Entering an era of acceptance

female. As the story of “The creation” found in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament stated that God only made Adam, a man, and Eve, a woman which made them swallowed the idea that there are only two genders that God created which made them exclude others as part of God’s creation.

A humble call. In an interview in the associated press in Vatican City with Pope Francis, he acknowledged that there are still ministers of the Church who support antihomosexual laws and encourage them to undergo a process of change to accept other’s identity.

By Michaela Ann Marie R. Razon

The humble call of the 86-year-old pope uplifted the victims of gender discrimination as he came from a sector that contributed the most to their struggle of being unaccepted in the society. As his faith is still inclined with the Church’s teaching, he still considered homosexuality a sin but not a crime. He also reiterated that lack of charity among others is also a sin as Jesus taught us charity among our neighbors, may it be to our enemy or friends.

That said, the statement made by the head of the Catholic Church is a light victory for the age-long struggle of the members of the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others (LGBTQ+) community for it is high time that this issue is to be addressed worldwide.

Besides, homosexuals can do the things that straight people can do, so the question arises: why are we treating them like a black sheep in society?

Putting faith into action. The major thing that religion is teaching us is kindness; in this, we are expected to act accordingly among others, regardless of their gender and who they are.

As Christians, Jesus told his followers that they should love God and their neighbors regardless of identity, race, and wealth. A real believer of Christ is not selective when giving respect, because a true follower is indiscriminate when doing kindness.

Aside from Christianity, other religions also promote common good among individuals. There is no religion dictating us to be cruel against people who are different from us.

For an instance, Confucianism—a system of belief originating from Ancient China—tells us that we shouldn’t do to others, what we don’t want others to do unto us. In this sense, if we don’t want others to decriminalize our gender, we should not do the same thing to them. Indeed, our faith must be put into action, because if faith is only meant to be proclaimed and not lived by, how can we make nonbelievers accept our religion? Religion shouldn’t be the reason why queer people feel degraded and excluded in society. Instead, it should be a promoter of kindness and equality among people. Homosexuality may be a “sin” biblically but remember that it is also a sin to despise someone not just morally, but in all forms.