Finally, Some Open Mindedness.

I have to admit, I am very happy to see a very dramatic shift in attitude from my earlier life to now in one particular issue.

That topic is same-sex marriage.

I grew up in Alabama, in a town where people like to dissociate themselves with notoriously ignorant southern ideals but homosexuality was always one the one where most people seemed to draw the line.

Obviously, everyone had varying opinions. One that always bothered me was the suggestion of allowing gays legal binding without calling it marriage.

So... separate but equal? Surface level, this might sound reasonable but let's take a look back at history. When people originally coined that term, "separate but equal", was during the civil rights movement, where the term was used by a judge to hold up the standing laws which separated blacks and whites (water fountains, restrooms, etc.).

On a bit of an off note, I always noticed as a child the most people who had these vastly different opinions weren't children. Children didn't care, it was all the same to them. I think there is something to be learned from that about children.

Now, though, we have a Vatican document being released saying that homosexuals had "gifts and qualities to offer". Since they are The Roman Catholic Church, this is a very dramatic shift in ideologies.

"Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a further space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home."

All this was said in the document known as "relatio". 

This kind of document is just one of the many examples that depict Pope Francis's more merciful and loving attitude toward the homosexual community, not like his predecessors.

I am very optimistic, personally, toward these kind of changes in society because it shows that we can collectively move past social ignorance that had existed before. We don't always have to stand strong to faults and refuse to move past them.

My hope is that our generation, Generation Z, can take this kind of change and apply it everywhere we see true injustice happening.

We do have the power to make this kind of ripple, despite that some people would rather we didn't.

And I do hope that one day we can take this message of absolute equality and fair treatment to places like Saudi Arabia, Syria, and countries that still treat certain people lowly, and show them the serenity in true fairness.

That's all for today! I'll be back tomorrow with another post.

"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat." -F. Scott Fitzgerald