God does not seek his own. In all his acts, he is innocent and free and acts only out of true love. That is why the person who is united to God acts that way -- he, too, will be innocent and free, whatever he does, and will act out of love and without asking why, solely for the glory of God, seeking his own advantage in nothing -- for God is at work in him.

Meister Eckhart

Another anti-gay ad appeared this weekend in a San Francisco newspaper. I've debated a few folks on what the real motivations behind these ads are. I think it's only a ploy to fill the coffers of the religious right and the Republican party ahead of congressional elections in November. Others I've spoken to believe the reasons are more insidious, meant to spark a real, and deadly, war against homosexuality, and homosexuals.

The perpetrators of the ads say their only motivation is love. But, it's obviously not true love. For true love acts without asking why, solely for the glory of God, seeking its own advantage in nothing. This is not the goal of the ex-gay ads, no matter how much the sponsors talk about love.

They seek a gain. They seek to set the stage for the debate about homosexuality. They seek to win that debate. Their love is not innocent and free, it is tainted and comes at a high cost -- the lives of gays and lesbians.

They are not trying to convince homosexuals they can change, they're trying to convince the population at large that since they believe we can change, then we don't need any "special" rights. No laws need be changed to keep us from being discriminated against because, if we just had enough faith, poof!, we'd no longer be gay or lesbian. The argument for "rights" ends right there!

This is not a campaign based on true love ... don't believe the lie.

We must react with true love, however. We must not seek the advantage in our response. Instead, we can only respond by continuing to exist, by continuing our work to serve God by serving society at large. When God calls us to loving action, even if it is a kind act toward our enemies, we must act without asking why. We must love our enemies, even when they seek to do us harm.

For God to be at work in us, we cannot seek our own gain, but only the gain of the world at large. The world gains when discrimination, in all forms, ends. The world gains when true, unselfish love wins. This is the business we must be about.

Blessings,
Candace