Pink or White? How about Red?

Lately there has been a lot of buzz about Pink Dot and its counter reaction; wearing white to represent pro-family. I don't usually write about such social issues but I have things to say about how people view this issue. I get really angry when people don't know how to use words, especially since I am a Linguistics major. People who do not agree with your view are not necessarily "traditional" or "wrong". You don't win an argument or convince someone by name calling. That just speaks poorly of you.

Before I start, I would like to say that I am an average young guy with a straight orientation and have been a second generation Christian all my life. Just so you know where I am coming from. I don't believe in taking everything the church says at full value. If you know me, you will know I don't agree with everything I am told at the pulpit. I don't give tides or offerings. I believe in giving them to the people who really need them and hardly any of the churches in Singapore really require the money to operate. If it's money you require to renovate and upgrade the church to a larger capacity, you don't really need that, at least not from me. I don't condemn churches or representatives of any church though. Who are we to judge them? If what they do is wrong, they will be held accountable by God.

At the base line of all that background I have given, I basically don't support any of the two sides by attending their events. I rather go red. The color of humans. We are the same. We want to love and be loved.

In some way I believe that the wear white movement is childish. It's like a rebuttal in an argument that doesn't even make sense. Why? It doesn't mean that everyone wearing white supports your argument. That's why they can do this; take any photo and say oh look they are supporting your cause.

Do we have to react when the people support the Pink Dot event and we don't?  Do we really need to? Do we always have to have a visible action in the public to show what we believe in? Or is it that you want to have the limelight?

Yet doesn't it tell you something? For different religions to take a same stand. Are you going to condemn Christianity and Islam? I hope not. There is a legit reason for their stand. One I probably didn't understand until I read more about it. Before I tell you more about it, let's proceed to look at the Pink Dot and what it fights for. Notice I say fight for because they are not given.

The Pink Dot fights for the freedom to love according to their Facebook website. Wait. Is that all? They did not complete the sentence. Freedom to love people of the same gender. See? There is a difference. It is not the freedom to love illegitimate children or abused children or (fill in the blank) but people of the same gender.

That's why this whole Pink Dot thing is so misleading. Everyone thinks that it is a cause worth fighting for because it represents freedom to love anyone you want and that should be right. Loving someone can't be wrong. Is it? What about incest? What about child abuse? What about someone who is already married? These are so many wrong instances of love. In my opinion, so is love for the same gender.

I won't quote from the Bible and compare to the traditional times where it is obviously wrong. Now is now and things have changed. However, some things in us, humans, will never change. The presence of our guilty conscience for one. Why do people feel that loving others of the same gender is wrong and should be hidden? Their guilty conscience tells them it is wrong. It is not just social norms that keep this 'love' hidden. They know innately that it shouldn't be.

Do you know what the Pink Dot looks like to me? It looks like a novelty. Something people who have nothing better to do go to. It's like an event people turn up for because they think its symbolic of something good and they get to be part of something. Something similar to that of the CPF saga where people turn up at Hong Lim Park. It's like they have no clue what their support will lead to.

Now for what I read and what's happening in other parts of the world. There are cases whereby people have to treat gays as couples and give them the due respect or risk being sued. Imagine you are the owner of a small motel and a gay couple wants a room and for the sake of your other customers, you decide not to and are fined for that. Do you want that to happen to you?

If you can't imagine that, imagine growing up with kids and your kids see guys making out. Is that a future you want for your kids? Do you want them to think it is ok and they can do that as well? Think again. It is not as simple as it is. If it was I am sure Christians won't be reacting this way. We are told to love and love unconditionally as our Lord loves us. The reason some of us are so against this is that it threatens the family. Do not take the traditional concept of a family forgranted.

We can't hate the action and love the doer at the same time? It's like we hate the act of smoking because we know it is harmful to our friends but it doesn't mean we hate our friends. Well, it is definitely not easy loving them. No one said we will be able to do it, since their action keeps us away from them. Yet we try to. The action might put us off but they are still our friends.

My thoughts and arguments aren't fool-proof. They are just my thoughts. Food for thought.