I hate my toe

3 years ago I started to notice that the joint in my left big toe, right where the toe meets the foot, was hurting. If you want science, it'd be pain in my left, first metatarsal phalangeal joint. I didn't know what to make of it, so I went to a podiatrist to get checked out.  We started with the easy stuff, and assumed it was gout.  Modified diet, pain meds, some easy enough tests to confirm.  Well, tests came back negative, pain meds were good but the pain never went away.  And the diet just stunk.  So more tests and xrays and what have you.

The diagnosis became hallux limitus.  The metatarsal bone in my foot had an overhang or lip on it.  The phalangeal bone in my toe rubbed up against it.  This was bad, so I got pain.  Only want to fix it was with surgery.  Well, I waited until I couldn't take it anymore (which is saying something, since I have a really high pain threshold) and scheduled the surgery.  The doc went in, shaved a bone here, screwed a piece there, and said problem solved.  A little physical therapy and I was back to running and jumping and doing all the normal stuff I was supposed to be doing.

That pain free life lasted for almost 2 years.  I started to get that painful twinge in that same toe, in that same place.  And it continued to get worse and worse, so I scheduled time with that same friendly podiatrist.  More tests, and the problem this time was the cartilage separating foot from toe.  Only way to fix it? Surgery.  So, I waited until I could stand it anymore (and this time around, until I got really tired of sitting around with frozen peas or ice packs on my foot every night) and scheduled the surgery. Instead of a simple old Waterman-Greene Osteotomy, this time around was an awesome "hemi-joint implant). The plan was to cut the end of the toe bone off, drill a hole in it, and screw in a synthetic head.  When the doc opened the toe back back, turns out I had zero cartilage, and he had to put the implant on the foot side.

So, more physical therapy, more pain meds, and it was supposed to be back to normal physical activity.  That was more than 10 months ago, and every day since I've had pain in that toe.  Some days, it's back to the ice pack and frozen peas.  Some days, it's back to the pain meds.  But all days are back to being pain filled, with the added bonus of knowing the absolute only way to remedy the situation is with another surgery.

Since I can't go out and play with my daughters, I finally decided it's time to go see a doc, though I'm not giving that same guy the opportunity for 3 strikes.

That's some good chicken

Lately, Chic-Fil-A has been in the news because of their CEO's stance on homosexual marriage.  It seems everyone with a keyboard and half a mind has commented, so I figured why not me too.

So, my religious stance is that homosexuality is a sin.  Also sins: lying, stealing, coveting (wanting something that's not yours), holding something higher than God (I'm looking at you money), the love of money (root of all evil).  And, it turns out, many more things are sins as well...

Leviticus 18:22 (CEB) - You must not have sexual intercourse with a man as you would with a woman; it is a detestable practice
Leviticus 19:11 (ESV) - You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.

How about this one, for all my lawyer friends?
Lev19:15 - You shall do no injustice in court.

How about my farmer friends?
Lev19:19 - [...] You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

That last part is tricky - means most of our clothes make us sinners.

Now, the argument could be made that lying and stealing and coveting are actions that you have a choice in, and some say homosexuality is not a choice.  Well...

How about Lev. chapter 15.  It's all about bodily discharges being a sin, and if you touch a bed where it's happened, that's also makes you unclean. And if a person gets spit on by a person who touched the bed of a man who "discharged", that person is also unclean.  That's the man side of things, there's also lots about women and menstruation being unclean.

So what's my point?
Sin is all equal in God's eyes.  We are all sinners, and so us who lie are the same as those who are gay, in God's eyes.  But God loves us enough to overlook these sins.  And He tell us (John 13:34) to love one another (and I would add, despite these sins we all have).

Summary thus far - I believe homosexuality is a sin, but it's no worse than all the other sins out there, and I need to still love the person.

But so far, that has nothing to do with Chic-fil-a or politics.

I support Chic-fil-A, because I believe a person has the right to speak his opinion (see Amendment #1 to the US Constitution).  Ands Chic-Fil-A has never shied away from publicly acknowledging that they are a company based on Judeo-Christian values.  I also like their chicken.  Can a company stand up and say something supportive of homosexuality?  Sure - I just don't have to agree with them.  Same can be said about Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, or even non-religious things like socialism or that Batman is better than Superman (he's not).

Where I have a problem is trying to make all of the above political.  I don't want my government (be that city, state or federal) to get involved with my religion.  I don't want them to make laws to enforce some Judeo-Christian values but not others, because I think that's unfair and not showing love to everyone.  If we say that the government has the right to ban homosexuality because it's a sin and morally objectionable (as determined by the Bible), does that also give them the right to ban menstruation? I know that's a bit of a stretch, but I think the logic is sound.

Summary, part deux-
I don't have to like it, and I don't support it, but I also don't like or support the government getting involved in it.