Friday, September 10, 2010

RE: Gay Marriage It's About Time!

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Re: Gay Marriage: It’s About Time – Really?

Brooks Davis stepped on some toes, including my own, in the opinion piece he wrote for the McIntosh Trail.  I considered what Brooks had to say and find him to be lacking proof for his opinion.  It appears to me as though he inaccurately portrays Christianity and the true state of homosexual marriages, not to mention the homosexual agenda. I’m writing for those who read his article and are struggling to understand their position on homosexuality.  I also want to point out some fallacies Brooks has stated.

Brooks’ Lack of Proof:

Brooks states, one cannot force his opinion through the law or otherwise on another person.  However, this statement contradicts everything he is trying to prove. I must ask Brooks what gives him the right to make a law which goes against my beliefs? After all you’re infringing upon my faith and enforcing what you believe upon me. 

He suggests that marriage is a simple legal process anyone can perform.  I must ask, what is marriage as a legal thing, if it’s not between one man and one woman?

Under Brooks’ logic anyone could marry anything they wanted. However, he says that it "will not open the door to human-dog or human-Barbie doll unions, because that just sounds ridiculous.”  Where is the proof that this won't happen? Is Brooks just hoping in the best of humanity, the humanity in which he states the divorce rates are close to 50 percent and many adults are on their second, third or even fourth marriage?  I would like to see evidence that weird and extreme things will not progress along with gay marriage.

Brooks’ Fallacies:

I happen to have evidence that the gay community is not just going to stop after pushing for gay marriage. Those in homosexual marriages want children. For example, look at Rosie O'Donnell. She has adopted a child! This also goes to show homosexual families are not natural as the married couple cannot naturally have a child.

The way gay couples view their relationships does not appear natural either.  Jones and Yarhouse, who have written a book on homosexuality, Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church’s Moral Debate, use surveys and scientific evidence to look at homosexuality. This is quoting word for word what they have said about male-male relationships. “Many homosexual males distinguish between emotional fidelity and sexual exclusivity”, so as long as they are not attached to another person its fine to be in as many open relationships as they like. Another survey by the San Francisco State University “has followed 556 male couples for three years — about 50 percent of those surveyed have sex outside their relationships, with the knowledge and approval of their partners.”   

I’m not exactly sure what Brooks is trying to say when he says not to look at him in an air-conditioned room or through eyeglasses.  If Brooks is stating that looking through prescription glasses is unnatural because the person has bad vision then, I would like to say that people are born with bad eyesight. People are not born with a homosexual gene, and even if they were it would not justify homosexuality. If some people had a gene which prompted them to murder would it be alright for them to murder?

Brooks Inaccurately Portrays Christianity

Brooks is right, we are all sinners and we fall short of the glory of God as Romans 3:23 clearly states. However, as Christians we no longer follow the Old Testament ceremonial or judicial law, because it has been abrogated by Jesus. However, Christians are still under the moral law of the O.T.  If you want to learn more about this issue please look at this link.  Just to be clear a Christian is not sinning if they don’t follow the ceremonial or judicial law and Leviticus 19:27 falls under ceremonial law.

Some of you might be thinking; does the New Testament mention homosexuality? In fact it does! Here is what God has to say in the New Testament:

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:24-27 – Italics mine).

Biblically, marriage has been defined as between one man and one woman from the beginning of mankind! God intended it that way! It’s not that we “Don’t want to bother with it”. As in regards to Brooks’ statement that the Bible has been used to justify slavery please read the following article to fully understand what the Bible says about slavery http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-slavery.html.  Just because the government was wrong on slavery does not mean its wrong about homosexuality. They are two separate issues. 

Brooks is correct in assuming a progression of other related laws being struck down. Progressively it will become worse allowing eventually sex with animals and more unnatural relations.

Those Pesky Christians:

Finally, is this what America wants to be known for? Be free and be homosexual! No, I would say that’s not what I want my country to be known for. No one should want total freedom for this country. That’s the reason that the United States of America makes laws, to prohibit people from making decisions that hurt the general public! 

Christians are encouraged to participate in politics by the very definition of democracy. Although a physical church may not be influencing the government, the real Church, Christ’s followers are making a stand, a stand that cannot be ignored. No matter what, you will always have to deal with those pesky Christians who vote against what God has deemed wrong.  

 




3 comments:

  1. Haha I expected some backlash, and well, here it is.

    First, I must say that this was very well written. However, I am entitled to respond to some points I believe you are wrong about as well.

    You say that you cannot compare slavery to homosexuality. Well, I would have to agree with you. However, you are guilty of saying that homosexuality and murder are comparable! They are not! My point was to compare the situations around said social practices, not them specifically.

