Thursday, May 10, 2012

I'm Getting Tired....

I'm getting tired of being judged for being religious. And this mostly stems from so many Facebook trends with friends my age that I've seen.  I really almost feel like it's an all out war on religion now, and it is absolutely exhausting.  With the social trend to support the LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) community lately, it seems as though religion and Mormons in particular are being targeted as "un-supportive" and "judgmental" that we need to be re mediated for our belief structure.  

Just to be clear, I don't judge people for choosing a different lifestyle.  We all have the wonderful gift to choose and because of that gift, I can also choose to be LDS (mormon).  I don't think LGBT are bad people, I think they are wonderful, kind, caring amazing contributors to society.  But I can't tell you how many times I have been snubbed or treated like an absolute idiot just because I don't happen to agree with that life choice.  Are there some LDS members who are judgmental and cantankerous?  Of course.  Are there people everywhere who judge and make people feel terrible?  You'd better believe it! Judging is not exclusive to religion.  I feel ridiculously targeted for even just subscribing to a religion, and even more targeted because I've chosen to be LDS.  Thank you society for pointing out that LGBT's have legal rights, I totally agree.  But don't start judging me just because I don't happen to personally agree with you, let's hold ourselves to the same standard here.  It seems as though religious persecution is the only socially "allowable" form of judgment out there these days.

Just as I feel that everyone has the right to choose a lifestyle such as being LGBT, I also feel the same about choosing religion.  I'm passionate about my choice, and others are passionate about theirs.  But really, let's keep the snide middle-school theatrics out of it and be big boys and girls for once.

4 comments:

Christy Wheeler said...

I completely understand. It is frustrating when people say that we don't have an open mind, as if having an open mind only means supporting everyone's decisions. You are welcome to do and choose what you want and the same with me!

Tabitha said...

It IS frustrating. I think it all comes down to the LDS church's support of Proposition 8 in California. It's seen as an openly hostile move against gays. Some people don't understand that we believe STRONGLY that God has defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. That doesn't change the fact that God loves ALL his children and we should too, regardless of sexual orientation. Unfortunately this is going to be a HUGE issue this election and is probably going to tip the favor towards our current President, however thoroughly over his head he is currently. It's too bad because it's like you said on Facebook the other day. We need someone who is going to take care of the financial crisis in this country. Leave social issues for now or let them fix themselves. We need a competent leader.

Austin Stevenson Owens said...

We just talked about same-sex attraction with Scotty last night. We have several good friends and neighbors who are gay and lesbian, and when Scotty was talking about some of the stuff in the Family Proclamation, Jonathan and I exchanged a look that said it was time to have that discussion.

Here's the thing. My friends know that I'm LDS. I know that they're gay. They love me for who I am, and I adore them. The subject of sexual orientation doesn't come up. They respect my conservative views and I respect their decisions to choose. I honestly think that people who are living an LGBT lifestyle in Salt Lake are more... defensive?. Here, we just don't talk about it. We accept each other and that part of our lives where we know there can not be a mutual ground, we don't stir things up.

I also have friends who are VERY pro-LGBT, even though they are straight. Again, we know there's no common ground to be had there, so we just plain don't talk about it. I was talking about liberalism with one of my very dear friends and I realized that MOST of my very good friends are extremely liberal. And we can have those healthy, wonderful, fulfilling friendships because we make the choice to accept each other with our whole identities.

There you go. :D A whole blog as a comment to say that I agree with you. :D

clarissa said...

thank you for saying what I have not had the courage to say since we deal with it in Dan's family. Dan and I have discussed this issue heavily together and know that the time will come when we have to talk to the girls about it. I am tired of it too, but it seems to be the strongest way for satan to break up marriage and family.