My and I have both refrained for about two weeks now from posting this letter.  The amount of hate and bigotry that we have experienced the past few days has brought us to tears on more than one occasion and neither of us would have a clear conscious if we didn’t try to make a difference today before everyone votes.  If we can change just one person’s mind, or make someone see the issue in a new light, we have accomplished something.  Both of us are firmly against the amendment, and we felt the need to give everyone some food for thought on the issue, so here are a couple different points we’ve seen discussed the past couple of days.  We don’t mind comments on this, but please read the whole thing and say something intelligent and factual if you are going to comment.  Feel free to share it with your Facebook friends, tag yourselves and others… whatever you think will make a difference.  Here we go:

1. The issue of separation of church and state. Contrary to popular (and incorrect) Christian belief, the United States was not founded as a Christian nation and was never supposed to reflect Christian ideas.  The founding fathers were against having a nationwide religion and specifically emphasized the separation of church and state (the first amendment).  The government’s job is to protect its citizens and follow constitutionally delegated duties.  Nowhere does it say that we need to enforce biblical ideas on American citizens.  If you have an issue with gay people or with gay people marrying, the government has no role interfering with the freedom of others.  If you and your church have an issue with gay marriage, then don’t let those individuals get married in your church by a pastor/priest/whatever.  But there is no reason to stop them from legally being joined in the government’s eyes.  We should be advocating for a limited government, which is what it truly means to be a conservative (if you are one).  Why would we want the government controlling every aspect of our personal lives?

2. Gay marriage is illegal anyway, regardless of this amendment.  All you are doing by passing this amendment is sending a message to homosexuals that they are second class citizens undeserving of the personal liberty to love and marry who they wish.  Why are we spending tax payer dollars on this legislation?  So much money has been spent campaigning for this amendment that could have been put to so many better uses.  If you are true Christians, wouldn’t that money have been better spent on the homeless, the hungry… those are the people that Jesus told us to serve.

3. It is scientifically proven that people are born gay.  If you believe that God created all of us, then why would he have created gay people if it was such a sin?  Every human is created in God’s image, even the gays.  By saying that being gay is wrong, you are telling someone else that they are less of God’s likeness than you are.  Jesus said that which you do to the least of my people, you do unto me.  This means treat gay people like you would treat Jesus.  Would you tell Him that he doesn’t have the rights that other people do?  On that same note, we keep reading people preaching “hate the sin, not the sinner.”  This is kind of a convenient statement to make you feel better about yourselves that doesn’t make logical sense.  How can you love someone when you think the very essence of their being is immoral and wrong and is dooming them to Hell?

4. Moral hypocrisy.  It’s interesting how all of these so called Christians are picking and choosing what aspects of the Bible they want to listen to and what parts they want to disregard.  The Bible says that unless you are a virgin when you get married, that marriage is wrong.  How many people actually save themselves until marriage?  Having sex before marriage and being a homosexual are both “sexual perversions” in the Bible, but there aren’t any laws that say you have to be a virgin when you get married.  Cheating, lying, all of these things are sins that we commit every day, but sins are between an individual and God, not between you and that individual.  Jesus said let the person without sin be the first to cast a stone.  Unless you are morally perfect, you have no place condemning the sins of others.  That is God’s job, and God’s job only.  Instead of focusing on bits and pieces of the Bible, focus on the overarching theme of love that Jesus preached.

5. You are single-handedly driving people away from God.  Jesus wanted us to spread the good word of God, a message of love.  Telling people that they are horrible sinners who are going to burn in Hell isn’t spreading the love and acceptance that Jesus preached.  Love thy neighbor.  We should all focus on our personal relationships with God and the wrongs we commit, not the sins of others.  If you truly want to bring people to God, show the love and acceptance that He offers.  We should rely on God to help us with our personal struggles and to live our lives as better people.  Show others how amazing that aspect of Christianity is, not the hate that you are currently displaying.

6. The idea that homosexuals are somehow corrupting the sanctity of marriage.  The divorce rate is 50 percent.  The number one reasons for divorce are infidelity and abuse.  Teenage pregnancy happens all around us.  You’re allowed to marry your first cousin in a majority of the states in America.  How is two loving people committing themselves to a lifetime together somehow corrupting the sanctity of marriage any more than the rest of you and your families are?  News flash: It’s not.  Gay marriage is not hurting you.

7. The idea that gay couples are bad parents.  This is what might bother us more than anything else that people post.  Take a psychology course on child development or romantic relationships and then get back to us on this one.  Children need a stable home with loving parents who have low conflict with each other.  There are plenty of heterosexual parents that do not provide this for their children.  The wellbeing of kids has nothing to do with the sexual orientation of their parents.  Children raised by gay parents are no more likely to be homosexuals themselves than children who are raised by heterosexuals.  There is no scientific research out there that shows that gay couples are bad parents, point blank.

8. What the bible actually says about homosexuality.  If you read Leviticus, it says that gay people should be murdered and bathed in their own blood.  This doesn’t sound like the love that Jesus preached to us.  Does God really want gay people killed?  That statement makes us question the entire verse from Leviticus.  You can’t just pick and choose what you want to believe.  If you believe what Leviticus states, then you are agreeing with murder.

9. This is our civil rights movement.  A lot of us look back and can’t fathom how poorly racial minorities were once treated.  But that is exactly how we are treating homosexuals right now.  We are denying a group of people their rights and treating them like second class citizens.  If you feel that it was wrong how blacks and other minorities were treated, maybe you should think twice about how you’re treating homosexuals.  Denying rights to blacks during the civil rights movement actually stemmed a lot from biblical ideas that “my ways are not your ways” in regards to the different races.  Interesting how the Bible keeps being misused to advocate hate and bigotry, isn’t it?

10. Stop telling people you’re going to pray for them when they disagree with your Christian beliefs.  If we truly thought you were coming from a loving place with your “prayers,” it would be one thing.  But offering your prayers to people who don’t want them is offensive and most of the time is used as a tactic to piss people off.  When you pray for people in the middle of a Facebook argument, it doesn’t come off as very sincere.

11. We’re not going to talk about the so-called negative consequences of the amendment.  A lot of the statements about domestic abuse, children, etc. have not been proven, so we’re trying to make an argument without using those scare tactics.  We’re trying to appeal to your morals to love other people, to be accepting, and to advocate for a limited government.  If you’re a Christian voting for the amendment, you should really rethink how you are using your relationship with God.  Everyone else, I hope that this helped strengthen what you already believe or approach the amendment in a new light.  We urge you to vote AGAINST amendment one.

http://www.anditspreadslikeafire.tumblr.com is who you can speak to personally, I am the one who created this note.