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Saturday, August 4, 2012

Gay Marriage



Am I a proponent of Gay Marriage?  No.  I believe that accepting and even encouraging a homosexual lifestyle as “normal” is a sign of moral decay in our society.  Remember that as you read the rest of this, because that is only part of the story here.

I believe marriage is supposed to be a contract between a man and a woman.  That is the natural order of things, but contracts can be extended to just about anything between persons, corporations, and other legal entities.  Contract law is one of the most fundamental features that keeps our country going.  Interfering with the ability to contract would destroy our country.  The God bound contract is not the word “marriage” itself, it is the act of joining a man and a woman in God’s sight and under his blessing.  We are getting hung up and fighting over a word here. 

It is not illegal to be gay, in fact it is a protected status like being black or female or old.  It is not directly mentioned in the Ten Commandments either (yes, I know it is mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, so is being divorced and so is being a drunkard...do we really want to go down this road…)  I have many gay friends and have nothing but love and respect for them as persons.  I think it is a harder life that usually none of them would necessarily have chosen on purpose.  I don’t believe it is the right way to live life, and I don’t believe God wants it that way.  I have no idea whether it is a choice, a biological causation or psychological in nature.  I don’t really even need to think about those things.  My only God commanded job is to love them as God has told me to love all who live in this world and fall short of what he expects…which we all do.  It is that simple.  I can’t endorse being gay any more than I can endorse adultery, stealing or whatever…but I can show love as God commands.  I can even encourage repentant gays into my church, just as I can repentant murderers, thieves, those who take God’s name in vain, and adulterers, etc.  Please notice I said repentant…not perfect and without sin. 

But there are still practical aspects to this controversy in our society that we have to deal with.

You see, I don’t get it.  Parts of this are just ridiculous.  Why would someone who is gay want to be married in a Christian church where the Bible is preached, and it is stated that unrepentant homosexuality is held as sin?  And why would we care if some other Church establishes itself and teaches that homosexuality is not sinful and marries same sex couples.  We practice freedom of religion in this country, remember?  It is even legal to worship Satan.  So, let the government stay out of peoples beliefs.  The government should not make a church marry someone that is outside the parameters of their faith statements, and the government should not interfere with churches that do accord that to gay couples.  Marriage among non-believers has been going on for thousands of years without the demand that it be regulated or blessed by anyone in a church.  I tend to think civil unions at least should be the norm in all states to solve the issues that gays bring up over the economic and legal issues that marriage usually covers. 

Passing endless laws to regulate many  “sinful practices” deemed inappropriate by the church is not the right path.  The Pharisees in the Bible took this to an extreme, and that legalism is what Jesus spent most of his effort responding to.  In our own society we’ve seen it with prohibition, and we see it still with prostitution and drugs.  And in spite of laws, prostitution and drug abuse is rampant throughout the U.S.  We hardly make a dent in it with our enforcement efforts.  I wonder sometimes if we spent the huge sums we do on courts and prisons on re-education and rehab programs for these non-violent “crimes” that we might not only save money, but save people as well.  It is a great place to put a faith based enterprise!

Our country was founded on the principles of free speech and free association.  This is so fundamental to our government that I can’t repeat it enough.  I believe the church as a whole needs to be about the business of spreading the gospel, building up believers and doing good works.  They have the right to speak out about their beliefs under the First Amendment.  Chik-Fil-A is a prime example, and the liberals who are making a stink about it should be ashamed of themselves for their vitriol…still it is their right to speak out as well (at least until Nancy Pelosi passes her current proposal to start paring down on Free Speech rights by changing the First Amendment.)  The mayors of Boston, Chicago and San Francisco have come out saying they will keep Chik-Fil-A stores out of their city.  The pro-gay marriage mayor of New York City has come out and said that “the owners of that company, having a position against gay marriage, are trampling on the rights of others, but those other cities are trampling on the right of that company to open a business.”  I think the Mayor got it half right.  Preventing a business from opening because its owners expressed a belief is trampling on freedom.  The right to express your belief that gay marriage is wrong is not trampling on freedom.  It is the right you have to express your opinion.  If you try to block that right Mr. Mayor, you are the one trampling the most fundamental right we have in this country.  No one at the company turns gays away from eating in the restaurant!  That would be illegal discrimination. That would be trampling on rights.

There are some who are postulating the argument that being against gay marriage is like the old civil rights controversy of saying blacks can’t come in a restaurant with whites.  They want to make it a discrimination issue.  I don’t think the analogy holds water if it violates the rights of freedom of religion and requires churches to marry couples against their core beliefs.  It’s more like saying a protected class is able to come in the restaurant and tell the cook that he must give them free food or must start serving lobster when it isn’t on the menu.

So this has been my “free speech exercise” on a hugely controversial subject.  I wholeheartedly respect your right to feel differently about it and to express yourself with respect and dignity for those who take a different view.

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