Hey guys! Just a warning that this blog is all about politics and the Women’s March on Washington that I was able to take part in today. If politics isn’t a topic you’re fond of, you may not want to continue reading, but I encourage you to and ask that you just keep an open mind and an open heart 🙂
Today I had the privilege of being able to take part in history. Today I had the privilege of being able to take part of HERSTORY. Sometimes, I think I take living a mile away from DC for granted and today I was reminded of just that. Today, I marched with another 1.2 million people to stand up for our environment, minority rights, religious rights, educational rights, and WOMEN’S RIGHTS. We marched to claim that “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights”. Today, we marched to let Trump know that we don’t stand with his hatred and his derogatory opinions. Today, we marched to let everyone know that we ARE the majority and we WON’T be silent.
Can I summarize the march in one sentence? Well, I just don’t think that’s possible, but I’ll try for five. It was a community of love and support, equality and happiness. It was as a group of women coming together, reminding each other that hope does still exist. It was a body of humans, males and females, standing together to say that we refuse to go back into history. It was a beautiful and inspirational gathering of radical lovers and dreamers. It was mesmerizing and breath-taking, jaw-dropping and heart-stopping in each and every way possible.
Now, I need to apologize. I need to apologize in a big way for something that the Christian community won’t really ever be able to make up for. As I was walking down Independence Avenue, in a large crowd of spectacular marchers, pure joy was present. Happiness was rapidly spreading and love was shining through each and every person holding a sign asking for equality and rights for women. As you chanted, “Love trumps hate,” you couldn’t help but smile and laugh. But happiness was quickly sucked away as you came closer to the group of people pushing against the crowd. “Abortion is nothing but a sin.” “Gays repent before you go to hell.” “One man, one woman is marriage.” Just a few of the hate-filled, disgusting signs that those claiming to be Christians held.
The thing that doesn’t make sense is that it seems as if these Christians want to pick and chose what parts of the Bible to advertise. These Christians are so fast to point out that the Bible states homosexuality as a sin, but when do they want to stop and talk about loving ALL of their neighbors? Because last time I checked, those in the LGBTQ+ community ARE my neighbors. They are so fast to call out people that are killing their unborn children, but want to act like it doesn’t say that all sins are of equal displeasure or that 1 John 3:15 says, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”. They are so quick to scream in an activist’s face, to put their megaphone up to another person’s ear, is it because they forget that James 1:19 says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”.
I stop and I pray for these Christians, and myself. I pray that the Lord reminds us that we are all equally sinful, one of us not worse than the other. I pray that the Lord can remind us that we aren’t here to call each other out on sins. We aren’t here to tell anyone else what they’ve done wrong. We are here to shine Christ’s light through our love and support of one another. We’re supposed to show everyone that no matter what, even through the worst of their worst, they are cared for and loved, just as we all are. I pray that there is a revival in Christianity, or as Shane Claiborne would say, I pray that Christians would be filled with a radical love again. That we wouldn’t let sins divide us, or make us think that we are any better than another human being.
I pray that in a time like this we won’t let our political differences stop us from radical love.
