Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Bristol Palin

Home
Politics and Religion
A Gay Dance Partner? Sure!

A Gay Dance Partner? Sure!

Last updated on: August 7, 2012 at 9:26 pm by Bristol Palin

A Gay Dance Partner? Sure! 2012-08-07T21:26:32-05:00 Bristol Palin

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

While I’m excited and thankful to be returning to Dancing With The Stars, not everyone is thrilled I’m coming back. When the new contestants participated in a panel discussion for the Television Critics Association’s summer tour, the critics’ disdain for me was obvious. While they asked many questions (or, really, just a few questions over and over), only one stands out in my mind: Would I mind dancing with a gay dance partner?

Frankly, I found the question silly. Of course, I’d most like to dance with Mark again, but that’s up to the producers! If I can’t dance with Mark, I’d love to dance with a gay partner, a straight partner, or anything in between. I’m not looking for romance at Dancing With The Stars, but I do want to do as well as I can, make as many friends as I can, and maybe – just maybe – walk away with the mirror ball trophy.

But the media can’t seem to figure this out. In their simplistic minds, the fact that I’m a Christian, that I believe in God’s plan for marriage, means that I must hate gays and must hate to even be in their presence. Well, they were right about one thing: there was hate in that media room, but the hate was theirs, not mine.

Let me explain through a real-life example. A friend of mine interviewed several years ago for a faculty position at an Ivy League law school. When the interviewer saw that he was a conservative Christian, she asked him: “Do you think you can teach gay students?” (See the similarity to my question?)

Here was his response: “I believe every human being is created in the image of God and should be treated with dignity and respect, so I’ll treat all my students fairly. But I can’t promise they’ll treat me with the same respect when they find out I’m a Christian.”

That’s exactly right. What do a person’s sexual preferences and practices have to do with dancing ability? In fact, in most jobs a person’s private life has little or no bearing on their ability to do their job unless they lose sight of boundaries and ethics. Does the fact that a guy sleeps with his girlfriend mean that he can’t sell coffee? Should we fire a car salesman who’s divorcing his wife?

Look, my responsibility is pretty darn clear: to treat people as I would like to be treated, to be gracious, and – yes – to uphold and advance my Christian principles in all that I do. Would I want a gay dancer to refuse to dance with me because of my beliefs? Why would I refuse to dance with a gay man because of his?

To the Left, “tolerance” means agreeing with them on, well, everything. To me, tolerance means learning to live and work with each other when we don’t agree – and won’t ever agree. So if I have a gay dance partner, we may have some interesting discussions about morality, marriage, and whether the government made him a great dancer because it built the roads that he drove on to dance practice. But I can promise you that I’ll give it my best effort, I’ll learn all I can learn, and I’ll be proud to hoist that elusive mirror ball trophy right by his side.

Do you want to be a part of my DWTS journey? Then, e-mail me so I can add you to my mailing list. (My address is BristolsBlog @ gmail.com, without the space! Make sure to use the subject line: DWTS.) I’d love to give you the latest up-to-the-minute reports about the show!

Also, follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

You might also enjoy these articles on the Faith and Family Channel:

Announcement: I’m Going to be on Dancing with the Stars!
“I Built This, Mr. President” the Video from YOUR photos which has been seen 155,000 times!
What’s Better than Being a Palin?
On this one, I’m Team Hillary
Put a Ring on It!
Defending the “Palin Pick”

Connect with me further by:

Uncategorized

Dancing with the Stars

Previous Post

August 3, 2012

On Second Thought, Episode 14 "Raider and a Ring"

Next Post

August 8, 2012 Not Getting the Memo

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion compassion inspiration life military persecution photos Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Gideon" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God is my Strength Hewer Warrior Redeemer

Books by This Author Books by Bristol Palin

See All Titles »