Never be quiet again about injustice

March 14, 2008 Section: opinion Never be quiet again about injustice Community Advisory Board JAIME COON Jaime Coon is a student at Holland High School. She can be reached through The Sentinel at newsroom@hollandsentinel.com. Ever since my sister told me she was gay a few years ago, I have sought to educate myself on this divisive issue. Personally, she was my sister and nothing could ever change that for me. But I struggled with other people's reactions to homosexuality. How could someone so loving and so good as my sister be so detested by many just because of one small element of her total being?

And then, last year with my church youth group, I traveled to New York City to a church in the Greenpoint neighborhood where two gay ministers preach. I couldn't understand why these two moral people, these servants to the community, were being isolated by church leaders. How can this be?My entire life I've heard stories of marginalized members of our community suffering, physically and mentally. They have been forced to hide who they really are, disowned by their loved ones and attacked brutally; and some have been so tormented that they have become depressed and even committed suicide. People who just want the same opportunity to love as the rest of us have been ostracized and criticized to the point where we have shut them out of our community. I can't stand it any longer.As my mind has been opened up to these atrocities, my mouth has opened as well. I can never be quiet again. I will not stand by and watch as valuable members of our community are excluded and abused because of their sexuality.Morality is a tough word to define. In a community where religion exists almost as a status, many ignorantly believe the supposed immorality of homosexuals. People need to get educated. It is immoral to expect someone to live his or her entire life without love, pretending and hiding. As a Christian, I believe that God accepts everyone. Just because someone has a different truth about love doesn't mean that God doesn't love him or her.Love is not a sin. God is love. But oppression and cruelty is most definitely immoral. Because of this ignorance and prejudice, families have been broken and so many have experienced intense suffering. This unjust intolerance has bred the worst kind of immorality. How can we allow such suffering?Our community needs to step up and accept homosexuals. Holland prides itself on being a moral town, but this abominable prejudice of many contradicts that. If you believe that everybody deserves compassion and the opportunity to be himself or herself, you need to stand together with others and be loud. We cannot be quiet one second longer. We could shut out someone else and lose him or her forever.The world will be a better place when we can recognize with integrity that all people, including homosexuals, deserve to be allowed to love in peace. I know that many people have supported this cause and that progress has been made, but while homosexuals are still being discriminated against there is something to fight for.Morality is difficult to define. But there is no doubt that it requires the ability to love someone for who he or she is. Our community needs to love our homosexual members and accept the greater truth of love.

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