This post was inspired by a friend and former classmate of mine who posted an image (top left corner) which made me think deeply for a couple of minutes ... I shared the following honest thoughts with her:I understand and believe that any human being should have rights, as pertaining to life on earth and constitutional rights ... I am not against that at all ... What stands as a point of tension for me is the right to marry for people in the LGBT community. I personally don't care if they do because I mean, if someone wants rights, they will have to embrace the good AND the bad that comes with those rights - where there is marriage, there is also divorce, there is also all the stuff that comes with marriage which needs to be worked on or through and if not, stuff goes into shambles ... Having said all that, I guess I am really struggling with this: I love Jesus, I have a relationship with Him, I believe Him, do my best to learn to trust Him more daily ... In doing this, His word says that He does not like, abhors homosexuality AND marriage in itself has been designed by God to be between a man and a woman. For me, the tension also exists here - The right for LGBT people to marry directly opposes the dislike, the perspective, and the command of the One I am professing to love so much and am learning how to trust more on a daily basis. The question becomes: How do I reconcile this? This is personally where I am at. The picture is very powerful, sends a very powerful message, but ultimately, what is that message and does it go against the message of the God many of us as Christians profess to love, believe in and trust?
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I often wonder how many other Christians wrestle with this. I know I have (long before any of this made big news ...) I would often ask God how come things really just did not make much sense to me and what He was really saying, what He is saying now in light of everything, and what He wants me (as someone who is trying her best to follow Him and walk in His footsteps) to do, how He wants me to go about communicating with others (no matter where they stand on this or any other "controversial" topic).
I would like to hear others' thoughts, views, and perspectives on this topic. For those who do contribute, thank you in advance for your bravery and courage. *A final note, for those who do share, please be mindful of the fact that different viewpoints may or will be presented here. I ask for all of you to address each other as respectfully as possible so that the exchange of thoughts would be as delightful as possible.*
My thoughts are complex/complicated. It would take me a long time to express them. Semantics are a problem: the difference between a marriage and a civil union. Marriage is defined as as something between a man and a woman. "Gay marriage" is an oxymoron.
ReplyDeleteWhen the NY State legislature made gay "marriage" legal, what they really did was make civil unions legal and gave those in civil unions the full rights of a married couple. Calling it marriage is just playing with words.
Yes, gays should have the same general human and civil rights as non-gays, but there is no absolute, unfettered right to marriage,
ReplyDeletejust as there is no absolute right to vote or get a drivers license.
In my opinion, one of the main forces behind the demand for gay marriage is that our society has become overly infected with an epidemic of sentimental notions about about love and romance.
Heterosexual couples are just as infected withthis disease.
We live in a free society. I do not think that orthodox Christian beliefs about homosexuality and gay marriage should be imposed on people. Of course conservative Catholics will argue that homosexuality and gay marriage do not merely violate Christian teaching but Natural Law which they claim is based on reason along and not revelation. But few understand or accept Natural Law except a few quaint old Catholic philosophers like myself.
ReplyDeleteIn society, in all societies there are many things that are immoral but not against the law and there are many things that are against the law that are not immoral.
However, gay marriage makes no sense because gays cannot begat children. Marriages and civil unions are contracts that are issued by the state. The reason is that the state has an interest in raising children. It is not out of any humanitarian concern but because children are a nation's future taxpayers, citizens, soldiers, farmers and breadmakers. Since gays cannot begat children, the state has no interest in requiring a marriage contract. Think about it.
ReplyDeleteSo I am ambiguous about gay "marriage" Its no skin off my nose.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a politician, I would support civil unions. That way I'd get the maximum number of votes.
So what I've said is that the idea of marriage is related to the state holding parents responsible for the raising of their children. (but marriage and civil unions also have a lot to do with inheritance of property as well). One objection people might have to my argument against gay marriage would be to say that gays are capable of adopting and raising children and so therefore they should be able to marry. And there is a need for more people to adopt children. Many, many Christians, including the Catholic church are opposed to gay adoption. It may not be ideal in all cases but I think that certainly there are cases where a gay adoption is in the best interest of a child. For example, consider the case where a child becomes orphaned and there is a lone surviving aunt or uncle who is gay and willing to adopt and that person is psychologically healthy, has a good income, health insurance and lives in a good neighborhood and wants to adopt? Wouldn't that person seem to be a better adoptive parent than taking a risk on a stranger? It would require far less adjustment on the part of the child.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately in today's society if you are against gay marriage or abortion, the politically correct crowd calls us hate filled bigots, when in fact my positions are all based on reason and carefully thought out.
ReplyDeleteRent the double DVD set, Angels in America (2003) with Meryl Streep, Al PAcino, Emma Thompson, and several others.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.freechristianpress.com/culture/does-god-love-homosexuals/
ReplyDelete