An alternative Christian perspective on the gay marriage debate
We've all heard the Christian Right's argument against gay marriage, that it would be an abomination to God. I think that not only puts words in God's mouth, but lacks grace and understanding. It reeks of fear, and shows a lack of trust in a gay person's ability to experience God fully, as is. The truth is, God can be just as alive in a gay relationship as in a straight marriage, and anything that tries to prove otherwise is just hollow propaganda.
A friend of mine recently asked for my Christian perspective on the gay marriage debate for a college paper that she's working on. The following paragraphs on my perspective are choppy, so please consider them to be a bunch of thoughts strung together more than a splendidly-flowing piece of prose. :-) I put better segues in the book, I promise. (I'm picking up the book from the proofreader on Sunday and will send it to the printer as soon as I can get it formatted.)
I've already been over Leviticus and the other clobber passages that the Christian Right uses to condemn homosexuality (in the archives now) so I won't go into those in depth here. They'll be in the book too. On with the other thoughts...
I think the strongest argument against Bush's position, is that it violates the separation of church and state. The argument against gay marriage is always Christian-based, so shouldn't an aetheist be highly offended by that? It seems that the Christian Right's obsession with taking over politics steps on freedoms in the name of God, which seems unconstitutional.
The most important thing Biblically, is the fact that Jesus said nothing about homosexual orientation. In fact, homosexual orientation itself is not addressed anywhere in the Bible. A few homosexual acts are discussed (in the form of rape, dominance, humiliation, etc.) and those have nothing to do with a same sex couple's ability to commit to one another and build a life together. If God hated homosexuality as much as the Christian Right tries to profess, wouldn't there be an 11th commandment that said, "Thou shalt not be gay?" Instead, the commandments focus on lies, betrayal, and unfaithfulness,which seems to suggest that God is more concerned with the condition of the heart than anything else. God wants kindness, gentleness, love, and other good things to come from the heart, and that can happen just as easily in a gay relationship as it can in a straight one.
Why exactly would God say gay marriage is okay? I think it comes down to the definition of sin. Sin is an obstacle that separates the sinner from God. It is easy to see why murder, for example, is a sin. The act undoubtedly comes between the murderer and God. God is love, but love is absent when the act of murder is committed. The effects are harmful. Families are robbed of someone whom they loved and the victim is robbed of his or her existence. Murder is a violation against God and mankind. None of these things apply to a healthy homosexual relationship. The effects are positive. Love thrives. Each partner is filled with happiness and contentment, potentially drawing nearer to God rather than further away.
Galatians 5:22-24 talks about fruit of the Spirit. It reads: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”
The Spirit sees faith in the heart and a love for God, and works to develop a Christian character within each of us accordingly. As our faith grows, the fruit in our lives becomes more abundant. As the fruit becomes more abundant in our relationships, we become more blessed by its goodness, and whether our overlying relationship happens to be heterosexual or homosexual becomes altogether irrelevant. Once again, it’s the heart that matters.
It is impossible to find the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of sin. There is no love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control in the midst of murder, adultery, or any number of other certain sins. Whether or not something can be classified as sin is more likely to be determined by its ability to produce fruit, and not by its cultural approval or disapproval. Since both homosexuality and heterosexuality are equally capable of producing spiritual fruit, it goes without saying that homosexuality does not automatically equate sin. Both heterosexuality and homosexuality are quite capable of producing sin—it is simply a matter of what one does with them.
One more thing...
The word homosexuality was first penned in 1869 (Wikepedia.com has more), which means the original translations of the Bible could not possibly have included it. To include it in modern translations shows the scholars' bias.
All of this is to say, Biblical arguments against gay marriage are not that strong. The people who employ Biblical arguments are loud and powerful, but when broken down their arguments have trouble standing up.
As long as there is a covenant bond in the relationship--that is, a binding agreement between God and both partners to uphold the integrity of the relationship--the gender makeup is irrelevant. If a gay couple includes God in their lives and makes every effort to be a good example and live the kind of life that Jesus urged us all to live, God is glorified and pleased. It's not the category that the relationship fits in, but rather the life in the relationship itself that determines its merit.
Concepts like these may not be understood now, in this current political arena, but the waves of enlightenment will continue to come. Eventually, there will be understanding. In the meantime, all we can do is continue to live truthfully, and allow God to be visible in our lives. The more quickly it becomes known that God is alive in gay relationships, the more likely it becomes that politics will catch up.
