RENT was a great movie/musical. It really puts a perspective on peoples pain and anguish. More particularly, it shows how people who are different that I am, different values, different life decisions, do what they feel they have to do to find love.
Though I am not as conservative as I used to be, there are still times I have issue with the way people decide to run their life. I try to see myself as accepting, but as I watched this movie, it really made me think about how accepting I really am. I pretty much think that homosexuality is a result of psychological phenomena as a result of how a person was brought up. Therefoere, I think that it is simplistic to say that it is a choice and I think that it is also as much simplistic to say that it is not a choice. The homosexuals that I have known over the years, in my opinion exhibit similar characteristics in their upbringing and cope in much the same way to deal with the problems associated with that upbringing.
I have known them in various circumstances and believe I love them and based on our interractions and what they said about interracting with them. I have been told that they feel different around me than others with my same beliefs. I can also appreciate that there feelings are sincere and that to lose a loved partner could be as deep of a loss and need for love and sympathy as I would need if I lost my spouse.
I remember a while back praying and listening with a friend of mine after her partner of many years broke up with her. I know it was a painful experience and even though I disagree with her stance, I agree that she was hurting just like I would and I wanted to be there for her, sincerely.
I am stuck wrestling with this issue because I want to love and accept all people (and hope I really do). But, am I really accepting them with my views? Can I hold my views and accept them at the same time? How can a person who believes that being a homosexual is wrong, have a true homosexual friend and yet hold a view on the opposite end? Is it possible or will there always be distance? Even if I continued to use my old church cliche' "love the sinner, hate the sin." That would push them away further as those words can be very painful and condscending .... Is it possible to find a balance?
The movie RENT helped me to ask these questions. I hope that those who would want to send me hate comments recognize that I am wresteling with these things and want to get this right if possible. While watching the movie, I was engrossed in the music. It was great, I liked the acting and the fact that the plot gave a picture of reality we often do not want to face and it made me think. But, I noticed that I was not emotionally invested like I may have been if heterosexuals were going through some of the same issues. My wife, on the other hand was able to shed a tear at a poignant part of the movie while she still feels the way I do about the subject.
This situation caused me to recognize the difference between being concerned about what a person is versus who a person is. What = the label. Homosexual, transvestite, straight, liberal, democrat, conservative, republican, Christian, Muslim, Jew, criminal, celebrity, saint. Who = content of character. Loving, caring, compassionate, fellow struggler looking for significance in life as well as a long list of other good and bad things. We all know people who ascribe themselves to these different kind of labels can often exhibit many different forms of both good and bad character.
But, when the content of the movie goes beyond what I can "tolerate" do I go from worrying about who the person is (which leads me to believe that I can be a friend to all kinds of people) to worrying about what a person is (which makes them an inhuman object rather than a person with feelings and fears etc.)
I am really in a quagmire about this. Sometimes the mirror we hold up to our face brings surprises. I think that this would be a good discussion if anyone wants to wrestle with it.... with me.
One more thing that I noticed as I was rereading my entry is how I kept talking about "them." I hate us and them stuff, but am at a loss for another way to put it. Hmm.
