Be Yourself; as Long as You Agree With Me!

I find it ironic that Christians are supposed to have higher moral standards than everyone else, and yet they can be so cruel sometimes. I have never been bullied by anyone other than fundamentalist Christians. Ever. Not that all my fundamentalist Christian friends have bullied me, I have many Christian friends who have never bothered me about stuff (if they disagree with me they've at least respected my right to my opinions) but all the bullying I have received has come from Christians. And by bullying I don't mean disagreement, I disagree with people all the time; I mean people being rude and cruel and manipulative because I don't agree with them. People who cannot respect me or my choices unless we agree. I'm STILL getting messages of people aghast that I support gay marriage. -_- 

Growing up everyone always told me that I should always be myself, and that they applauded me for standing up for what I believe in, for not being afraid to be bold. People told me how much they respected me for this. However, I'm realizing now that this positive view of me only applied as long as "being myself" and "supporting what I believe in" fit within their idea of what was right and wrong. As soon as I put my toe across that line, suddenly it was wrong for me to be myself, wrong for me to stand for what I believe it. I was suddenly a terrible example, and their whole attitudes toward me changed instantly.

I was spring cleaning and found an old letter from someone who had opted to not speak to me anymore after I supported gay marriage. In this letter, she applauded me for the things I mentioned above. She said she looked up to me and respected me, encouraged me to never lose the courage to by myself, etc. A few years later, her attitude would be completely different... I was no longer worth even speaking too or acknowledging in any way, even after I apologized to her and attempted to respectfully explain my views. I finally deleted her from my Facebook, which is a big deal for me.

I'm learning that real friends don't treat you different when you disagree on things. They don't shun you or try to manipulate you into following their beliefs. They don't pressure you, call you names, or ambush you to get you to change your mind. People who really love you won't treat you terribly for believing something different than they do. And it's ok to want to surround yourself with people who treat you with respect and love. :)

Love you all, kudos to all who read to the end! lol.
Lilly