A friend of mine recently asked for my Christian perspective on the gay marriage debate for a college paper that she's working on. The following paragraphs on my perspective are choppy, so please consider them to be a bunch of thoughts strung together more than a splendidly-flowing piece of prose. :-) I put better segues in the book, I promise. (I'm picking up the book from the proofreader on Sunday and will send it to the printer as soon as I can get it formatted.)
I've already been over Leviticus and the other clobber passages that the Christian Right uses to condemn homosexuality (in the archives now) so I won't go into those in depth here. They'll be in the book too. On with the other thoughts...
I think the strongest argument against Bush's position, is that it violates the separation of church and state. The argument against gay marriage is always Christian-based, so shouldn't an aetheist be highly offended by that? It seems that the Christian Right's obsession with taking over politics steps on freedoms in the name of God, which seems unconstitutional.
The most important thing Biblically, is the fact that Jesus said nothing about homosexual orientation. In fact, homosexual orientation itself is not addressed anywhere in the Bible. A few homosexual acts are discussed (in the form of rape, dominance, humiliation, etc.) and those have nothing to do with a same sex couple's ability to commit to one another and build a life together. If God hated homosexuality as much as the Christian Right tries to profess, wouldn't there be an 11th commandment that said, "Thou shalt not be gay?" Instead, the commandments focus on lies, betrayal, and unfaithfulness,which seems to suggest that God is more concerned with the condition of the heart than anything else. God wants kindness, gentleness, love, and other good things to come from the heart, and that can happen just as easily in a gay relationship as it can in a straight one.
Why exactly would God say gay marriage is okay? I think it comes down to the definition of sin. Sin is an obstacle that separates the sinner from God. It is easy to see why murder, for example, is a sin. The act undoubtedly comes between the murderer and God. God is love, but love is absent when the act of murder is committed. The effects are harmful. Families are robbed of someone whom they loved and the victim is robbed of his or her existence. Murder is a violation against God and mankind. None of these things apply to a healthy homosexual relationship. The effects are positive. Love thrives. Each partner is filled with happiness and contentment, potentially drawing nearer to God rather than further away.
Galatians 5:22-24 talks about fruit of the Spirit. It reads: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”
The Spirit sees faith in the heart and a love for God, and works to develop a Christian character within each of us accordingly. As our faith grows, the fruit in our lives becomes more abundant. As the fruit becomes more abundant in our relationships, we become more blessed by its goodness, and whether our overlying relationship happens to be heterosexual or homosexual becomes altogether irrelevant. Once again, it’s the heart that matters.
It is impossible to find the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of sin. There is no love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control in the midst of murder, adultery, or any number of other certain sins. Whether or not something can be classified as sin is more likely to be determined by its ability to produce fruit, and not by its cultural approval or disapproval. Since both homosexuality and heterosexuality are equally capable of producing spiritual fruit, it goes without saying that homosexuality does not automatically equate sin. Both heterosexuality and homosexuality are quite capable of producing sin—it is simply a matter of what one does with them.
One more thing...
The word homosexuality was first penned in 1869 (Wikepedia.com has more), which means the original translations of the Bible could not possibly have included it. To include it in modern translations shows the scholars' bias.
All of this is to say, Biblical arguments against gay marriage are not that strong. The people who employ Biblical arguments are loud and powerful, but when broken down their arguments have trouble standing up.
As long as there is a covenant bond in the relationship--that is, a binding agreement between God and both partners to uphold the integrity of the relationship--the gender makeup is irrelevant. If a gay couple includes God in their lives and makes every effort to be a good example and live the kind of life that Jesus urged us all to live, God is glorified and pleased. It's not the category that the relationship fits in, but rather the life in the relationship itself that determines its merit.
Concepts like these may not be understood now, in this current political arena, but the waves of enlightenment will continue to come. Eventually, there will be understanding. In the meantime, all we can do is continue to live truthfully, and allow God to be visible in our lives. The more quickly it becomes known that God is alive in gay relationships, the more likely it becomes that politics will catch up.
posted by Jen Austin at 11:00 AM
1 Comments:
Amen! to all of it, but especially to the unconstitutional aspect of the gay marriage debate. I have yet to figure out how the state deciding who can marry does not violate the separation of church and state.
Bless you.
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