Proving Gandhi Right

The behavior of both right and left in the current debate is proving Gandhi’s point when he said: “I like your Christ but I do not like your Christians; they are not like your Christ.”

The hate from both sides of the gay marriage issue is hurtful. Those who oppose forget that LGBT are loved by God. Those who favor “marriage equality” forget that God loves those who oppose it. The rift that was already there is widened and many of us are left without a place in the “christian” community.

I objected to “The Christian Left” on Facebook mocking a dirty toothless white man. So the administrator and posse mocked all of us who spoke out against the bullying before banning us from the page.

My God commands me to love my enemy, not to judge, to treat others as I want to be treated. No where in the Bible does it give the religious right or the christian left permission to hate those they disagree with. No where does it say that God approves of bullying– regardless of the rightness of your stance on an issue.

Have we, Christians, as a group so lost our way that we have forgotten that God loves all of us? Does he love LGBT more than he loves “rednecks”? Does he love the right more than the left? Does he overlook hate speech when it’s done for the “right” reason? Does he condone hurtful words if we only use them as  part of the mob and not when we are alone with him?

If all I knew of Christ is what I see in christians, I would not follow him. The God I know is not hateful or mean-spirited. He is just and loving. He is forgiving and kind. He is powerful. He gives freely of himself whether we agree with him or not. He is the manifestation of love.

How many will stay away from Christ because christians hate them? How many will never know the love of God because christians are unwilling to love them?

I like your Christ but I do not like your christians; they are not like your Christ.