Selfish Tolerance

Selfish Tolerance May 2009

A popular response I have seen lately to the Carrie Prejean/Miss USA controversy is the idea that: “I may not agree with homosexual lifestyles, but it isn’t hurting me, so why should I be concerned about how other people ‘choose to love’?” Another one is, “I thought you Christians were supposed to love everybody, so why are you so hateful and judgemental towards gays?”
I wish that those ignorant enough to believe “homosexuality doesn’t hurt anyone” would consider these statistics:

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50% of homosexuals had their first same-sex experience with an adult by the age of 14 (SIGMA Project 1992).

The average homosexual has 50 partners per year, and 79% of the time with strangers. (USA Today 1984)

The average life span of an American male is 74 years, but the average life span of the homosexual male is 41 years, and 44 years for lesbians (CRM 1996).

91% of American AIDS cases have been traced to homosexual sex, intravenous drug use, or some combination of the two (Journal of the American Medical Assoc.).
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My last thought on this: you say “it doesn’t hurt me, so it doesn’t bother me.” What a SELFISH philosophy. Just because something doesn’t hurt you directly, doesn’t mean you should ignore it. If you caught your 8 year old daughter smoking a cigarette outside, would you say, “well, it doesn’t hurt me, so why should I interfere in her life”? Not if you’re worth anything as a parent. Why not? Because it’s hurting HER, shortening HER life, and possibly causing health problems for any children she may have in the future.

Yes, we are supposed to love our fellow man. That means getting over OURSELVES, and helping them to turn away from their harmful, damaging lifestyles–not ignoring them, or allowing them to continue in the name of “tolerance”. Yeah, they may hate us for it. But true love is doing what you know is right for the other person, even if they despise you or persecute you for it. It is NOT turning a blind eye or giving them whatever they want.

Enough said.