"Allies, Too" Campaign

This campaign by the youth side of the Christian group Exodus, International, sounds like a good thing to me.

"Ally Week" is an annual emphasis created by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to promote safety from bullying, harassment, and name-calling against gays in schools. Exodus Youth has formed their own week-long event to support that idea. After all, true Christians are also opposed to bullying, name-calling, and other hurtful activities against homosexuals. Aren't we?

That's the genius idea behind last week's "Allies, Too." Seeing an opportunity to say right out loud that we don't want to hurt or be mean to homosexuals or their supporters, the group and its teen members declared their hope to "engage in honest reasoning and debate, not a culture war."

Their point isn't to say they're just fine with homosexuality. Far from it:

“Allies, Too” participants commit to the belief that "sexuality was purposefully created for marriage between a man and a woman" and that "a homosexual, bisexual or transgender identity and/or behavior are outside of the intentional design of human relationships and sexuality, and therefore aren’t what’s best for us, regardless of whether we are drawn to them," according to the campaign's core principles.

The point is to point out to critics that Christians do NOT hate gays.

"It's about time you stop believing the lie that people with different beliefs about sexuality hate those who embrace homosexuality," states the campaign description by Exodus. "We don't. We don't want to hurt others, and our goal isn't for anyone to be unhappy."

Far too many of us remain silent on this issue because we're afraid of being thought hateful. But it's not hateful to state your moral beliefs in a loving, respectful, kind-hearted, Christ-like way. And we shouldn't accept the label "homophobic" because of that fear.