Okay, horrible title, but I hope it got your attention.  I feel compelled to write about this topic because it's an issue Christians continue to misunderstand and abuse.

I was sitting in a Sunday School class earlier this week and the question posed was, "What is not right to God?"  Several things came up but the last one struck me most, not so much the content as the delivery.  The woman said, "I looked at the paper and saw the heading for Pride Week, and *shudder* I know that is wrong!"

From a Christian standpoint, there is nothing and everything wrong with her statement (although even that standpoint is being debated, but let's go with the majority here).  Yes, homosexuality is not right to God.  But please people, let's remember to hate the sin and love the sinner.  The repugnance with which she shared her point repulsed me because she was talking like she wanted to throw the newspaper she saw as far away from her as possible.  If she is like that to a newspaper article, how would she be to an actual person, someone who would need compassion and acceptance?  If she has that attitude towards people who do wrong, how can she witness to them, nevermind preach to them the gospel?

I'm not saying she's a bad person any more than I'm saying LGBT's are bad people.  There's just so much misunderstanding and unnecessary stigmatizing we need to break down and clear.  If we Christians don't want to look like bigots (heheh, I always hear that word as "bye-gots") then, well, we better stop acting like ones!

Stop using the word "gay" to describe something you don't like.  It's incredibly derogatory.  Imagine how offensive it would be if someone tried to insult another by saying, "That's so autistic!"  I can imagine a lot of angry glares towards the name-caller.  As Christians, we definitely should not be promoting such negativity.  (**disclaimer** I am in no way comparing LGBT's to autistic people but merely trying to draw attention to something else which people would find offensive)

Try to treat LGBT's (or anyone you think might be) as regular people because they are!  They struggle with things just as much as we do, it only happens to be something different.  God didn't intend for any of us to be gay, short-tempered, moody, work-aholics, alcoholics, drug addicts, shopping adicts, manipulative, lustful, prideful - and the list goes on - but each of us are susceptible to something and it's much harder to deal with the thorn in our side if people alienate us, nevermind hate us.

There was a National Post article written by someone pro-gay and at the end some perspective by a reverend was written in.  Replying to the scientific possibility of altering an embryo to keep from being gay, he whole-heartedly said yes.  I personal would be against this but of course, where do you draw the line?  I reason for saying no is that by changing someone like that deprives us of being challenged on how to love.  It's easy for us to love someone who is in our minds perfect.  Let's remember that we are far from perfect and yet God decided to keep loving us despite our rejection of him, so much that he sent his son Jesus to pay the price we could never pay simply because of our imperfection.  I think changing an embryo's likeliness to be gay is as bad as changing its gender simply because of one's preference or one's perception that one gender is easier to live out or be loved. 

Some would ask whether the line should be drawn to include children with Down Syndrome or Autism or any other abnormality.  To that I can only answer for myself as I have learned from my mother.  There was a chance my youngest brother could have been born with abnormalities because my mother was pregnant with him late in life so she was given the option to abort - the most technologically accessible option at that time.  She pondered it for a couple of days and told the doctor that she was going to keep the baby, no matter what difficulties it may face, because either way it deserved to be loved and God has blessed her with this child so she'll see it through.  She had the baby - Dudon - and, as I say it, he came out with nothing worse than a big head.  It could have been different but I know my mom would have loved him just as much.

This isn't a stance on pro-choice or not, just a simple illustration as to why I would choose to keep the baby which is the same reason why I would not alter my baby: he or she deserves to be loved just as he or she is.  I'm not going to discuss particular difficulties or obstacles which are definitely special cases but just putting my perspective out there for others to think about.

So at the end of this, what am I trying to say?  That we should show compassion as Jesus did but not forget or neglect the difficulties and differences others face just as Jesus did.  That we should preach God's will and intent along with mercy.  Where or how you draw the line is between you and God but at the very least, love others, show compassion and encourage others to do the same.  How else will the kingdom of God be seen in our time?  And this Pride Week, get some perspective and try to understand where LGBT's are coming from instead of criticizing from one corner.  Ironically, you may find they are more compassionate than some Christians you come across.