![](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/543\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-0p497xhGSlY\/UVpS4bMJTMI\/AAAAAAAAAJM\/03xWZqOnjBk\/s1600\/darlene+kelley.jpg\")
<\/a>by Darlene R Kelley<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\nR3 Contributor<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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It\u2019s difficult for me to understand why some believe it is\u00a0OK\u00a0to discriminate against an entire group in society because they don\u2019t like or agree with who they are.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0The Civil Marriage Equality issue is the place where this thought flows from. Baffling though it is to me that biases would get in the way of a society making space for all of its citizens to be regarded with dignity and respect, I had to also pause and think\/consider how my and others silence impacts those who are being treated less than equal.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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As a plethora of\u00a0<\/span>red images<\/b><\/span>\u00a0adorned facebook newsfeeds and my profile pic stayed as it was; as I listened to claims of some that we must fight this in the name of \u201cthe Bible says\u2026,\u201d my frustration with Proposition 8 contenders increased.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Then I moved to a place of wondering if\u00a0I<\/i>\u00a0was courageous enough or vocal enough. This thought extended to a deeper place of wondering how silence \u201cfeels\u201d to my LGBT friends and relatives \u2013<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I know how silence feels to me as an African American and as a woman when I am being overlooked and discriminated against.<\/span>\u00a0When folks are getting beat up\/jumped by Christian folks in the name of \u201cthe Bible says,\u201d what goes through their minds as others stand by watching the fight rather than jumping in to protect them and stop the beating? For me, this is not about theological perspectives on homosexuality, this is about\u00a0basic human dignity and fairness.\u00a0<\/i><\/b>This is about seeing all persons as valuable and worthy of respect. To be silent about these things is problematic \u2013 whether it is this issue or any other societal issue.\u00a0Sure, a red equality profile pic may seem like a small gesture to some, but what is small to one may very well be big to another.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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It can\u2019t be denied \u2013 silence and stigma are powerful and at times even lethal. They produce shame and result in more harm than good \u2013 oppression in its ugliest form, creating internal turmoil for those who are subjected to it.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Apathy. Neutrality. Slothfulness. Ignorance. All of these are fairly easy approaches to adopt when the pain is not personal \u2013 when it\u2019s somebody else\u2019s struggle.\u00a0Side note \u2013 I\u2019ve discovered that this is all too true in the area of race\/racism and White privilege too \u2013 we must not ignore the impact of race even once the issue of marriage equality is settled, I fear that we will.<\/b>\u00a0Racial inequality in the US is STILL a problem.\u00a0<\/b>I digress \u2013 or do I?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Worrying about who will receive you or reject you based on your decision to be vocal is rather selfish when you really think about it \u2013 many LGBT folks go through worrying about the backlash\/fall-out of self disclosure all the time, the difference is that it is more personal in that it involves not only being out as an ally, but full disclosure of who they are.<\/span><\/div>\n
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It perplexes me that many who oppose marriage equality do so on the basis of a sin argument \u2013 an argument that has proven ineffective at best. As I listen to many, it doesn\u2019t even appear to be about God and what pleases or doesn\u2019t please God; the tone I hear is that it is about \u201cus\u201d and how repulsed we are by same gender loving relationships. Besides, trying to draw people to religion\/spirituality in this way is so futile.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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It disturbs me that many who vocalize condemnation are not equally committed to walking with folks on a journey of growth. Not only that, but it is nonsensical that anyone would expect couples who are already married or who have been in committed partnerships for multiple years or have begun the process of gender transformation, to change their gender back to what they were before or abandon their partners [and children if there are any].\u00a0For kindness sake, let\u2019s think this through rather than lazily relying on fundamentalist, surface dogma!<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Also of concern is when Christians say things to fellow Christians that leave us with the impression that Christianity is a monolith; as though you are somehow not a Christian because you believe something different than what
\n they believe about an issue. It is as if to say \u201cshame on you,\u00a0all Christians should think like this about that,\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 because there is after all though only one perspective\/understanding possible. Truthfully I am growing weary of the arguing.\u00a0Surely we are all sensible enough to know that it is impossible for multifaceted people to arrive at one simplistic response or interpretation of issues and for that matter, scripture\/the Bible.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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\n they believe about an issue. It is as if to say \u201cshame on you,\u00a0all Christians should think like this about that,\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 because there is after all though only one perspective\/understanding possible. Truthfully I am growing weary of the arguing.\u00a0Surely we are all sensible enough to know that it is impossible for multifaceted people to arrive at one simplistic response or interpretation of issues and for that matter, scripture\/the Bible.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Marriage equality is a social, political and economic issue that we must not ignore or be silent about. And beyond that we must never forget that is is not the only\u00a0issue of equality that needs to be addressed in society and more specifically by the Human Rights Campaign. It is a big issue, an important issue, and an issue among many other issues.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seeing Red<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Darlene R KelleyR3 ContributorIt's difficult for me to understand why some believe it is OK to discriminate against an entire group in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/04\/seeing-red.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seeing Red\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Darlene R KelleyR3 ContributorIt's difficult for me to understand why some believe it is OK to discriminate against an entire group in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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by Darlene R Kelley R3 Contributor It\u2019s difficult for me to understand why some believe it is\u00a0OK\u00a0to discriminate against an entire group in society because they don\u2019t like or agree with who they are.\u00a0The Civil Marriage Equality issue is the place where this thought flows from. Baffling though it is to me that biases would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n