I've been confused for a while about how vehemently Christians oppose gay marriage. Especially since the rationale I hear for opposing it is always the same: it goes against God's design for marriage. Here's what Jesus said about it in Matthew 5:32--
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.I totally agree with that. Gay marriage does go against God's plan for marriage. But so does divorce, unless infidelity is involved. How many Christians are pushing to pass strict anti-divorce laws? Or anti-infidelity laws? Or anti-remarriage laws? How many Christians are committed to only voting for candidates who want to see a no-cheating amendment added to the Constitution? Not too many.
Mike Huckabee said this recently:
I don’t think the issue’s about being against gay marriage. It’s about being for traditional marriage and articulating the reason that’s important. You have to have a basic family structure. There’s never been a civilization that has rewritten what marriage and family means and survived.That's great, but he's not for any other laws that would forbid people to act in ways that hurt marriage. Like inifdelity, for example. And no-fault divorce. And having babies outside of marriage. Where's his outrage in these areas? Or the outrage of the preachers who rail against gay marriage? Or the outrage of ordinary Christians who pour millions of dollars into campaigns to pass "defense of marriage acts" in states across the country? I don't see it.
Maybe you can help me see the reason behind all the passion against gay marriage, while there's no outrage about these other "marriage-degrading" activities. I can only come up with 2 possibilities. One, infidelity and divorce are so rampant in the church that no one dares to talk about it any more for fear of stepping on toes. Or two, Christians don't like gay folk very much, and they feel safe speaking out against homosexuals. Or maybe a combination of the two.
Last question: which is worse for society, the massive number of straight marriages that end up in bitter nasty divorces, or a tiny number of homosexuals (US Census estimates 700,000 homosexual couples in the country) who want to get married?
Looks to me like our priorities are out of whack...
12 comments:
Kathie Lee Gifford, of all people, had a great line on whether gays should be allowed to marry:
I don't see why they can't be as miserable as the rest of us!
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Charlotte--Thanks for coming by! I looked at the site you promoted in your comment. To be clear, my post isn't a defense of gay marriage. Rather, it is a call for followers of Jesus (of which I am one) to be consistent about the sins they denounce.
My concern is that Christians are so bothered by gay marriage, yet I don't hear the same level of anger toward other activities that destroy the institution of marriage.
Don't construe my post as a condoning sin. (And have no doubt: God sees homosexuality as a sin.) I just want to see Christians be consistent in their witness...
And in truth, what you are doing is asking a politician to be honest. Something I"m not sure they know how to do. I said it on Cap's blog all ready, but I would much rather have Mike Huckabee in office than a democrat who has big dreams of creating a socialist society for America. After living in Ukraine and seeing what society and people live like AFTER a socialist society, I will throw my vote towards a "phony" or a "fake".
Quite frankly, It hink we need to quit asking the politicians to stand up for us and stand up for ourselves. Why are we not out there doing outreaches to communities of homosexuals? Where are the Christian witnesses of successful families? I hate to say it but there isn't a lot.
I don't understand why you want a presidential candidate to be something that most Christians in America are not. It can't start at the top, it needs to start with the people.
That's how Christ did it anyway. He started at the bottom. Then went up.
Okay, I'm ranting. I see your points, you make good points. I'm just more concerned about "free" America being turned into a socialist society and if a democrat gets elected, it will be just that. (Look at the SCHIP thing a few months back)....If America wants change in the areas of Homosexuality, and Divorce and all these other areas, then the churches need to step up and do the work of Christ. There doesn't need to be laws and governmental figures to "validate" us. We have enough validity by the power of Christ. :)
Blessings.
My comments in this...I don't want to vote for someone who is a phoney or a fake. I want someone who has character and stands up for what they believe in even if I don't agree with them on every single issue, a person with true character can be a better leader overall for the country.
I do think that if a Presidential candidate does admit he is a Christian and a pastor, then his actions and life and how he runs his campaign should reflect this. He IS choosing to put himself in the public eye so then yes, if this is what he states he believes in, then people will hold him to these standards.
If America goes "socialist" it won't be any specific leader's fault. It will be the American people's fault.
I agree with Emily that the church and Christians need to step up and do the work of Christ more.
Emily--I hope that you don't think for a second that I'm suggesting that anyone vote for a Democrat. There's not one Democrat running that wouldn't be a disaster for this country. You're right, the effects of socialism take decades to recover from. And I don't want to see that happen to my country.
My problem with almost all of the Republicans running is that they are just slightly less socialistic than the Democrats. I would like to vote for someone who is actually for smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, less dependence on foreign sources for oil, and protecting our borders.
My biggest problem with Huckabee is this: he puts himself forward as the "Christian" candidate. And Christians love him for it. But what he says he believes politically are completely different from how he governed in Arkansas. I think we need to hold Christians in office to a higher standard. At least to tell the truth about what they believe.
And Emily, feel free to rant here any time you want. Ranting is allowed, even encouraged, here...
Michelle--You and Emily are absolutely right that Christians in America put too much faith in the political system to do the work of Jesus. We forget that the early church had no access to earthly power at all, yet it turned the world upside down.
It's easy to pass laws outlawing activities you don't like. Living like Jesus is a whole different matter.
And Americans do get the leaders they deserve...
One thought on all this...wasn't God a bit harsher on the subject of homosexuality vs. some other sins?
I recall it being called an 'abomination' and I recall two Old Testament cities being destroyed whose chief 'sin' was rampant homosexuality.
Just thought I'd stir the pot since this post hasn't gotten enough comments ;p
Cap-Thanks for letting this die. It's not enough that I made Emily think I'm a godless socialist liberal. Now I've got to keep on commenting.
God uses "abomination" to describe a whole bunch of sins in the Old Testament. Including homosexuality, and other sexual perversions, and worshiping false gods, and all kinds of other sins. I guess that my concern is that we've singled out one sin and made it the REALLY BAD SIN, while for some of the others we look the other way.
As far as Sodom and Gomorrah are concerned, I'm not sure the Bible says they were wiped out for homosexuality. Jude said they were a sexually perverse bunch, so that was certainly part of it. But other places in the Bible talk about how generally wicked they were. So to me, that is still kind of an open question.
Now I'll post cute pictures of my kids for the next month so people will like me again...
LOL! We all like you Richard, I don't remember you being so politically astute in 10th grade though....it's a little weird. :)
Actually Richard, I don't think you are a godless, socielist democrat loving whatever. ;) I just saw Huckabee was the frong runner and was confused as to why you would want to give him bad press. THat was all. no worries ;)
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