This is a picture of the NC State GLBT Center, which was vandalized this week (You can read the story on WRAL here, or on NCSU's online edition of the school newspaper here). I don't really know why I read people's comments on controversial stories like this, because they always make my blood pressure rise. Nonetheless, I seem to keep doing it, and then vowing never to do it again. Today is no different. As I read the comments on the WRAL site, they ranged from sympathy for the victims (in this case, the GLBT community at NC State), to hatred towards the perpetrators (whoever decided to do a little hate-filled artwork a couple nights ago, instead of doing their homework), to the conspiracy theory that the perpetrators and the victims are in the fact the same people (in other words, did the GLBT community actually paint this to stir up dialogue?).

Well, okay, let's say that NO students at NC State actually have a problem with there being a GLBT Center, or with anyone being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender. Let's say everyone gets a long just swell, and they really could care less what someoene's sexual orientation is (right...). And, let's say that the GLBT community did in fact paint this on their own Center's door and bulletin boards, just to get the NCSU community at large to talk about things. Well, I'd say, judging by the hate-filled comments on WRAL's story, their "idea" wasn't so crazy.

Now, before you start flipping out, thinking I've gone all "liberal" on you, stop. This isn't a discussion about whether being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender is okay. In reality, my stand is the same as it has been: My standard is God's Word. According to God's Word, there is one design for mankind---one man, one woman, in marriage (and no, I do not care to discuss the proposed legislation to mandate this definition---that's not what this post is about either). "So, what then, is this post about?" you ask.

Well, it's about this: On Saturday night, Casey and I watched a movie from the '90's called "Philadelphia" starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. We didn't know anything about it before Saturday, except the blurb on the box, but it sounded interesting, and it won lots of awards, which is sometimes a good sign, so we decided to check it out. If you're unfamiliar, I'll enlighten you a bit on its plot. Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington are both lawyers in Philly. Tom works for a big-time law firm, and has just landed a huge lawsuit. Denzel is your stereotypical personal injury lawyer (appearing in ads on TV, reminding you that you need to get yours). They end up running into each other, as they are on opposite sides of a case (the case is not important...and I can't really remember it). So...anywho....you soon find out that Tom has AIDS, and is dying. Around the same time you find out, his bosses also find out, and decide to fire him for "incompetence". After going to 9 other lawyers who don't want to take the case, Tom finally goes to Denzel and asks him to take on the suit he's filing against his former employers for wrongful termination. Denzel['s character] hates gay people and is afraid of people with AIDS, so he won't take the case. Through a series of circumstances, he does end up taking the case, works through his fear of people with AIDS and his hatred of gay people; they end up winning the suit; Tom ends up dying at the end, but not before he makes a great impression on Denzel; and they all live happily ever after. Whew. Made it through.

Now, this movie, in my opinion, was actually ahead of its time, as far as the issue of homosexuality, and how it is perceived in our society, is concerned. I kept remarking that this movie could have been made today, because it sounds just like the dialogue (yeah, that's a nice word for it) that is happening right now in our country. However, as I've already said, I was not most intrigued by the agenda the movie puts forward (because, honestly, I don't agree with all of it). What I can't get out of my head, though, is this one scene.

In the movie, one of the senior partners (Is that the right term...I don't know?) used to work in another firm, where that happened to be a female co-worker with AIDS. He knew that she had AIDS because prominent lesions would appear on her face. This is important because this senior partner, along with all the others, is denying that he knew Tom had AIDS, even though Tom also had these prominent lesions on his face. So, Denzel brings in this former female co-worker to talk about her illness and her experience with the senior partner. She talks about the "'Oh-God' expression" that came over him whenever he saw her. Then she talks about how she contracted the AIDS virus (which is very important to the defense, as you should see shortly). Here's a snippet of the questioning (the defense is questioning the witness Ms. Benedict):

Defense: Ms. Benedict, how did you contract the AIDS virus?

               
Ms. Benedict: Through a transfusion. I lost a lot of blood giving birth to my second child.
Defense: So, in your case there was no behavior on your part... which caused you to be
infected with the virus.It was something you were unable to avoid. Isn't that correct?
Ms. Benedict: I guess.
Defense: Thank you. 
               
Ms. Benedict: But I don't consider myself...any different from anyone else
with this disease. I'm not guilty. I'm not innocent. I'm just trying to survive.

Okay, so the analogy is not going to carry all the way through, because obviously, based on God's Word, I do believe in guilt and innocence. In fact, I believe we are all guilty. But. I cannot stop thinking about Ms. Benedict's response. The defense's strategy is clear. They are attempting to say that Ms. Benedict contracted AIDS through no fault of her own---that she didn't deserve to have it---but that Tom, being homosexual, behaved in a way that he deserved to contract AIDS and die. Ms. Benedict won't let that fly. She says "But I don't consider myself any different...from anyone else with this disease." 

And THAT is the point! I---me, Cristina---consider myself no different from anyone else with this disease. Namely, Sin. I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. Your specific sins may have a different name than mine, but their end result is the same. Either we trust in Jesus to pay for our sins, or we pay for them ourselves. When I forget that Jesus paid for my sins, and start to think I am good on my own, then hatred for others fills my heart and all I want to do is point out how "they" are bad, and I am good. But, when I remember that I, on my own, am evil and unworthy of knowing God, but that Jesus has paid for me and given me His righteousness, then is my heart filled with compassion for other sinners who are just like me---hopeless without Jesus.