Emotional Roller Coaster

The past couple of weeks have really put me on an emotional roller coaster. It has shown me who my true friends and family are, who is standing beside me, and who is fighting against me. It's made me see why brother was fighting brother in the Civil War. That's exactly how this whole "chicken" drama has made me feel. I understand it so completely now. I've been amazed by who took a stand for me, and completely heart broken by those that showed exactly how they feel about me in who they supported. I've felt frustration over people arguing over something they didn't bother to get all the facts on, and felt alienated even further from some family members that knew exactly what the issue was and still supported the other side.

For the most part, I've been left with a feeling of sadness and of being without much of a family. I know I have a lot of people that care about me and love me, but there's something about seeing your family being so judgmental and bigoted. There's nothing like basically being told "I love you but..." There are no "buts" in love. You either love or you don't. There is no grey where love is concerned. Susan is going through the same thing, as are a lot of my friends. Seeing their pain, hearing the hurt in their voices, reading the pain and frustration in their posts. I feel it. I know exactly what they are going through, and there really isn't anything I can do except remind them that I love them unconditionally.

With so many people failing to get the facts, and make an attempt to understand why so many of us are upset and hurt, I found an article with 5 points on exactly the reasons this is affecting us the way it is.


1) The company has donated at least $5 million to organizations (including a certified hate group) that, among other things, depict gay people as pedophiles, want to make "gay behavior" illegal, and even say gay people should be "exported" out of America.

2) The company's president didn't merely say he supports traditional marriage. He said if you support gay marriage, you "are inviting God's judgment on our nation," and that we "shake our fist at Him" when we do. He also said same-sex marriage is the result of a "deprived" mind and called it "twisted up kind of stuff."

3) The company supports organizations that have claimed they can change gay people into straight people -- "pray away the gay" -- despite the fact that practically every major medical organization has stated that this is not only impossible but dangerous and harmful.

4) The media keep saying the company has never discriminated, but the truth is that it has been sued over a dozen times for employment discrimination. That's what a leading business publication, Forbes, stated in 2007, when they also called it a "cult" and reported that it's founder and CEO said he wanted to hire married people because they are more industrious and productive. He has also said he would probably fire someone who "has been sinful or done something harmful to their family members."

5) The company is just exercising their First Amendment rights by running a business based on the Bible, right? Wrong. There's a line between the "free exercise of religion" and violating the law. If the company is violating the law by discriminating against gay people, or by firing women so that they can be "stay home" moms, as one woman who is suing the company says in court documents, that's not exercising religious expression or free speech, and that's not a First Amendment issue. It may be, if the court decides, a violation of the law.

This is so important to us because it affects us on a basic level of being able to live our lives, go to work every day, as well as marry the person we love. This isn't about Freedom of Speech. They can say whatever they want. They can give their money to whoever they want. It's when we see our friends and family showing support for this company and the things the company is giving money to that hurts and upsets us.

There are no "buts" in love. If you love me, then love me unconditionally. If there are conditions attached, then it isn't love. If you stand beside me and support me, then do so. If you say "I don't care either way," then you've made a decision not to support me, therefore have decided against me. Just be honest with me, as well as yourself.