Love Others. It's That Simple.

[skreidle]

These two related links get their own post. They're that incredible, and that important.

I'm Christian Unless You're Gay | Single Dad Laughing -- [Today's post is not about homosexuality. It's not about Christians. It's not about religion. It's not about politics. It's about something else altogether. Something greater. Something simpler. It's about love. It's about kindness. It's about friendship.] (via yoopie)

The greatest spiritual leaders in history have all preached love for others as the basis for all happiness, and never did they accompany such mandates with a list of unlovable actions or deeds. They never said, love everybody except for the gays. Love everybody except for the homeless. Love everybody except for the drug users. Love everybody except for the gang members, or those covered in ink, or the spouse abusers. They didn't tell us it was okay to love everybody with the exception of the "trailer trash," those living in poverty, or the illegal immigrants. They didn't tell us it was okay to love everybody except for our ex-lovers, our lovers' ex lovers, or our ex-lovers' lovers. The mandate was pretty damn clear, wasn't it?

Love others.

Period.

Powerful Responses to 'I'm Christian, unless you're gay.' | Single Dad Laughing -- [I'll be sharing a couple of less than beautiful responses first, and I only do so because I believe they will make the others that much more powerful. It's the beautiful responses that are most important, and I want to share with you those responses that meant more than the world to me when I received them.] -- Reading the responses he shared? Ugliness, ugliness, and then a slew of such incredible, heartbreaking love and beauty.

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Read it. Share it. Live it.

Comments

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

That said, people have to understand and admit that they've made said mistakes, and strive not to repeat them.

There's one professional athlete that comes to mind that I can't find it in myself to forgive.

[six2.livejournal.com]

Yes. And we're all human, all of us will make mistakes, and not all of us will recognize the major mistakes we make. It's easy to force one's self into a half-hearted or qualified apology. It's much harder to really understand why something one has done is wrong and to change for the better.

Still, I think automatic sentencing/"three-strikes" type rules, lengthy mandatory minimum sentences, for-profit prisons, solitary confinement, legal efforts to subvert due process, and the death penalty leave too little room for redemption, and leave too much of a negative burden on our country (financially and socially).

Obviously, for the extreme cases of dangerous sociopaths, there is always life imprisonment, but even in that case there must be due process.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Agreed on all of the above.