The Case For Love

Last year, Rick Santorum was still in the running for the Republican presidential nomination. Every time the man opened his mouth, something absurd came out of it and women across the nation bristled with a combination of outrage, amusement, and utter disbelief. When the nomination went to Mitt Romney instead, Santorum stepped down and shut his mouth - for a while. Now he's coming to Washington to help fight against same-sex marriage in Washington State.

I'm not a fan of Santorum in the slightest, and I whole-heartedly support same-sex marriage. But if there's one thing I can respect about Santorum, it's his commitment to his personal values. I don't respect his values one tiny bit, but I do admire his consistency and honesty about where he stands. He's not trying to please anyone, just do what he believes is right. With this in mind, I'd like to make the case for love in this ugly political debate over the "definition" of marriage.

The first thing both sides of this argument forgets is that everyone involved is a person too. We are all human with feelings, beliefs, values, and morals. That's what drives us to fight for our side. Unfortunately, it's also part of human nature to "other" the enemy. By vilifying the other side, you can forget about their humanity and ignore their views in favor of your own. The anti-same-sex marriage side is accusing the others of being Godless sinners while the pro-same-sex marriage side is accusing their opponents of being hateful bigots. It's easy to disrespect the people on the other side by viewing solely on the issue and forgetting their humanity.

One of the biggest reasons religious people are changing their minds about homosexuality and same-sex marriage is because they are getting to know more gay people. It's harder to demonize a person when you start seeing their humanity. This is another human being with feelings and love who you actually respect as a person. On the other side, I can point to a handful of people in my life who I respect and value as individuals who hold views regarding same-sex marriage that I find abhorrent. But if I lose sight of who these people are and why I respect them in the first place, then my behavior is no better than the very views I'm fighting against.

The message of the pro-same-sex marriage side is one of love; God loves everyone, it's our duty as human beings to love and support everyone, and so we should provide marriage equality for everyone. If we can remember to love everyone, we come out on top. The winners isn't the side that fuels hatred and creates enemies; the winners are the ones who can continue to love and respect the people despite opposing the values.

If you want to send a message to Santorum explaining that same concept to him, explaining that his values and his message isn't welcome in Washington, the Washington United for Marriage campaign has a form you can fill out.

Furthermore, I couldn't be more proud of the entire Approve R74 campaign in Washington; there's no hatred being spread. No tearing down of the other side. It's all love reiterating why the supporters believe this is the right message to spread. Take a look at Lutherans Approve R74 in particular.