Monday, November 21, 2011

I Opened a Can of Worms

Does anyone else think it's weird when someone you haven't talked to in years decides to comment on your Facebook status trying to convince you of your wrong doings and evil thinkings?

Should people's statuses be considered fair game for an open discussion forum? (And I know this might surprise you, but I wasn't even looking for an argument!  I knew putting a link to that article was a bad idea...)

I guess I should've known what I was doing when I accepted their friend request...but still!

(And any suggestions about what should I do with that nasty little post that's turned into a giant debate/bashing mess would be appreciated. Should I delete it? Let it run it's course?  Some of the posts are amusing...)

Friday, November 18, 2011

Sunk the Boat

Well, BYU removed my letter.  If you would still like to read it, I've listed it below.  For some context and background information as to why I sent in the letter, just see my other post, "Rock the Boat."

Hopefully I don't get too much hate mail...


Home-ophobia?

In response to “Modern immorality” and “Ways to raise,” I’d like to offer another perspective on children being raised by homosexual parents. 
I know a homosexual couple who are raising two beautiful children, and let me assure you, the environment those kids are in is far better than many others, even, if I dare say, ones with both a mother and father.
Qualifying the character and ability to raise children simply because someone is gay reeks of the self-righteous syndrome so commonly found in the bubble.  Categorizing situations as “good, better, best” solely based on sexual orientation is ridiculous.
Yes, homosexuality shouldn’t be accepted, but casting judgment and qualifying the home of a gay couple because they don’t live the same moral principles we do is outrageous.  We believe in Christ, but does that mean Buddhist parents are less capable of providing a suitable home?
Additionally, considering the neglect and abuse children often receive in foster care, orphanages, and heterosexual households to be better than the homes of loving, committed homosexuals is nothing short of crazy.
            The Family: a Proclamation to the World also states that parents should rear their children in love and righteousness, provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and teach them to love and serve one another, to name a few.  To think only heterosexual couples are capable of doing this is crazy talk. 
We should not accept homosexuality, but that does not mean we should consider those who do unfit to have a family.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Rock the Boat

So something interesting happened to me these past couple weeks.  I grabbed BYU's newspaper on the way home last Thursday and read the opinion section.  There was one that got me thinking, and parts I disagreed with.  Well, I looked up the article it was responding to and definitely felt Provo was being one sided.

You can read them here and here.

I decided to write back to the paper and offer my own opinion.  I figured it's my senior year and I'd yet to cause a ruckus at BYU.  I wanted to say I had at least tried to make a stand at least once.  Well, walking to school that next Tuesday I grabbed a paper on the way to class and the first article in the opinion section was mine.  I was a little surprised but excited it got published.

You can read my article here (WARNING:  This article might contain some blasphemy and offers an opinion you could totally disagree with)

Today is Thursday, so I opened up the paper today and found 3 of the 5 articles responding to mine.  I'm sure there were countless other articles upset at what I wrote that didn't get published.  Interestingly enough, I heartily agree with most of the responding articles.

But this whole experience got me thinking.  I'm not as one sided as I made out to be in my article, but I don't think people and situations should be so quickly classified as black and white.  We want to have a simple clean answer for problems and questions in life, but I think that's just not the case.  I know a lot of what I said doesn't seem to align with conventional Christian thinking, but in my own experience I fail to see a home that raises children with love and teaches them about fidelity, honesty, and respect could be detrimental.  I hope as I continue through life I will continue to work through these issues and find more ways to consider them.

If you disagree with me, I'm glad.  That's the beauty of life, we all have unique experiences and opinions. I hope nobody agrees with me simply because I made an argument, but rather creates their own opinion based on what they feel is right.  Thanks for reading :)