[todaysdate]
By Kyle Franklin
Tracy Simmons, the editor of favs.news, recently posted an article for all the writers concerning the coming out of Apple’s current CEO, Tim Cook. She encouraged all of the writers to consider responding to his announcement. In a somewhat snarky response, I said, “I would respond to this if I found it news at all…”
While my response was (unintentionally) snarky, the core of my response is the same. It boils down to the question, “Who am I to judge?” This same question was posed by the pope recently.
Who am I to judge?
Honestly, I do not feel like coming out is news anymore. Been there, done that. One’s personal life is one’s personal life. More simply put, everyone has his or her own moral compass. No one can dictate that moral compass.
To share one example: I have multiple people in my life who have gone through abortions. Abortion is not my favorite topic. For some, it is murder. For many, it is a form of birth control. But for me, I have to believe that is a last resort.
Here is an anecdote: I attended a church for a short amount of time. The pastor often talked about the fact that his congregants stood on the sidewalk outside Planned Parenthood with duct tape over their mouths. Their intention was to show that fetuses have no voice of their own. However, when I challenged this pastor and asked him about what resources he had on hand while protesting, he stated that it was not his role to provide resources, but rather to address the problem.
This, in itself, is problematic. When those who protest do not have resources in hand —information on adoption agencies, crisis housing, pre-natal care, etc. — where is the validity in their argument? To bring it all together, who has the moral high ground? How are we to judge abortion, homosexuality, and other issues?
The simple truth is that I have never walked in your shoes, and I never will. I only have my own moral compass—based on my own experiences—to guide me. And, simply put, we can only trust our own moral compasses. There is no one who can speak for us and fully comprehend our own experiences.
This does not diminish what we believe as right or moral. Rather, our response to those with whom we disagree is a reflection on us.
In the end, I would like to leave you with this quote by Dave Willis: “Show respect even to those who don’t deserve it, not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.”
