Love versus Hate

Wedding season is quickly approaching and I am sure I will hear at a wedding or two (if not more), a favorite wedding passage of many, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8:  

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

 It's a quote many people know, many people recite, and hell, most people try to live by. It seems however there is an asterisk there. One that no Christian has ever actually found in the Bible in this passage but many Christians (and non-Christians) have chosen to live by. That the "love" written about above is reserved only for heterosexual couples.

What fuels me, what angers me, incites me, enrages me is that at the end of the day, when we as a country, as a nation, as a PEOPLE vote to constitutionally ban gay marriage, we are essentially saying we are voting for HATE. And Hate wins. And that is the greatest tragedy no matter your skin color, biological sex, gender, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, ability, sexual orientation, and the list goes on. When we vote to prevent people from having the same civil rights afforded to others, we vote in favor of hate. And the last time I checked? Two persons committed fully to one another regardless of their biological sex or sexual orientation is not a threat to the sanctity of marriage. Infidelity is. Divorce is. Hate is.

It's a sad day for the state of North Carolina. We can do better. We must do better. As for me? As a Christian I'll hold on to 1 Corinthians: 7-8: "[Love] always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Love. will. win. It has to.