On the Box: "I'm Sorry. You Go Against My Religion."

It's a pretty sad day when a person is able to claim that another human being's very existence goes against his religious beliefs. Of course, those people would probably not define their views that way, loving the sinner but hating the sin as they do. But the results are the same: you don't like how I live my life, so you refuse to make me a cake. Or take my pictures. Or cut my hair. Or serve me dinner....

Where does it end?

There are those who think--and I am not one of them--that these "bigoted" businesses can keep their views; we will take our money elsewhere. Why would we want to give our money to those who don't like us or believe in our equal rights as citizens? I get this argument, and the ramifications of adhering to a rule where we don't give money to people who don't support us just might result in weakening those businesses, but... I just can't be okay with the sort of enabling nature of that philosophy. It almost condones the bigotry and self-righteousness.

There is a picture floating around the Facebooks that shows several African American men sitting at a lunch counter. The caption says something like, "We've already had this argument, and you don't get to decide who sits at the counter." This mindset, that of refusing to serve blacks and making them use a different drinking fountain and sit at the back of a bus, along with that of interracial marriage and slavery and Manifest Destiny, was based in religion, scripture, and faith in a loving Christ.

**cue scratched record and dead, awkward silence**

A loving Christ, you say? These are followers of that loving Christ? They all nod their heads in the affirmative at the exact same time they are toting around their "God Hates Fags" signs and begging the government to let them turn gay people away from their places of business. "Making their man-on-man wedding cake is tantamount to condoning their sinful lifestyle choice," they say. But since when is accepting someone's money the same as agreeing with their life decisions, or politics, or beliefs? Let's face it: in our capitalist consumerist hell, money talks. Morals and ethics get brushed under the table.

But this isn't even what I want to discuss in this post. Those vast bulk of those who read this blog will only be reading what they already know and agree with. I want to point this argument future-ward, and not even very far into the future.

An article in the Huffington Post today says that 33% of people age 33 and younger who have left their church left, at least in part, because of the church's anti-gay stances, views, and treatment. The article goes on to say, "A majority of Americans, 58 percent, also said that religious groups are 'alienating young adults by being too judgmental on gay and lesbian issues.' Among Millennials, that percentage jumped to 70." Seventy percent say that they don't like how religions are treating the gays!

Let's think about those numbers for a sec. If 58% of all Americans think this way, and that number soars to 70% when we focus on the younger generation, what might we conclude about the youngest generation, those between the ages of, say, 16 and 25? How many of them will stay active in their traditional, Bible-based churches? And then they will grow up and have children. What will that percentage increase to in the next generation?

Whether good or bad, the world is moving in an increasingly secular direction. People are realizing that there is a thing called biology, that some people are gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgendered or queer or asexual. People are becoming enlightened to the fact that there isn't an evil spirit whispering in people's ears, tempting them to go "against their nature" and magically be talked into wanting to do the nasty with someone who has the same body parts that they do.

It goes without saying, I hope, that no organization, religious or otherwise, can survive without people who support it. Mormons are commanded to give the church 10% of their income in the form of a tithe. What happens to the church when numbers of tithe-paying members dwindle to the point that not enough money is coming in? Do they "keep their shoulder to the wheel" and plow forward with their antiquated, erroneous stances on human sexuality and divinely-appointed gender roles? They can do this for a while, sure. That's what they're doing now.

Look around you, religion. People are becoming more educated. I know that's a frightening thing to you, but you have to either adapt and change or go the way of the Dodo. You really have no choice.

I mean, it really doesn't matter to me what churches of any religion decide to do. I am comfortable and confident in my own faith and belief system. I have my truths. I know what I know; however, I know an awful lot of people who derive a great amount of joy from church teachings, and it is for them that I worry. Churches can do so much good, so much, should they choose to. Right now, they have a huge amount of power. Just look at how many LDS teens and adults have committed suicide because they think they are evil and dirty abominations. It sickens and saddens me beyond words, especially having been someone who hated himself for many years because of the pious teachings I internalized throughout my childhood and adolescence.

I'm sure they mean well. They have a Plan of Happiness that they want to share with everyone. But they are hurting people, even if unwittingly, and soon, very soon, they will only be hurting themselves. It's happening already, in fact. Thirty-three percent is no small number. And it's only going to keep increasing.