*bigot (Merriam-Webster Collegiate): a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc.: especially: a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group (such as a racial or religious group).

I don’t understand why believing that a certain behavior is immoral is equated with hating those who engage in that behavior. How does one make the jump between “So-and-so believes that homosexuality is a sin” to “So-and-so hates homosexuals and is a bigot”? Where is the logic in that?

I believe that, according to the God I love and serve, sex outside of marriage or sex with a person of the same gender is a sin. But I do not hate people who engage in sex outside of marriage or sex with someone of the same gender (nor am I afraid of them, as the ridiculous word “homophobia” implies). I don’t hate, nor am I afraid of, bisexuals or transsexuals either—and if you know me at all, you know this is true.

So you say, “Well, if you think that what certain people are doing is sinful, you’re condemning them.” Really? How do you know this? How do you know where love and hate collide in my heart? Have you seen me act in hateful ways or heard words of condemnation come out of my mouth?

(And by the way, if you assume that I hate those whose beliefs oppose my own, does that mean you hate those whose beliefs oppose your own?)

“Well,” you say, “who are you to say it’s wrong? You probably had sex before marriage yourself.” You’re right. In my teens, before my first marriage, I fornicated with the best of them. And I knew it was wrong. (Like many other human beings, I often do, say, or think things even when I know they’re wrong.) But having engaged in sex outside of marriage in the past doesn’t remove my right and responsibility to hold a belief about it now.

Because I’m a Christian, I answer to God. I don’t get to make up my own rules about life. If I were God, I’d allow for a free-for-all when it came to sex. I’m being completely honest here; I don’t always like what the Bible says, and I want everyone to be happy. So if I were God, I’d say, “Go for it. Have sex whenever you want, with whomever you want, and do it with gusto.” But I’m not God. I’m His child, and therefore I live according to what I believe His will is for His children… and therefore I must decide what I believe regarding sin. But I don’t hate you for holding to beliefs that contradict my own. Truth be known, I love you with my whole heart.