Another post about Orlando

I know this has been an ongoing thing here on ATS so I do not expect anything to come of this, I just wanted to share my view point. It is not politically motivated. It is not bias. I have stripped away all of my ulterior motives in writing this so it comes from the heart and nothing else.

I used to be confused by gay people. By homosexuals. By "sinners" as my oh so accepting (sarcasm) Southern Baptist community and family called them...and yet, I always knew that was wrong. Growing up, I was always conflicted with what the church said and what they did. I saw the hypocrisy but when I would question it there would be someone right there with a sing song answer and a smile to assure me that they meant well in their words. I found some teachings along the way that I have held onto but most I have let go out of disgust once the veil was pulled from my eyes.

The few teachings I retained are simple.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Judge not lest ye be judged."
"Let he without sin cast the 1st stone."
"Love thy neighbor."

I do falter in these views from time to time (no one is perfect) but for the most part I try to practice these in my day to day life.

I remember the time my views changed on people as a whole, regardless of lifestyle.

There was a boy I went to high school with that ended up in the same therapists office as mine (Long story). His name was Justin Espy. I remember how I had always heard weird things about him and with my "religious views" I tended to avoid "those people". I remember him talking to me openly as we sat in the waiting room together. We talked about why each other was there and how #ed up our parents were and how people at school thought we were weirdos (and we were) and about pretty much everything.

I never saw him after that day but I think about him often. About how scared he must have been and how horrible he must have felt being brought there to "talk" out the gay. I mean we both had horrible reasons to be there and both of us were hiding things from the world but I just remember watching him and being enamored by him for some reason. I saw him as strong and I wanted to be that strong too. To be able to hide away the part of me people hated and just "act normal". Obviously that is also not healthy...but I digress... He made me promise not to tell.
My point is, he changed my opinions just by being himself. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone or harm anyone's way of life.... he just wanted to be himself. I saw him as a human being who just wanted to be loved and that's when I knew all the things about the "terrible gays" were completely wrong.

I see him in the victims. I see a kid who struggled and was bullied through school just to make it to a place of solitude and be shot down in a senseless act of violence. I see someone who has taken years of # just to have it all end for not. I see someone who just wanted acceptance shot down in a place where they found solitude.

Death is inevitable but the nature of death at this magnitude is heartbreaking. We are all human beings. We are all just searching for someone to love us in return for our own devotion.

Be good to each other.

SomeDumbBroad

Damn it. You made me cry. 😢

And now I can't stop. I needed this. So, thank you.

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

I'm sorry. I had to get it out. It's been on my mind for the last 2 days. With all this talk about politics and watering down the incident it just makes me more frustrated for the people who are hurting. I want them to know they are being thought of but it's hard when our country only wants to use everything as a pawn.

Some things need to be seen through different lenses, not just political agenda.

I like politics as much as the next guy but this is not the time or place for it.

a reply to: SomeDumbBroad

Your a awesome human for this, thank you!

a reply to: Quantum12

Things like this remind me that I need to be a better person.

a reply to: SomeDumbBroad

Your kind and I do too.

The rub is, judgement isn't bad, it's a positive thing.

One has to judge others actions as hypocriphal, then one has to judge if those actions are something that one should repeat.

People just don't like when their actions are judged.

I always took that verse to mean listen to the message then judge the message, don't judge the person then ignore the message

Not just SomeDumbBroad are you...

originally posted by: thinline
The rub is, judgement isn't bad, it's a positive thing.

One has to judge others actions as hypocriphal, then one has to judge if those actions are something that one should repeat.

People just don't like when their actions are judged.

I always took that verse to mean listen to the message then judge the message, don't judge the person then ignore the message

I understand the positives of being judgmental but as my cousin put it earlier to me, "We are meant to hate the sin, not the sinner." Now, I don't see it as a sin, but if I had to choose a "type" of christian, it would be people who see it that way