Nothing good has ever come from hate

  I have used blogging (this particular one and another one attached to my profile) as an outlet for some many things. I have written fun anecdotes and stories about my life. I have bore my testimony through hopeful posts encouraging myself to keep going. None of these things are bad. In fact they have been helpful to me.
      That being said, I think I have edged away from using blogging as what it can be for me. Which is a place to express how I really feel, to allow myself to work out things I may not understand. On my other blog that I used more a few years ago  I allowed myself to be honest about things, like my Mental Health Issues and looking back it is wonderful to see the beauty that my pain and struggles have brought. So I hope that as I continue on my journey into blogging I can feel free to express myself, putting up creative writing stories, poems and feeling okay to be with how I feel, and who I am.
   
In that same respect I want to write about something that has been hurting my heart the past few days.
I am a part of a church which openly expresses that God's Law is that Marriage is to be between a man and a woman. Their core doctrine focuses around the family and traditional marriage. I respect my religion so much. I can appreciate that within the bounds, of what I believe to be my personal religion, marriage in our temples and churches must be this way.
However, just becuase I choose to be apart of this religion and practice according to its doctrine does not mean that I have any right to tell anyone else how or what they should do.

I can not in anyway tell my friends who to love. I don't want to. I have so many wonderful friends who practice different religions, are different races and who love people who have they same gender as them. The fact of the matter is this new ruling passed down by the SCOTUS is making so many of my friends and family happy and better. They can be married and receive recognition for that marriage. There is no reason a person shouldn't be granted these rights by a government. That is my personal belief.
A religion is different from a government. A government needs to make sure the rights of all people are being protected. Civil liberties need to be for everyone.
A religion has the prerogative to say what is right for their congregation and their believers. But there are many different religions. There are many different beliefs. A government has to do what is best for the people despite what certain religions or people may practice.

As we are learning to coexist on this planet filled with many different people, it is unrealistic to believe that everyone thinks the same and it is completely unfair to expect everyone to.

So I turned my Profile picture into a rainbow. I messaged my friends, my family members and said encouraging and happy thoughts. I did this because I am happy they are happy. I am thrilled to see that their lives are better. Just as they were happy to see me get married in my church's temple where only certain people could enter, just as they rejoiced when my baby was born and blessed, just as they sent me encouraging messages when I said that I had thought about going on a mission for my church when I was 20.
We are all human beings. And we need to learn to love each other.

I truly am sorrowful with all the hate I have seen.
I have been treated badly in my life. I have had people act weird toward me becuase I have bipolar disorder. I have had people treat me bad for the religion I am apart of. I have had people say hurtful things to me these past few days as I have rejoiced with my friends. But as I thought today about how crummy I felt I realized I am only feeling a minuscule of the pain that a lot of my brothers and sisters who are apart of the LGBT community have felt. And that is ridiculous. I can't even imagine the plight that some of my friends have endured as they tried to find themselves in this sometimes unwelcoming world.
No one deserves to be bullied, ridiculed, or degraded. Can we not all just try to see where people are coming from? Can we try to understand?
Can we learn to find common ground? Can we learn to love someone unconditionally?

To those out there who have felt lost, hurt or hopeless, please know that there is love and acceptance. And I am so sorry for all the hate you have felt.

Remember, God is love. He has love for every single person. I believe that. So there is no reason we shouldn't do the same.

Let's all learn to live together on this earth.
Loving people is so much better than hating them.