assignment 4- Taetum

       I have had my beliefs questioned a lot, but i myself rarely question my own. you can argue if this is a good or bad thing but before you condemn me to be hard headed and stubborn, hear me out. i have always tried very hard not to form any sort of opinion on anything until i have gathered as many facts on the issue as possible. Because of this, i don't have an opinion on everything (i can hear some of those who know me raising protest to that statement) but on the things i do have an opinion on, i feel very strongly about.
       my views are often questioned because they are not the norm among my peers. politically i lean more conservative whereas most of my classmates in the past have held more liberal or socialist views. but no where have i been challenged as much as i have religiously. i am a christian. those simple words carry either a lot of weight or no weight, convey a negative connotation or a positive one. Christians as a whole are viewed in a variety of lights because everyone has had different experiences with proclaimed Christians. i will be the first to say that many people who claim to be Christians do not live up to the title the associate with. there are bigots who think they can condemn everyone who does or thinks differently then them. and on the other end there are ones who let everything slide with passive attitude because peace and love. neither of those is right, and this is where i have had to reevaluate my views.
       i grew up in a very conservative claimed to be christian household. it honestly leaned a bit to the bigoted side because of my dads traditional country church raising. derogatory jokes towards homosexuals where common. fantasizing of harsh punishments for any crime, saying to line up all the druggies and murderers for the gallows and firing squads. i never really thought much of it until third grade when i faced some serious bully at the hands of the people who were meant to be my peers because of my family's socioeconomic standing. through that a best friend found me and showed me the other side of the coin. he was more on the passive side of the whole religion thing.
       i started talking and studying the bible for myself, not just taking what others said as fact. i came to see that neither was really right. i continued to 'grow liberal" as my dad put it because though i still agreed that practicing homosexuality and murder and lying were wrong, i realized they were all the same in God's eyes and it was not my place to judge them because i was just as wrong in doing that. my job was to show love to those people, to try and help them and be a friend to them. that christian label still followed me, people who didn't know thought i would hate them if they came out to me.
      then in middle school, two of the most awesome gals i ever knew told me they were bisexual and admitted that they were scared to come out to me because of that christian label. we talked about it and i defied that label, both sides of that coin, and because my views were challenged (my dad eventually came around to it and agreed with me) i am still friends with those girls and have many friends within the LGBT community despite me being a christian who isn't exactly passive to those lifestyle choices.