I am trying to keep myself away from blogging for the next week, but I can't do it.  I'm hooked.  And at the moment I need a fix.

I posted an article a couple days ago in a Facebook Note titled: Why Marriage Discrimination Matters: Seven Scientific Reasons, presenting 7 reasons why marriage is important and why it should be available for same-sex couples, and I could not have been prepared for the kind of comments that people would leave behind.  Sometimes I wonder if people forget that there are real people out there who are friends and family once they get connected to the internet.  I was surprised, though I don't think I should have been, to watch the comment wall become more or less dominated by a couple friends of mine arguing against gay marriage.  I wanted and expected someone to argue against gay marriage, but I was hoping for an open thoughtful discussion on the topic among friends.  Instead it turned into a complete pronouncement from one side.

The article does not base the arguments from a religious perspective, yet the "conversation" quickly led into a debate on "what the Bible says".  I was pretty ticked at this because many of the comments that were made were insensitive and really had nothing to do with the article itself.  After watching people become increasingly angry, and the wall appear to be very one-sided, I decided to step in and address a few things that were said, and hopefully make it more of an actual discussion.  I hoped to bring the attention away from religion and back to the main points of the article.

But my friend insisted on concluding his thoughts.  He finally stated, "There is a universal truth, so to me, this isn't a debate, and it isn't a discussion. We as humans cannot figure out an answer to a question God has already answered."  His final words were "God bless".  He says he is now finished commenting on the note.

I was furious.  I decided not to reply for a while and let others address his comments as I was in no condition to say anything constructive.  The stance he took feeds a stereotype of Christians that makes me angry and disappointed.  People often believe that Christians are incapable of engaging in thoughtful discussion and that everything is finalized by the belief that "God says so".  There are reasons why the Xanga group "Christianity Is Not Intellectual Suicide" exists.  Christians can often be represented as people who claim to have all truth and all knowledge and anything that opposes their views are obviously wrong.  This form of Biblical literalism keeps a person from being able to see things from a perspective other than their own and from understanding the merits of different sides of an issue.  I used to be that kind of Christian.  In my angry fundamentalist state I almost ruined good relationships I had with my friends and family.  No amount of talking could change my views because I was sure I had it right.  Things have definitely changed for me since then and now I am open to seeing things from the perspectives of others.  I definitely think it makes a person wiser, and happier as a whole. 

Thankfully a number of other friends began to comment and were able to show a more loving side of Christianity, one that is more thoughtful and understanding.  I thanked them for presenting this side of Christianity, but I requested that further discussion return to the article and away from religious debates.  That's a topic that could be discussed somewhere else.  I didn't want a war to break out on my Facebook wall.  For now the wall has calmed down and people are remembering the article I posted.  I'll check it again in the morning and see if any more damage has been done. 

Wow.  86 comments.  And I thought nobody cared about Facebook Notes.

Hi friends!

I'm trying to write a paper right now and I'm incredibly distracted right now.  Since I've really discovered blogging again I've been reading blogs all over the place.  I'm very quickly becoming more addicted to it than Facebook.  Someone's chatting with me right now ... and I'm ignoring it?!  Strange.

Anyways, I thought I would post a pretty fantastic link here tonight.  Queerish (go ahead, click on it) is a queer blog community that exists to educate the masses on all things LGBTTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trandsgendered, two-spirited, questioning, and intersex ... etc. ... or just "queer").  The plan for Queerish is to cover all topics that break out of heteronormativity, consisting of topics like homophobia, religion and spirituality, queer parenting, and gays in the military, to name a few.  They're still in the beginning stages, so this is sure to grow into something amazing.

You'll want to click the Subscribe button as this is one blog you will definitely return to every day.

Okay.  Time to actually do some homework now.  ... Or I can find out who is chatting with me on Facebook.