Wake-Up Call

So I know I haven't contributed to this blog in a lonnnnggg time, but due to recent events in the news I simply cannot keep silent. As you all may have heard by now, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide after being outed on the Internet by his roommate. Today I saw a link on my friend's wall that a Johnson and Wales student also committed suicide, making him the fifth gay youth to take his own life in three weeks. As Ellen DeGeneres said in a video on her talk show website, one suicide is tragic enough. Five is a crisis. And these are just the incidents we heard about: there were also two suicides at my high school this past year, and who knows how many more have gone unreported and how many more teenagers have suffered or continue to suffer in silence.
The fact that the majority of these suicides have been caused by bullying is a crisis in itself. Seriously, I'm well-aware that the Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin-however nobody said anything about condemning homosexual PEOPLE, human beings, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. That said, the attitudes up in this peace towards people that are different are just absurd. Whatever happened to loving your neighbor as yourself? Have we forgotten that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that only God has the right to judge and we do not? Haven't we realized that telling people that they will burn in hell is not the answer? Aren't we called to treat others the way we want ourselves to be treated?
I don't say this to shove my personal beliefs down other people's throats. But I do want this to serve as a wake-up call: to end the hatred and harassment, to put a stop to harsh judgment, and to love others as Jesus would love. That doesn't mean we have to agree with people's opinions, lifestyles, sexual orientations, etc, and that doesn't mean we have to like them, but it does mean we should accept them as they are and treat them as we want to be treated, and leave the judgment up to God.
Gays aren't the only ones who are being bullied and suffering. This can happen to anyone, regardless of race, gender, religious affiliation or sexual orientation. We need to wake up and reach out to those who are suffering, recognize that we are all imperfect and all sinners, because God's children should not have to take their own lives to end the hurt. We need to make a change, and I hope we can all be alive to make it happen.

Below is a website for "I Need a Lighthouse", a nonprofit organization founded by Kathy Wakefield several years ago to raise awareness about suicide/depression and suicide prevention. If you or someone you know is dealing with issues relating to depression or suicide , please look up the phone numbers on the website.

www.ineedalighthouse.org