Why I haven't been speaking up about a bearded man and his loss of televised duck time.

College has taught me quite a bit. One of the most important things I have learned is that people are often very vicious when you disagree with them or say something controversial. What's that you say? Why yes, it took me until last year to really figure that out.

See, I grew up in a fairly like-minded community of Christians. My mentors and parents encouraged me to think a certain way, and I trusted them to guide me according to what they interpreted in the Word of God as pure and lovely and honorable. When I arrived at Northwestern, I was thrown into a thrashing, swirling, confusing spin of different views and opinions. Being the naive little homeschooled freshman that I was, I spoke up against a few of them, not expecting the verbally violent, judgmental response that I received. I eventually stopped expressing my opinion completely in some circles. I began to listen...and I picked up a decent number of thoughts from others.

Please do not assume that all of the people at my school had the same response to my expressed opinions. Quite the opposite. It only takes one to knock the wind out of you, however. I left school in May with a bitter, wounded outlook. Since returning this year, I have spent far more time with people with differing and similar views to mine, and the difference has (sometimes) been refreshing. It has redeemed my view of the peers I live and work with. 

You may be thinking, "I knew all of this before. She talks about this quite a bit." Well, bear with me.

So how does Phil Robertson...Duck Dynasty...the gay community fit into all of what I just said? I don't watch Duck Dynasty...couldn't enjoy it when I tried to watch an episode. I have cloudy thoughts about the whole controversy. I am a verbal processor, though, so I have decided that it is unwise for me to express any opinions about this. It would be a much better plan for me to have conversations in a safe environment--my home. With my brother, sister, and parents. No angry words, no judgement if I accidentally make an unfair remark about either side of the argument.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my mini rant about Tourette's this morning. I don't like playing this card--heck, I don't like talking about my Tourette's on social media!--but the fact is that I do have an incurable disorder. Guess what? People make jokes about it. People who are angry about Phil Robertson (both sides, not just one or the other) have made jokes in front of me about Tourette's.

That hurts. I understand what it is like to feel the knife of comments dig into my back. I realize that these two aren't the same thing (Tourette's is a disorder and homosexuality is a lifestyle), but both groups are discriminated against and hurt on a regular basis. That isn't right, no matter what your stance on the Bible is or what your political views are. 

Nevertheless, it was only one comment and it was only one man's screen time. Both sides will eventually cool down. The public will soon move on to a new injustice--and it will probably be as fleeting as a Christian hick losing his time on his own television show. (Also, that just sounds really ridiculous when it's worded bluntly.) America will continue to be upset by the small issues and ignore the pressing ones like world hunger and sex trafficking. 

I've got a news flash for all of you: it's five days till Christmas. While cable tv watchers and social justice activists sit in their heated homes and type indignant words that won't change freaking anything about the whole situation, why can't we just remember what Christmas really is? It's a celebration of the greatest gift that God could have given. He sent love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control down from heaven in the form of a divine Baby. 

I don't even like gifts that much. My wing sisters constantly give me crap about being a grinch when it comes to decorating and listening to holiday tunes. However, I can't wrap my mind around the miracle that is Baby Jesus and His Father's sacrifice for me. It's crazy and I love the mystery of it all. 

God loves me, and God's love is enough.