Really???

This picture was taken at an Anti-Gay/Anti-Black protest that took place outside the Sidwell Friends school in Washington D.C. earlier in the week. Sidwell Friends is the private school President Obama's daughters attend. I'm going to ignore the brazen ignorance of protesting an entire race for now (though on another day at another time I may bring this up again) and instead focus on the one detail that first caught my eye when I saw this picture.

That sign. The one that reads "God Hates You."

Really? Really??

What kind of disgusting, hate-filled person do you have to be to justify in your mind carrying a sign like that around? I don't know which is more disturbing; the fact that someone actually believes such a thing and is ok with broadcasting it to the world, or the fact that someone who is clearly an adult is audacious enough to wave that sign at a bunch of elementary school kids. These people call themselves Christians too, which I cannot fathom. Who do they think they are, to speak for God like that? Who are they to tell someone else that God hates them for a lifestyle they've chosen or the color of skin they were born with?

The God I know does not hate anyone and all I've ever learned in Sunday School and Church has taught me that we, as Christians, should practice and cherish love and acceptance above all else. Period. End of story. What happened to Jesus loving all the children (red and yellow, black and white) of the world? We were not put here to condemn each other, or to decide for ourselves who is or is not worthy of God's love. And I'm pretty sure God doesn't need any of us to speak for Him.