Enough is way past enough.

     By way of Joe.My.God, this excerpt from an impressive blogger:

How to win a culture war and lose a generation

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My generation is tired of the culture wars.

We are tired of fighting, tired of vain efforts to advance the Kingdom through politics and power, tired of drawing lines in the sand, tired of being known for what we are against, not what we are for.

And when it comes to homosexuality, we no longer think in the black-and-white categories of the generations before ours. We know too many wonderful people from the LGBT community to consider homosexuality a mere “issue.” These are people, and they are our friends. When they tell us that something hurts them, we listen. And Amendment One hurts like hell.

Regardless of whether you identify most with Side A or Side B, (or with one of the many variations within those two broad categories), it should be clear that amendments like these needlessly offend gays and lesbians, damage the reputation of Christians, and further alienate young adults—both Christians and non-Christian—from the Church.

So my question for those evangelicals leading the charge in the culture wars is this: Is it worth it?

Is a political “victory” really worth losing millions more young people to cynicism regarding the Church?

Is a political “victory” worth further alienating people who identify as LGBT?

Is a political “victory” worth perpetuating the idea that evangelical Christians are at war with gays and lesbians?

And is a political “victory” worth drowning out that quiet but persistent internal voice that asks—what if we get this wrong?

Too many Christian leaders seem to think the answer to that question is “yes,” and it's costing them.

Because young Christians are ready for peace.

We are ready to lay down our arms.

We are ready to stop waging war and start washing feet.  

And if we cannot find that sort of peace within the Church, I fear we will look for it elsewhere.

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Follow-up post: From Waging War to Washing Feet - How Do We Move Forward?

For a more gracious response to Amendment One, please take the time to read this great piece from our friend Justin Lee of the Gay Christian Network.