Lord, save me from your followers...

In response to: http://sweatnosweat.blogspot.com/2008/12/this-just-in-after-launching-our.html

I gotta' say Adam, you certainly demonstrated more grace under pressure than I would have... you evil, religion-hating, secular business-man, you! ;)

I've heard this argument a million times. I heard it about my own wedding! Here's a nice little anecdote for you.

Random Relative: So, you gonna' have a big church wedding, right?!?

Me: No. We discussed it, and decided it wasn't important to us. We're having an outdoor wedding at a national park.

RR: Well, isn't it supposed to be a SPIRITUAL event?

Me: Can't it be a spiritual event in the unfettered beauty of the forest? Isn't God everywhere? If other people want to have Church weddings, good on them- they deserve whatever makes them happiest and feel the most connected- it's just not for me. Besides, we have many friends with many different beliefs, and we want to be inclusive- we invited them because we love them. In a way, it should be their wedding, too.

RR: Aren't you sort of cutting the baby in half, like Solomon? Ruining the spirituality to please too many people?

Me: First of all, are you comparing me having an outdoor wedding to cutting a baby in half? Secondly, Solomon did that to test the two women. He actually left it to them, and the true mother, the one who truly loved the baby, refused to cut it in half. Think of my wedding as the baby, and my loved ones as the mothers- they wouldn't dare try and harm the baby in order to divide it in half, because they know and love both Ryan and I. Our wedding is inclusive because anyone who really loves us knows that it's important to have as a whole, and our whole wedding involves many people, who we wouldn't dare split away with something as silly as our minor differences.

Above all, this season is about humanity, as Christ was about humanity. If this guy gives you any more grief, remind him of Solomon, and remind him that like a wedding or a holiday greeting, humanity doesn't work when it's split in pieces. If he really has humanity as his first vested interest. he will focus on keeping it safe, and keeping it unified. There's no compromise in that. You're simply acting out of love for the thing you love most.