Nashville, TN: There's a skit on SNL called Really!?! with Seth & Amy which happens during the Weekend Update news potion of the show. In short, they point out very obvious things happening in the world which some people are either trying to get around, ignore or are just plain too stupid to see themselves.
Here's a clip of the bit (once you get through the 20 sec commercial from Hulu):
Get it?
Ok, so I had a Really!?! moment about the recent going-ons at Belmont University here in Nashville. Seems as though a women's soccer coach was fired because of her sexual orientation, which happens to be gay. Because I'm out of the college scene now, I don't pay much attention to news that pertains to that, but there was enough activity on my friends' Facebook pages about the matter that I wanted to investigate it myself.
First, I read an article on Sports Illustrated. Not being a sports aficionado myself, I figure I'd go to the cream of the crop for sports information (that's SI, right? Minus the swimsuit calendar, that is). The author quoted Marty Dickens, the chairman of Belmont University's board of trustees, as saying:
"We expect people to commit themselves to high moral and ethical standards within a Christian context. That includes members of the board, faculty and administration."
Let me just say that I HATE when people try to equate being a Christian with being anti-gay. Honestly, do you really think Jesus Christ, Himself, would hate gay people? He was the guy that hung out with the not-so-popular people: the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the outcasts. Do you really think He'd say: "oh yeah, um, I'm cool with all ya'll.... except for those people that happen to love others that happen to be the same sex as they are."
Really!?!
If you claim to be a true Christian, try to live your life in a Christ-like fashion, I would hope to think that you would try to love your neighbor as yourself. And by neighbor, I mean EVERYONE. And yeah, I just quoted the bible. Really.
Next, I read a blog from my friend Christy. She's a really smart and interesting gal who is fairly introverted in person, though started Nashvillest, which is a pretty high-profile site. What I love about Christy's blog is that she is very honest ("I spent at least 18 years of my life believing firmly that homosexuality is a sin, and that it’s a byproduct of a corrupt society. It’s taken a while to lose that.") and also very open minded ("What Belmont did to Coach Howe disturbed me enough that I was finally able to shake that last bit of homophobia out of my heart and recognize that treating a human being that poorly because of her sexual orientation is completely and utterly wrong.")
Thank you, Christy, for really speaking your truth.
Which leads me to my last point: do you think anyone would actively CHOOSE to be gay? Really!?! I mean, a life full of being judged, being taunted and possibly harmed, not given equal or legal rights... why would one ever go out of their way to pick that lifestyle? So, it simply amazes me that others would jump to such ridiculous decisions (such as firing them from their job) because they happen to be born differently. And if you can't quite wrap your head around the idea of someone being "born that way," check out the following video and ask yourself, when did you choose be straight?"