every day because of my struggles with sin, it completely changed my perspective. If I struggle with lusting after women all the time, why can't someone struggle with lusting after the same sex too? The real point lies with the people. We have changed our focus from the sin to the sinner, all the while forgetting that we are sinners too. We condemn the homosexual only to return home to masturbate to the engraved image in our minds of a beautiful woman/man we noticed along the way. Yes, homosexuality is a sin. But so is about a million other things that we all struggle with on a daily basis. We are all sinners and just because I may not struggle with one sin doesn't mean I am better or less of a sinner. We need to pray for one another and love each other as Christ did. Intolerance and Ignorance only divides us and create more hatred, which is something the world doesn't need any more of. A brother in Christ of mine shared this saying, "Love the sinner, Hate the sin." We need to remember that their are no exceptions for certain sins. But, unfortunately, we don't. And the more the Christian Right turns a blind eye to their own sins as the pharisees once did, the more hatred and ignorance will continue to pour into the world. May God have mercy on us enough to show us our own wickedness that we would have compassion for each other and not hate! Much Love to you all!!