contingencies

A girl I know from home took this picture. She's really artsy and takes great photos. I think that it is such a beautiful picture and I bet many people would agree with me. Perhaps even people at my school. The tattoo on the woman's back is, of course, a commandment of Jesus. Hip, college age Christians love Bible verse ink.

I wonder what they would think if they knew the context of the picture. I wonder what they would do if they met the woman in the picture. It's certainly an unfair musing, the generalization that they would all have the same response. I know this is untrue. I know there would be varying levels of indignation and judgment and disapproval. I know some would be sad, some would be mad, some would want to love the sinner and hate the sin. But I wonder how many of them would, all the same, think the woman's intention is misplaced, her understanding of Biblical interpretation flawed.

The girl I know from home took this picture at the Pride 2008 parade in San Fransisco. It's in an album among picture of people of all shapes and sizes wearing big rainbow buttons that say "Just Married," skanky Halloween costumes, or funky hair. Maybe these are the people whom Christians think of when they condemn homosexuals. The album also has pictures of people in mom jeans and baseball hats. All the pictures were of people unashamed to embrace an unconventional lifestyle, to support those who live such a lifestyle, loving whom they love. It's a situation quickly and easily denounced by the Christian community. The Bible clearly decries such a lifestyle, any good Christian will tell you. Why, where, or how are, of course, superfluous follow up questions.

But what about looking at it from a different perspective, one that emphasizes the commandment to love? Why is it so important to always have everything figured out so that everyone fits into a category? Category 1: People who are Christians and do what the Bible says. Category 2: People who claim to be Christians but don't actually understand what the Bible says. Category 3: People who don't claim to be Christians and reject and defy what the Bible says. People in Category 1 are the only ones with the secret, infallible knowledge of what category everyone else is in. Gays mostly fall into category 3, but maybe the girl in the pictures and some others fall into category 2.

Screw the categories.

I think we should be okay with not having all the answers. Those who wave a banner of love ought to be allowed to have their voice and their place among a community that claims to follow a Rabbi whose radical mantra was love. I think "love the sinner, hate the sin" is a self righteous and pretentious contingency that thinly veils the Pharisee who loudly thanked God that he wasn't like the sinful tax collector.

In the midst of a country and a campus and a community that I don't understand, a woman on BART believes in love. And she branded it on her body. I think it's beautiful, no contingencies.