Christianity and Culture

As I have been working through my research and writing my book and these blogs, one question has been eating at me: "How can we treat all people with love, and still be responsible citizens and advocate for the right laws?" In other words, how can we be non-judgmental and loving toward someone who has had, or is contemplating having an abortion, and still vote for anti-abortion laws? Or, how can we be loving and compassionate toward gays and lesbians, and yet still deny them the right to marry? I think these are very challenging questions that have to be answered in order for us not be internally divided. As whole and complete human beings it is important for our health and well being, not to allow us to become internally divided, thinking one thing while doing another, or doing one thing in one situation while doing a completely different thing in another situation. And the questions needs to be asked, "can I treat gays and lesbians, women who have had abortions, and others with compassion and love, while voting for anti-gay and anti-abortion laws?"

Think about it this way: If you have a friend or an acquaintance who is either gay or has had an abortion, and they have just received judgment and harsh words from someone and need consoling, and you are that person who is giving them extra love and allowing them to vent and cry, how would you respond if they ask you if you think gay marriage or abortion should be legalized, or if God is going to judge them for their behavior? How can you show them the love they need, and answer their question honestly? It will be important for you and me to sort these problems out if we are going to be the salt of the earth and the light on a hill for these people.

What I would like to do before I give my thoughts on this is to hear from you the reader. I think this is an excellent topic for a discussion among us and so I would like very much to hear what you have to say on this topic. I'm sure some of you that read this believe that you can show love and compassion while voting in an anti-gay/anti-abortion way. Some of you think this is impossible and the two cannot be reconciled; you either have to be judgmental toward gays while continuing to vote anti-gay, or show love to them and vote pro-gay. Whatever your view, please give your reasoning in argument form. Please post your comments below and look for a followup post in the coming days where I will give you my thoughts on how to respond to this difficult issue.
God bless.
-Brandon