How dare you

“You can change our law, but not the law of God. #JesusWins”

How dare you. How dare you use that hashtag as if it’s the opposite of #LoveWins, as if we are against God? And really, you can separate the words “love” and “Jesus” now? Someone’s obviously not understanding what she’s reading.

How dare you label same-sex marriage as a sin when it does not in any way harm anyone the way all sins do? Go on, I’m giving you time to look up the verse in the Bible that backs your bigoted statement. I’m sure you’ll be able to find it right away as it seems you’ve book-marked that page, not only to make hating more convenient and legitimate-sounding but also to boost your attempt to take the spotlight away from the parts of the book that had been rendered obsolete.

Help me understand how same-sex marriage can be a sin. What part of it hurts you? We’re not going to steal your money when we have our dream wedding, or by the time we’re raising our adopted kids (those kids left on the street by your favorite kind of relationship). The only thing we might steal from you is the annual Most Beautiful Garden award and nothing else. Dear, I just don’t get where the intense hatred is coming from. You talk as if it’s the beheading by Isis that got legalized.

I see you’re the type of person who lives life as if it’s a long multiple-choice exam, that there’s always one precise answer to everything—how to live, how to love, who to hold hands with, what to wear to the PTA meeting, etc. You believe that the more commands of the Bible you tick off, the higher your chances of winning a slot in heaven. I wish you good luck. I remember you not being so bright in high school. Well, I’m not saying I’m any brighter. Maybe just happier.

That’s why I believe otherwise. I think life is more of a complex essay. That God is more intelligent, loving and discerning than you, and that He/She would rather listen to my story—how every nook and cranny, every success and challenge, helped me understand the purpose of life—than check a lengthy to-do list before letting me into His/Her garden, or spaceship, or rainbow-colored candy land.

Initially, I planned on encouraging all my bigoted “friends” to unfriend or unfollow me online and in life, but I think that’s not going to be fair and exciting for both of us. How about this: You carefully watch every chapter of my sinful life as I do the same to you. And then, at the end of each year, we e-mail each other a list of all the tangible things we’ve done to propagate love, kindness and happiness in this world. Game? (Girl, I’ll need proof, ha.)

Rod Marmol, 23, is a copywriter at an ad agency.