Love is Love...

A few days ago as I was scrolling my Facebook newsfeed, I came across a picture of two handsome men standing together holding hands. The left hand of one of the men was elevated slightly to show off a silver band on his ring finger. Both of their faces absolutely radiated happiness. The status accompanying the photo announced that one of the men had proposed to the other while they were out hunting for their perfect Christmas tree together. His response? "Of course I will!"

My first thought at seeing this post was, what a beautiful proposal! My next thought was how much I loved seeing that man proudly showing off his ring and demonstrating for all its significance.

Last week a federal judge overturned Montana's same sex marriage ban, making it the 34th state in the nation to allow such unions. All day long I watched as enthusiastic reactions to this news piled up on Facebook. I have been a devoted admirer of Montana my entire life, but on that particular day, I felt especially proud to call Montana home.

There are plenty of differing opinions on the subject of same sex marriage. From my observations, most of the people against it stand in opposition because they believe it desecrates the sanctity of the true definition of marriage. Most definitions of marriage are derived from scripture and because gay marriage strays from the traditional concept, it seemingly must also go against the will of God.

For several years before my baptism into the Catholic church, I struggled with the notion of joining for a number of reasons. One of those was because of the church's characteristic opposition to gay marriage. It didn't seem right to me to join a faith that was so openly against something I fully supported. I felt like I needed to agree with everything the church taught in order to join.

The more I considered joining the church, however, the more frequently I began attending Mass. And the more readings from scripture I heard, the more I felt drawn to the faith. Maybe it's the fact that I'm a writer that makes me turn more to the written word than the preached interpretations of it. And being a writer, I know just how many ways one can interpret a piece of writing.

During one of my RCIA classes, one of the instructors explained that Catholicism is the "thinking man's religion." It is meant to be questioned and thought about. If it wasn't, why else would Jesus have taught by way of parables? God won't hand us all of the answers to our questions about life.....he doesn't want to. He wants us to think and rationalize and come to see things for ourselves.

After thinking and rationalizing about my new faith----or rather the one that was always in me but took a while to come to light---I still find myself arriving at the same conclusion and stance on same-sex marriage. My opinion is that it should be supported even if it is not accepted.

Each of us is an entirely unique creation. That, I believe, is far more than deliberate on God's end. Christ taught compassion, unconditional love, complete acceptance and forgiveness. He didn't exactly play by the rules of the day either. He pushed buttons and went against the grain. He embraced the outcasts of society and extended an olive branch to those who hated him. And he paid the ultimate price by sacrificing his own life for all of us. ALL. Those who supported and followed him.....those who were unwilling to accept his ways.

I believe that each minority in society was placed here as a test and continued challenge for all of us. None of us are meant to walk this earth alone and unloved. But so many do because they are despised and ostracized for their differences. Even if we can't learn to accept everyone's uniqueness and chosen lifestyle, we should strive to support such things because that is a demonstration of compassion that this world desperately needs.

It was hard coming into a faith that is, at times, in opposition to some of humanity's individuality. But I realized that standing on the outskirts of something you wish would change and simply shaking your head at it, does absolutely nothing. Immersing yourself into it with the hope of enlightening others to an alternate way of thinking, however, provides an opportunity for growth and change. I believe this is true for most anything. Two thousand years ago, when God realized humanity needed salvation, he didn't send a mystical and incomprehensible entity to earth. He sent an average seeming man to walk among men and show them another way of thinking and living. Change must often occur from within and it is only possible when we are willing to look at life through someone else's eyes.