May 10, 2012

  • (god) and will and (god) and grace

    President Obama officially voiced his personal support for same-sex marriage earlier this week, and naturally it sent the internet into a frenzy. Liberals (such as myself) praised him, conservatives bashed him, and opinions across the political spectrum were batted back and forth. As long as the discussion remains civil and educated on both sides, there's nothing wrong with healthy disagreement. 

    There's been a specific vein of cynical criticism, however, that I can't help but take issue with. Some have suggested the decision was politically motivated, and I can see that point. Although it doesn't improve the President's re-election chances (and may very well hurt them), it's fair to say his evolution on the topic, at least in the public forum, was accelerated by the comments from Joe Biden and Arne Duncan. However, multiple commentators and closed-minded Christian friends of mine have suggested that the decision was entirely political and that his "evolution" was calculated for maximum political gain at every junction. To refute that, I want to offer my own personal story on how I evolved to my current position as a passionate supporter of same-sex marriage rights. 

    It's important to understand that I'm an evangelical Christian. I've belonged to the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod my entire life; we're the denomination that is always referenced at the end of articles about the ELCA as "the staunchly conservative wing of the Lutheran Church." I'm currently employed as a music leader at my home church of 21 years. (Naturally, the implied disclaimer applies here - my opinions in no way reflect those of my employer or the church, etc; they are simply my own and do not impact my work and any leading or teaching capacity I may serve in). For the majority of my life, I was in the category that same-sex marriage was simply not the way God intended marriage to occur, given that it was not capable of producing children and was forbidden in certain passages of the Bible. I have never once held an ounce of hatred or bigotry towards those who identify as gay, but I did not use to believe they should have the right to marry. I wrote as such on this very blog, back in 2007. The day after J.K. Rowling announced that Dumbledore was gay, I penned this sentence:

    "I support gay people and their right to be gay; I do not support gay marriage, and never will." (10/21/07)

    That was my simple and clearly stated position back in 2007; no hatred, but no support for marriage. At the time, two of my closest friends were either gay or bisexual, and I couldn't possibly care less. It didn't matter to our friendship in any way, but I just didn't believe marriage was meant for anyone besides a man and a woman. 

    But you know what happened? I got older. I started to meet more people and take new classes in college, and challenging arguments to my position were presented on multiple occasions. I had respectful but heated discussions with people about why I held the position that I did, in that my faith should dictate public policy. You see, that issue right there was one I could never quite be comfortable with. I'm a liberal voter and a fan of a large, active government with a broad safety net, but I could never find myself understanding why the government needed to legislate a religious position. All the other arguments against same-sex marriage (mom and dad home, bad example, etc) have been shown to be propaganda and pseudo-science perpetuated by fear mongers, and so the only reasonable argument left was one of legislating religion in the government.

    Eventually, I just woke up some random morning and decided that what I had been taught didn't make sense. I quietly began to change the way I expressed myself on the issue, and slowly become more comfortable being vocal in my belief that same-sex marriage was a legitimate right of homosexual couples. Over the last year, any lingering doubts about my evolution have been completely removed, and I have no hesitation speaking passionately in favor of such rights in public at this stage in my life. I'm proudly in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the entire country, and I do not see it as a state issue. I do see it as a civil rights concern, but also do not believe comparisons to the African-American civil rights movement are completely valid. Certainly, however, gay citizens are being denied the franchise of marriage, and I see that as discriminatory.

    My point is this: my position evolved. It didn't change because anyone told me it should, but rather it changed because I came to one conclusion at one point in my life and a different conclusion a few years later. I was exposed to diverse perspectives, and I found myself more educated and enlightened towards the entire issue. I reevaluated my position, and I changed. It's not ridiculous or farfetched to suggest that the President, a human being just like you and I, couldn't have the same thing happen to him. For once, let's be sane and reasonable - if you disagree, do so respectfully and with a command of the facts, but don't call into question the integrity of the President because he went through an evolution process on a difficult and emotional issue. As a nation, we're better than that.