A Choice

The Mathew Shepherd case raised questions around the world about societal attitudes on controversial issues. The 20/20 special on Mathew Shepard says " at the time there were so many hate crimes and this one stood out". But the real question is: why? Mathew Shepard's story is chilling and sometimes uncomfortable to read about but his story was meant to be heard. The truth about social attitudes had to be uncovered. Mathew Shepard's death may or may not have been a hate crime but the truth is that his situation forced people to think about their attitudes towards him. They were faced with the question of which is more important to me: human compassion and acceptance or a very conservative and literal view on the bible. Essentially does love or hate prevail?
Some chose love. The scene in The Laramie Project where there is parade banner in Mathews honor and hundreds of people join in is heart-warming. It illustrates that people care and that Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson were exceptions. Others dealt with a more difficult decision of choosing love against their previous beliefs. People in both the video clips and the books say that the situation in Laramie after Mathew Shepard's death say that their view change and equality was revealed.
Others chose hate. In the 20/20 video Fred Phelps,leader of the Westboro Baptist Church chose to embrace hate, even at Mathews funeral. This shows that although as a society we are making a step in the right direction there will still be hate filled people. The extent to which Fred Phelps demonstrated his hate is appalling and a rarity. However, there will always be others that are more silent with their views, and they are entitled to those views.
I recognize that Mathew's case is complex and it may  or may not have been a crime motivated by hate. But the real aftermath of the crime was the uncovering of a social flaw where people were forced to make a choice.
1 John 4:7-8  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.