I have recently been informed of some very disturbing news; that the cycle of hatred and discrimination perpetuates!

It is hard to believe that in the year 2013, we are still in a war for Civil ights! "ot only a war based on our race or ethnicity, but also a war to be who we are! #any years ago, ethnic people had to fight tooth$and$nail in order to receive basic human rights%liberties, and the right to be safe is this &land of opportunity' that we all call home! (lthough this issue is not solved it has become significantly better! "ow that the )nited *tates has, virtually, outlawed the maltreatment of people based on their race or ethnicity we have began to target another group of people+ the ,-./ community! (s a -od$ fearing, Christian woman, I can understand the hesitation to accept a lifestyle such as this, because the .ible affirms that -od created #(" for 01#(" and 01#(" for #("! 2owever, the .ible also says, &,ove thy neighbour' and &/hat he who is without sin should cast the first stone'! 2ow do racial issues and ,-./ rights relate, and how does the .ible or religious views factors into these issues3 4irstly, someone5s race and se6ual orientation are two of many &features' of a person that should be appreciated! 0hile race%ethnicity cannot be controlled neither can who you love! 1ne could argue that being homo$ or heterose6ual can be controlled! /his is false! 1ne cannot choose who they fall in love with or find attractive, the choice that the in7uirer spea8s of lies in whether or not the person chooses to act on these desires! "o more, no less! 0hile they should not be a point of argument at all, .iblical or religious views factor into these issues, because much li8e during the times of slavery, religion is being used to oppress and dehumani9e a group of people! ( group of -od5s children! 0hile it may be believed that -od hates the ,-./ community and it is our :ob to &correct their wrongs', this is not true! 0e are (,, human beings and we all sin! 0ho am I to degrade someone because they &sin' differently than I do3 In today5s world, media and advertisements bombard us! I say this because on a daily basis we are surrounded by people that preach acceptance, self$esteem, self$love, be yourself, be proud of who you are, love and respect others, etc! It is very apparent that the ,-./ community has ta8en heed to these messages more than anyone else has! /he fact that this community of people chooses to love who they are and to proud of who they are is a beautiful thing! 1n the other hand, the fact that these people are being oppressed, attac8ed and stifled because of this pride is unacceptable! 2ow can we sit and preach love and then issue said love on a case$by$case basis3 2ow can we preach self$love, self$ esteem, and positive self$image and then crucify people for e6ercising these very things because we do not agree with their methods3 2ow can we fault people for being themselves :ust because who they are is seen as &unnatural'3 In short the point I am trying to ma8es is that disrespecting someone because of who they are or choose to be is primitive and unacceptable! In this great, free nation of ours and in the year 2013, let5s try and understand that times have changed and people are different! 0ith that being said, we can evolve and thrive, or fight the inevitable and go down in a fiery bla9e called Civil 0ar! (t the end of the day, a person is a person and should be respected, and ripping their posters off of the walls is not a sign of respect!