I posted this recently on Facebook and decided that I wanted to make a blog posting about it because I obviously have a little more to say.
I'm seeing so many of my "friends" on Facebook sharing this and saying "NO MORE PEPSICO & FRITOLAY FOR MY HOUSE!"
Seriously? You're going to boycott an entire brand because of their beliefs? Wait. What is that called? Oh yeah, discrimination and judgement.
Christians are NOT called to be judgmental. Matthew 7:1-5 (ESV) says “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
If you want to boycott Pepsi & Frito Lay... let me add some more companies to your list that support ALL RIGHTS. I expect you to CEASE AND DESIST using their products because they support those who identify with the LGBT movement: Apple, Starbucks, Facebook, Google, eBay, Nike, Gap, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Levi Jeans, Microsoft, MasterCard, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Mondelez International (Bye bye Oreos!), Marriott Hotels, AND MORE. These are just a few.
I am a Christian and I love God. I ALSO love ALL people as I am called to do. No, I do not identify with the LGBT movement. I don't have to identify with a movement to show love. You are to LOVE your neighbor, no matter their choices. That does NOT mean that you have to agree with them.
No wonder it rains all the time...
What I don't understand is the amount of hatred that comes spewing out of my fellow Christians. It makes me feel very disappointed to know that people are so discriminatory and absolutely intolerant. Jesus calls us to love one another, to accept and encourage one another. Without friendship and tolerance, how do you expect to show God's love to anyone? All they see is "another hypocrite Christian shoving their beliefs down my throat".
I will say that my time at ECU definitely opened my eyes to the bigger picture and made me a better person. Although, when I first got there, I had a very closed mindset. If you weren't Christian and you did things I didn't agree with, you could forget being my friend. Looking back, I'm almost disgusted with myself to believe that I was ever that way. God didn't want me to put up a wall between me and those who were different than I was. He wanted me to tear that wall down, become friends with and UNDERSTAND where they're coming from. Empathize with their struggles and remind them that GOD LOVES THEM. Or does the Bible not say that I should love my neighbors as myself?
No, it does. Here's the verse: Mark 12:13-31: " 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Just because I am a woman does not mean that I hate everyone who is not. Just because I have brown hair does not mean that I am justified in hating blondes or redheads. Just because I identify with the straight sexual orientation, does not mean that I hate, nor do I have the right to hate, anyone who is not.
If you're wondering where I got my listing of companies that support the LGBT community, click here.
Also, if you're interested in a little more research, click here.
