First let me start by saying in no way do I have any hatred to those of the LGBT community, though I may not agree with a lot of the ways they approach things I think it is a community that is there to help people through struggles that only those of the community can understand. Second, I come from a Christian background that I definitely hold close to my heart; this background however has been more open minded than what may be perceived as the typical LDS standpoint on this topic. I myself have no problem with same attraction couples getting married civilly and receiving the benefits that a straight couple would get from the government, jobs, etc. However, what I would have a problem with is those rights infringing upon my religious freedom, or anyones religious freedom for that matter. My point being that as a religious person marriage is something ordained of God, and same attraction couples is not (read this in order to understand why I believe this). If you are not religious that's totally cool, if we don't have the same beliefs about Jesus Christ and God once again totally fine. But it is my constitutional right to believe just that. It is also my constitutional right to keep my places of worship sacred in the way that my church interprets from God. As it is any other church, may that be Catholics, Baptists, etc. It is our right to do just that, and when being 'politically correct' starts imposing on religious freedom, that is when we have a major constitutional issue.
With those things said, ESPN is awarding Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Though there may not have been a 'runner up' as it has been written in posts such as this one, or this one... I could link on and on and on but you get the point; apparently there was no runner up. This is what I have to say about it, is it courageous to do what Bruce did? Maybe. I admit that something like this would be confusing and taking the constant negative ridicule would not be easy. But the thing that gets to me the most is that this act of gender transformation is now earning the title of American Hero.... like in this article here, or in posts like this one. Maybe Noah Galloway wasn't a runner up for the Arthur Ashe Courage award, but he is truly what an American Hero is. What about Chris Kyle? Someone who sacrificed his life so many times in order for us to even have the right to discuss topics like this freely on a daily basis and over the internet with the potential of making an impression and connection with hundreds of millions of people. Not only to lose his life helping out other vets that served fighting in combat for those same freedoms. By using the term American Hero for Bruce Jenner we are almost giving a slap in the face to those who truly do serve our country. This is a major headlining topic and you can't open Facebook, Twitter, or watch the news without seeing some kind of media on it. What about the cruise ship with people stuck on it in China? I didn't even know something like this happened today because all social media is focused on the Jenner story. So where does the importance of our media reside? And is it really residing in the place that it should?
Now speaking again as the Christian that I am, this is a disgrace to God and his creations. I read this post that talked about the dialogue of a woman's soul trapped inside a mans body which I am going to pull a quote from her post because it hits my thought right on the head, "You can tell me that there is a difference between gender and sex, that Bruce was born with a male body and a female soul, but I would ask where did he get this soul? If there is no God, we are all nothing more than raw matter, we have no souls. If, however, we do have souls, there must be something more than the material. There must be something spiritual and if there is something spiritual, there must be a God who gave us these spirits, but if there is a God, would He make the mistake of putting a female soul in a male body? How can we know? We can know by what He tells us in His word. “Male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27) and He does not make mistakes, but does everything perfectly with love and wisdom." God does not make mistakes and if we are talking about souls there has to be something that created that soul.
The point I am trying to make is that there are people that have religious beliefs, and we have the freedom to practice those beliefs how we see fit. We also have the freedom of speech, and to me Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner is still a man, surgeries and hormones in order for his appearance to look as though he is a woman does not actually make him a woman. That is not how God created him, he was created to be Bruce, a man. Because like in the quote God knows what he creates and he does not make mistakes. Therefore based on my religious dialogue Bruce Jenner is still Bruce Jenner. I still have my freedom to believe this, and I also have my freedom of speech. That being said I do not think we as Christian's should have a specific dialogue forced upon us in order to please people, nor should we force a Christian dialogue on those that do not share our same beliefs. My points are we should be tolerant of those who have different beliefs than us, but tolerance does not mean we have to agree or be supportive. We should not down play what an American Hero is, someone who is fighting for the freedoms that we enjoy. Can Bruce be an LGBT community hero? Sure. But I am an American and I would not consider him to be a hero of mine. Last but not least, religious freedoms. They are important, they helped found the country that we all enjoy so fully today. So please let us have our beliefs and you may have yours, but we do not need to make each other believe the other persons side. Please let us remember what a true American Hero is, and along with that let us not burry religious freedoms for which this country was founded upon.
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