The world feels like a pretty dark place right now. Brexit is happening, Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be going away, and I can’t turn on the news without hearing about another mass shooting or terror attack. The past couple of months I’ve seen more and more bigotry, racism, homophobia and sexism on social media from people I’m connected with than ever before. It has genuinely upset me, and I’ve struggled until now to write anything that I’ve been comfortable to post. Even today I’m not sure whether this will ever leave my increasingly growing collection of draft posts.
Growing up as a Christian, I was always taught that love was the highest calling a person has. That if we were to sum up the entirety of the Bible’s teaching, the command to love God and love others is as pure as it gets. Love which transcends politics. Love which accepts all no matter what their background, race, creed or sexuality. A love which considers us all to be equal, and is bigger than our differences and disagreements. Sadly the reality is not the same, and like the past couple of months have shown for many people, love is not enough.
When we let our opinion matter more than another person, that’s not love. When we reduce somebody down to a stereotype or believe that we are better than them, that’s not love. When we scapegoat a problem onto someone else, as I’ve seen countless times with issues of immigration and terrorism, that is not love. When people of privilege tell minorities that their problems are not significant or not valid, or use rhetoric like “all lives matter” in the face of systemic police brutality against black men, that is not love. When Christian leaders endorse political figures such as Donald Trump because they stand against things like LGBTQ rights and abortion, yet ignore the racism and hatred that he stands for, that is NOT love.
Part of the reason I have left behind Christianity is that so much of what I’m seeing and hearing goes against the very trajectory of love. Pastors likening non-believers to monkeys in a jungle, preachers celebrating the death of 49 people in the recent attack in Orlando on a gay club. That is not loving and is not what I believe Jesus would be teaching if he were around today.
I’m making a commitment to love people. Not because I want to get people to agree with me, not because I want to come out on top or earn a seat in heaven. I’m committing to love people because I wholeheartedly believe that is the only way to truly live. I’m going to stand against hate, injustice and bigotry in whatever form it takes, and stand up for the people who’s voices can’t be heard. I’ll probably lose some friends, and I’ll probably piss some people off with this post, but I don’t care anymore. I’m choosing to love.
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Well said!!! I agree with you totally Gordon! xxx
Thanks Mum! 😉 xxx
Have missed your posts. This is a cracker!
Thank you!!
I really needed to hear this tonight. I’ve been struggling with these issues myself, as well as others, when it comes to my faith and relationship with Christianity. Thank you so much for posting this
Thank you, so glad it helped!
Thank you for boldly proclaiming your desire to love amidst and above all else!
Thanks for reading!