For most reading this, that last sentence will come as a surprise. Perhaps it won't. However, it is true for me. I don't have much patience to deal with people who willingly chose to be despicable, hateful, blatant liars.
I have two older brothers. I love both of them dearly. However, they are incredibly different people. My oldest brother has grown up to become caring, loving, and deeply emotional man. He's overcome numerous challenges in his life and has become quite successful along the way. He's lucky to now be happily married to the man of his dreams too. Wait... Did I just say "man" his dreams? Yes. I did. I'm so proud of my brother for accepting himself and living comfortably within his own skin. He is in love with his best friend. His husband loves him in return so unconditionally. I respect and admire their love and affection so much. They know I'd go to the end of the world to stand up for their right to love each other no matter what.
My other brother, on the other hand, has not been so fortunate in his life due to poor personal decisions. To this day, he won't openly admit all of the things he's done wrong along his troubled path. He doesn't need to though. See -- I might be able to forgive his past actions, but I'll never forget them. After a heated exchange last night, I've learned that my middle brother has not changed at all since spending most of the past two years in jail. Why did he go to jail? The story has changed from time to time over the past few years, but one thing has remained true -- he was caught lying, cheating, stealing, and faking his way through the world. Based on his hateful thoughts and derogatory statements, I know in my heart that he hasn't changed. He might be able to fool some people. He claims our occasionally tumultuous childhood caused him to behave in certain ways. He claims he's a born again Christian, but I've seen through his facade. He's a judgmental fraud. Harsh, but sadly, true. I might gossip and slightly judge some people about exceedingly superficial things, but I'm sincere and don't judge people based on who they are inside.
Last night, my middle brother decided it was perfectly acceptable to joke about people being homosexual. Not only did he make disparaging and utterly hateful comments about gay people, but then he followed it up by saying his opinions are supported in the Bible and protected by his "freedom of speech" as an American. He didn't expect what happened next -- I called him out. My first thought: hypocrite. I flat out told him he was and continues to be wrong for harboring such despicable thoughts that are so directly related to our oldest brother's own identity. Most people don't realize that I've read the Bible cover-to-cover twice in my life. Although there are sections about homosexuality, I know there are many more sections about hate, hypocrisy, cruelty, judgement, love, family, kindness, and compassion. I could mention the gargantuan list of things my middle brother has done and continues to do that go completely again his Bible. You see, his Bible is obviously not my Bible. If I'm going to read the Bible, it is the one that, cardinally, promotes human compassion and support for others. Not the one that is used as a crutch to justify hateful and inexcusable behavior.
Why have I turned to my public blog to share this? Because one human being thinks it is acceptable to degrade and disrespect another on such a fundamental level. That same human being should unconditionally loving and unreservedly supporting his brother -- even if his brother is a gay man. He should be abiding by his "religion" and its basic principles of human kindness and compassion. I'm certainly no saint, but know when to stand firmly as an ally, advocate, supporter... and most importantly, as a brother.
I have two older brothers. I love both of them dearly. I don't like both of them equally. One has become great role model in my life. The other, the one I idolized as a child, has become a completely unrecognizable bigot.
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