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Gay Marriages - A Christian Point of
View
Earlier today I had the "pleasure" to sit
through yet another long winded discussion of the same sex marriage
issue that is boiling throughout Canada. I heard a gay man "throw down
the gauntlet" and say that heterosexuals are just afraid that gays will
show them how to "do marriage right" and lower the 50%+ divorce rate in
this country.... and a nice polite Christian woman say with a gentle
voice that while she doesn't care what other people do with their own
lives, she is sick to death of "those people", now her voice was raised,
and filled with what sounded suspiciously like honest hate, "forcing
their point of view on others." She may be surprised by the number of
gay people in this country that agree with her.
The big question today was whether or not this issue warrants an
election being called to settle it. Are they joking? An election?
Sometimes my stupid quotient frightens me. There are so many things I
just don't get. An election? For this?
Why are gay marriages "wrong"? Because it is unhealthy? (Shall we
compare them to, say... tobacco use?) Do gay marriages harm the
environment, air quality, water purity? Does it harm others in the
community? Must someone else live without creature comforts or the
necessities of life as a direct result of gay marriages being legal?
Will jobs be lost? Will auto accidents rise? Will the economy crumble?
Blackmail run rampant? Wife beating skyrocket? Litter flood the streets?
Cats stop giving birth? Will somebody tell me, please!, what will happen
if gay marriages are legal? Will I be forced to live in a world without
kittens?
Or is it clearly and without contest simply a religious choice? A
belief? Just an opinion, when all is said and done.
I have lived many years in this country meandering along in blissful
ignorance thinking I had a right to chose my own religious path. Within
certain legal boundaries of course, and giving respect to the human
right of equality and dignity for all.
For example, (and I know this is extreme
and ridiculous, but darn if it doesn't make the point) I don't believe I
would get away with many infant sacrifices no matter how important they
were to my own religious salvation. I can't help but wonder how far I
would get in trying to convince others that human sacrifice was okay
because it was necessary to my everlasting joy in heaven? Would
the courts support me because this was my firm and righteous belief?
Perhaps I could be allowed the use of terminally ill infants only? Could
babies slated for abortion be brought to full term, perhaps for a fee
paid by me, and handed over to be used in my glorious and bloody path to
salvation? Where's the harm? They'd be dead anyway.
Now lets take this a step further shall we... I believe it so,
therefore, you must be required to participate! Laws must support
my beliefs. Oh joy of joy... now, not only will I be saved
myself, I can help so many others live a good and proper life.
Kill a child, live forever! Oh yes... let's do call an election.
Do you hate me yet? Do you want these religious beliefs brought into
your home? Shall these religious beliefs form the laws in our
country that you must live by? I think not you say! I think NOT!
And yet.... is that not exactly what gay
people are forced to experience each and every day? Are they not forced
to live their lives based on the laws created in this country, not based
on human rights, equality, dignity, or safety, but on the religious
beliefs of others?
Our laws on what define marriage are based quite simply on the Judeo
Christian belief system that says homosexuality is wrong. Whoa, whoa,
whoa some of you are screaming. I heard you! Do you not see me whoa? I
have done enough in depth research to know that the passages in the
Bible that make the declarations about homosexuality are in doubt in
many learned circles as to their correct translation. I am not dealing
with that issue here today... so in the interest of fairness I will
restate ....Our laws on what define marriage are based quite simply on
the Judeo Christian belief system, wherein many believe the Bible
to say that homosexuality is wrong.
Some others are now yelling, "We Christians are a majority in this
country, so we do say what the laws are. We rule, we chose, you lose."
Fine. Let's go with that. Let's say that if most people are Christian in
any given country, Christians should be allowed to write secular laws
based on their own religious beliefs. So what are Christians
taught?
(I have used the New International Version of the Bible in the passages
below)
The Apostle Paul writing to various Christian congregations
says...
Romans 2:1
"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else,
for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning
yourself..."
Romans 14:10
"You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on
your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat."
1 Corinthians 4:5
"Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord
comes."
1 Corinthians 5:12
"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?"
Now let's get it straight from the source, what did Jesus himself
say?
John 12:47
"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not
judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it."
Matthew 7:1
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
Matthew 7:2
"For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the
measure you use, it will be measured to you."
And my own personal favorite, but then I like Luke...
Luke 6:37
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will
not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
Legal gay marriages? If I am a Christian apparently I do not have the
God Given Right to judge that matter and say whether it is right or
wrong, for anyone other than myself. I was not given the right to
have created secular laws based on religious Christian beliefs. I have
not been given the right to now defend the laws that forced my Christian
preference as to what defines a marriage unto others.
I can only come to the conclusion that Jesus would prefer me to stop
judging the behavior of others, and start paying just a wee bit more
attention to judging my own.
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Gay Marriage in Ontario - Being Gay in Ontario
- Same Sex Marriage in Canada - A Christian View of Same Sex Marriage
