We are a country built upon issues: Freedom, slavery, racism, poverty, abortion, religion, homosexuality, greed, divorce, adultery, obesity, (insert-your-favorite-issue-to-talk-about), and on and on we can go.
The image of our humanity has been made to resemble an amalgamation of the issues we are composed of.
If I look at you and see nothing but issues, I know exactly how I should respond to you based solely on what you support and what you reject. It takes a split second to know because you are a liberal Hedonist and I am a conservative Christian or I am a delusional Moralist and you are a secular Humanist, we want nothing to do with each other.
However, it’s not that easy because if you can get past the issues, you realize everyone is just the same. We are confused, hurt, broken, fallen, and trying to find a purpose and meaning in life. Created in the exact same manner regardless of your believed creation story.
I would consider myself a religious person, but my religion does not lead me to condemn others for the decisions they make. I do not want to ignore people because of the issue that others define them by. That is not my job and I am not interested in a society where intolerance is built upon labels of justification.
This is what happens when issues become more important than people. We become the judge, jury, and executioner of our faith, forgetting the people that regardless of who they are, deserve our love and respect.