Let's be tolerant of gays -- but not of those with Christian morals.

Carolyn Hax writes a syndicated advice column. I was curious as to what qualifies her to give "expert" advice to other people, so I looked her up. I didn't find anything that would particularly make her more of an expert than anyone else, but I did find this little tidbit on Wikipedia: "In 2003, Hax received scrutiny as an advice columnist when – over a two year period – she divorced her first husband, cartoonist Nick Galifianakis, and married childhood friend Ken Ackerman – while pregnant with twins."

But I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she is much better at dispensing advice than taking care of her own business. What got me started on her in the first place was a recent column in which a teenager sought her counsel for a complicated family situation.

The teenager's brother is gay. The mother has essentially disowned him and asked him not to come to family gatherings. The brother refuses to honor his mother's request and shows up anyway. Not only does he show up, but he brings his "partner" with him. When his mother asks him to leave, "he just smiles, tells Mom he loves her and then ignores her." 

The teenager wants to defend her brother, but she is afraid her mother will disown her as well if she does. Her friends call her a coward for not defending him.

My take on this is that the brother is intentionally antagonizing his mother. Bringing his "partner" to family gatherings is a slap in the face to her. Ignoring her belies his smarmy "I love you." If he really loved her, he wouldn't place her in such uncomfortable circumstances. If he wants to gather his family around him, he can invite them over to his place.

But the wise Ms. Hax finds the brother to be "an impressive human being . . . true to himself, firm but loving . . . all without being punitive toward the mother who rejects him for who he is." The brother, according to Ms. Hax, is a "person of obvious courage." The mom, she seems to think, is a fool . . . "your mom hasn't succeeded in kicking anyone out of anything, though maybe she just hasn't figured out how yet." Her advice is to pretty much just keep ignoring her.

I'm no expert advice columnist, but I do have a bit of wisdom for Ms. Hax, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" And that comes from a much wiser source than I.

"When a mother rejects gay son." The Dallas Morning News; January 13, 2012; p. 1E.