I can’t stand the term I’m about to use, but I now understand it more than ever. Religious freedom. Over the past few days, it’s gone from a term I’ve only heard used in typically hate-centered rhetoric. Now, I understand the term should be for anyone who wants to be without faith, shout their faith from the mountains or who want to celebrate their faith, even when they are in the minority of their own Christianity. We fall in the last category. While the events of this week have caused our friends and those who don’t even know us to create a shield of encouragement and love around us, that shield has been pierced often by those who say either “They should’ve known better” or “They are not Christians.” For years, we’ve been surrounded by some of the most conservative Evangelical Christians with our family and their families and been welcomed with open arms. These conservatives have taken the time to get to know my family and come to the realization that, “Wow. Christianity is for everyone. This faith that we hold doesn’t fit in only one silo of life.” The amazing conversation you guys are having has had my family and an institution at the center. That conversation needs to move along now to the level that this society needs it be at. This is not a conversation about how evil some perceive one school to be. Leave them alone. It’s a free country. They have their value statement and as one parent at the school put it, it’s obviously one huge miscommunication of policy. You know, they have the right to have imperfections in handling their policy AND they have the right to make the admissions decisions they make as a private institution. Leave the kids, parents and staff alone. If they want to examine their values and policies, our family will be the first to reach across the gap and lovingly help. My family and I stand in one of the most odd gaps in society. We are married dudes with kids who love Christ. Yep, naysayers, eat that one up, but it is what it is and it is MY religious freedom also. Why would we want our kids to go to a Christian school? Uh, because we are Christians. Greg is a pastor. Being gay doesn’t define us, the love we show others through our faith does. Heck, we spend so much time handling everyone else’s needs and caring for our children, that I don’t have time to think about all the gay things many perceive we think about. Additionally, our zoned public school was just taken over by the state a few weeks ago. Our public school choice stinks. We’re just a family trying to explore our options, (the power or right of choosing.) While we were told multiple times that one school would accept a two-father family, we now know they won’t. That’s not an option for us. We will continue our search. What began as a way to be transparent with our social media sphere has turned into a passionate national debate. I shared because life stinks sometimes amidst the joys of my cute kids pics, motivational thoughts and silly awards/pageants chat-a-longs. Isn’t that what being human is about, especially in this tech age? Showing your victories and your defeats. Getting some support from those who love you to keep pressing on. That’s why I shared. I did not share it to cause hate to rain down on an institution or my family from the greater world. We are where we are now. Continue your conversations. Let them end in disagreement and understand that this is what religious freedom is. Now, please share this MORE than the other post.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:22:40 +0000