    I made the eyeglasses comment in reference to the fact that we don't live in a natural world, so saying that something isn't natural therefore it is wrong is not right. There may not be a gay "gene" but that doesn't mean that homosexuality isn't a choice. Why would teens who aren't accepted because of their homosexuality want to KILL THEMSELVES if they could just flip a switch in their brain to make them truly straight? Because they can't.

    I also never said that gays would stop at marriage. I know that some gays want to adopt children, as I believe they should have the right to. We let singles adopt and raise children, so what really is the harm in letting two loving adults raise a child? It won't make the child gay just as two straight parents having a child doesn't make their child straight.

    You are right. God intended for marriage to be a man and a woman bonded by sex for life. However, marriage has not been for a long time what God intended it to be. We have divorce. God apparently does not like divorce, but it is a useful social tool that benefits many. No one should be stuck in a violent or loveless marriage. I would have no problem with banning same-sex marriage if marriage was made just how God intended, but that will never happen.

    I am also arguing marriage as a legal issue. Communion and baptism are Christian practices, but I say that marriage is not. Any one man and one woman can get married, even if they aren't Christian. Plus, I believe marriage is a legal issue because of how it affects you legally. You get different discounts, inheritance, wrongful death benefits and job leave to take care of your spouse if you are married (Just a few out of hundreds of legal benefits). Why should gay couples not have these benefits?

    Obviously we differ on one central issue. The role of religion in government. We are not a theocracy. We are not and cannot be ruled by religious law. The separation of church and state was put in to protect non-religious people or people who practice religions that are minorities from having to conform to others' religions. By your law of legal progression, if we base one law on Christianity, what's stopping us from passing laws requiring all Americans to practice communion?

    I and others like me, your "pesky Christians," just realize that we have a separation of church and state and that all legal issues must be examined in the context of right and wrong. I understand where you are coming from...mainly because I used to believe the same exact things. I just got tired of having "God doesn't like it" as my only true argument against same-sex unions, so I did a little soul searching.

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  3. Let me get this clear: being the sinner that I am, I believe that God can forgive anybody--including those who practice homosexuality--as he has forgiven me of my sin.


    I am finding a lot of inconsistency with what you have said. You claim to believe in the Christian God yet you use some of your biblical knowledge to your benefit, however, it seems that I cannot.


    Let me address your last statement, “I understand where you are coming from...mainly because I used to believe the same exact things. I just got tired of having ‘God doesn't like it’ as my only true argument against same-sex unions, so I did a little soul searching.”


    First, let me say if you believed exactly as I do you wouldn’t be writing an article about legalizing homosexual marriage. Not only have I shown statistics and extra biblical accounts on the negative effects of homosexuality, but I also believe that the Word of God is ultimately what Christians must stand on. Had you believed this yourself you would not have done any soul searching, but rather looked for evidence against homosexual marriage in the Bible.

    I will address your points, but I fear that I will never be able to convince you to re-examine what you believe about homosexual marriage.

    1. Any Christian would have to say that homosexuality and murder are comparable. Jesus says in Matthew 5:28, “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” They are both acts which objectively defy God's moral law. Whether they should both be viewed the same by secular law is another issue, but they are still comparable.


    2. Self-Control is something that everyone has the ability to exert. Please do realize that someone can have a homosexual desire, but it is up to the person to use self-control and not do it, as with all sin.


    3. No, having gay parents would not make a person gay, but I would think that the likelihood of him or her becoming gay would increase. A gay couple cannot accurately portray the common masculine and feminine roles, so the child would not really be able to learn how to be a true man or true woman.


    4. This is a slippery slope fallacy, or a non sequitur, or a false dilemma, or all three! Just because something is in a bad condition gives us no right to tamper with it and make it worse. You have acknowledged that God does not like divorce, but he also does not approve of homosexuality. So one bad thing plus another makes a right? You cannot use part of the Bible to promote your idea and then go to say that another part of the Bible is unessential or needs to be ignored. If I wreck my Mom's car, I cannot then take a sledgehammer to it after the wreck and then expect no consequences.


    5. Marriage is a legal issue, but it's much more than that. It's a social and religious institution. They (marriages) are the building blocks of society. Ultimately, societies are grounded in families which are in turn grounded in marriages. You cannot reduce marriage to just a legal matter.


    6. Frankly, this is beyond Christianity. Almost all religions frown upon homosexuality. You want to try to live as a homosexual in the Middle East?


    If a society judges an action to be wrong, it ought not to allow that action. I mean, prostitution and gambling are banned, and yet no secularist would have any basis for holding these things to be wrong. Actually, a secularist would have no basis for any morality whatsoever! The fact is, our nation was founded upon the Judeo-Christian principle that morality is real and that it should be upheld in the context of human flourishing.

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