Being an Ally and Why It Matters to Me

[Bravus]

I'm a straight man. I have been married to my beloved wife for almost 30 years, and have never had any sexual experience with anyone else in the world, ever. 

I don't seek to stand up and defend gay people because I am gay, openly or secretly. I stand up and defend gay people from bullying and abuse because they are people. They are people God created and Jesus died for, and they deserve better from those who claim to follow Jesus.

In all the debates and discussions, we need to be aware of how they impact on people. These are real sons and daughters, uncles and aunts, members of families, people with jobs and hobbies and lives and interests.

It's important to know the truth and to speak the truth, but if we don't have love we don't have anything. 

I take the point that love does not mean 'anything goes', and that if we love someone and are fully convinced that they are on a dangerous path and we are in a close relationship with them it may be appropriate to privately tell them so. I'm not so sure it's ever appropriate to publicly shame and attack someone. What was Jesus approach to those who accused the woman caught in adultery, and to the woman herself?

I hope we'll continue to delve into what the Bible says and means, but I did want to make it clear why I think it's important. It's not because I'm against the Bible: if I was, life would be much simpler, I could just rely on my own opinion to say that I believe homosexual people are people like everyone else with all the same rights and freedoms. I'm seeking to determine what the Bible actually says and means, and trying to do so as carefully as I can.