Lauren Daigle// Why I'm Defending Her

Okay, so from the title you may be wondering why I'm defending Lauren Daigle.

I'm not completely defending her actions. Let me make that very clear.

To begin, let me start back to when I first heard Lauren's music.

It was a time of anxiety and depression for me. Though I have everything I could ever need and want, I still suffered from anxiety and depression. I would listen to a lot of Christian music then, and I tried to focus on my relationship with God. Along the way, I would find different blog posts about what I was going through, some a bit damaging. (I would love to go more in depth if you'd like a post like this. Let me know in the comments.)

Anyway, I listened to Air1 a lot. And Lauren Daigle had just started her career, at least, she was gaining attention. Her song, How Can It Be, was becoming very popular. At first, I thought the song was too slow. Then one day, I gave in and actually listened to the lyrics. Maybe God was communicating something to me then.

Lauren's music, as I've seen so far, has been for Jesus. It has been in the worship of the Lord. Even her new album, which many people have tried to tear down because she may not say the name Jesus or God in a song. (but hey, they'll listen to Hillsong and they don't always say Jesus or God in their music.)

Lauren made some comments recently about homosexuality. And at first, I boycotted her with everyone else. But then, I let my own thoughts run their course. I put myself in her shoes.

While I may be unapologetically honest here, I can't say I would be the same in a position such as hers.

Let me ask you a question: Why must we, as Christians, ask each other the homosexuality question?

To expand, why do we give other people, who aren't Christians, the right to ask us that question, too?

All the people who asked her these things, they were radio hosts who probably haven't opened a Bible in a long time. They aren't Christians. But they will find a way to make us stumble, to not only be hated by the world we're trying to reach if we say we're against it, but be hated by those who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters in Christ if we don't really give an answer at all.

The more I researched, the more I learned. And then I thought, "What would I do in Lauren's position?"

Well, I would kind of dodge the question like she did. She never said it was a sin and she didn't say it wasn't. All she said was she's not God and she's still learning. That she's reading her Bible and learning more and more about the Creator we serve. And that if we are also growing and learning, to let her know what we find. She encouraged others to open their Bible and think for themselves.

I'm not saying that was completely the right thing to say, but it was said with poise.

Lauren, for some reason, is hitting the mainstream charts. She's reaching people who would otherwise never listen to worship music.

So yes, I still listen to some of her music, but I feel it's fair to say I never was a regular listener of her anyway. If one of her songs were in my playlist, I ended up skipping it if I wasn't feeling it. When all of this happened, I removed all of her songs from my playlists, but the more I began to do my own research, and not let other Christians think for me, the more I realized that she was probably scared. They were cornering her with a question that shouldn't even be asked.

They wanted to make her fall and she didn't fall.

Other Christians began commenting on the way she was dressing and how she didn't give thanks to God in a speech about her success.

Okay, I don't completely like how she dresses, either, but there are Christians who I'm sure wouldn't like how I dress, that some dresses I wear come just above my knees, that I do wear tank tops and I do wear athletic leggings/yoga pants. (I call them athletic leggings because I don't really do yoga.) So really, it isn't for us to judge her. One dress had a small slit on the front, near her chest, but the entire dress went down to her feet. It wasn't really immodest.

As for giving thanks to the Lord, she had a few seconds to even answer the question. We, as humans, are not perfect. Just because she chose to talk about reaching people and didn't mention God does not mean she doesn't worship or praise Him.

Why must we attack each other? Isn't that what the Enemy wants us to do?

So yes, I am defending her in a way. I don't agree with all of her actions, but I don't think she should have been asked the questions that led to this.

Put yourself in her shoes and answer this: what would you have done with all that pressure and such a loaded question?

You may say you would have spoken the truth, that she sold out her soul to sing for the world. But our world is falling apart and maybe the hope Lauren is spreading will help many people come to Christ because her music is on mainstream radio.

That's really all I have to say about that. If you'd like to hear more about the article on anxiety I was talking about above, let me know in the comments. Also tell me your thoughts on Lauren Daigle and if I changed your mind or made you think in any kind of way.

Bye for now.

~Hope

True Racism: How America Is Becoming Racist

By that title, you may already want to leave, but I assure you I have something important to say, something everyone needs to hear.

Maybe you heard the story, or maybe you didn't, but a little nine-year-old girl, who happened to be black, recently killed herself over being bullied by other kids because she had a white friend. The bullies told her she should kill herself for being friends with a white kid, so that's exactly what she did.

This story broke my heart because growing up, I had friends of all colors and I never experienced an issue like this. I had white friends, black friends, Asian friends, and Hispanic friends. Never was it an issue what any of us looked like, only that we could play outside and do things we liked to do.

This young girl won't live to see the Christmas presents her parents bought her. She won't live to grow up to change the world. She died because she was close to someone who happened to be white.

This is the problem these days.

Nine-year-olds don't think this way. Their parents do. And kids often copycat their parents in an effort to seem grown up and mature, but this is a far cry from maturity.

I have questions for the parents of the bullies.

Why does race matter so much to you?
Do you even feel responsible or the slightest bit guilty for the pain and heartache your children have caused another innocent family?
What do you have to gain from being racist?

Now, there may be some of you saying that a person of color cannot be racist.

They very much can.

I have experienced racism myself from a person of color. I am not going to disclose my ethnicity here because that doesn't matter. But I have felt the pain of what it's like to be judged solely by how I look and it's not fun.

I know it hurts and I'm so sorry if someone ever treated you horribly for the way you were made to be.

But know this, those of you who are looking down upon someone for their color, whether it be black, white, Hispanic, or Asian, you are a racist. There is no way around it. And anyone of any color can be a racist.

Lately, some people have gotten into a mentality that the white person owes them something.

No one is purely white at this point. There have been so many marriages between races far before we were even born.

America is more divided than ever. The division started a few years ago and continues to rip us apart.

I want to stand hand in hand, embrace our differences, and be one nation again.

I owe you nothing.
You owe me nothing.

We can start over.
We can be the land of the free, home of the brave, and accept one another.

You can be of a different political party than me and I can still respect you and vice versa.

No matter what you believe, the fact that a young girl will never get to live her life all because she had a great friend is a tragedy and I think we can all agree upon that.

If you have any thoughts, leave them in the comments below and I will reply as fast as I can. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope you gained something from it.