Dear Editor,
Last Thursday, I attended a Q&A session with Markie Hancock, the director of “Queers in the Kingdom.” Hancock, who attended an evangelical Christian college and is lesbian, shared how she’s no longer close with her friend from college who is Christian and doesn’t approve of her getting married. When asked if she would accept the love of someone who didn’t agree with her lifestyle, Hancock responded that she wouldn’t consider that love. She explained that she just can’t be friends with someone who won’t fully accept her.
I hope Hancock can put herself in the shoes of Christians (as painful as that may be) and try to understand the type of love they’re attempting to live out. For Christians, love is what Christ did. As the apostle Paul explained, “… God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The point is not that gay and lesbian people are sinners; the point is that a sinless God chose to love people he fundamentally disagreed with.
Christians don’t claim to be sinless like Christ. They do claim the responsibility to love like Christ. I’m not suggesting it should be easy for Hancock to get all buddy-buddy with her Christian friend who doesn’t support her being lesbian. I do hope that Hancock will consider accepting her friend’s love, realizing that it’s based on something far stronger than their most divisive disagreement.
Sincerely,
Micah Allred
mallred17@my.whitworth.edu