UbiquitousCube said:
I feel as one of the less than 50 people who voted no, I feel I should explain the reasoning behind my answer. Like the original poster I consider myself to be a christian. Unlike the original poster however, I as an individual do have a problem with homosexuality in general, and thus gay marriage, BECAUSE I'm a christian. My argument here is for those who consider themselves to be christian but still like assume that it is "OK". If everyone else would please just label me as religiously biased and move on to another post, that would be great. Arguments which lack common ground are pointless and I would like to avoid them if possible.
First of all the issue of my support for gay marriage comes not from my issue with the institution of marriage, but by the homosexual connotation behind it. As a christian, I see homosexuality as wrong because the the bible specifically calls it an abomination. Males should not feel the same passion towards one another as they would feel towards a woman because it is unnatural. The issue with homosexuality is that it is not natural. Man and woman were designed, by God, to be together. Now do I hate homosexuals and want to burn them alive because of how they are? No. I disagree with the way homosexuals think just as much as many people reading this disagree with the way I as a Christian think. So seeing as I disagree with homosexuality in general, how can I agree with allowing them to be married?
Now homosexuality happens and there isn't much I can do about it but comment about it on the side. Now the issue of gay marriage on the other hand is a tad bit different. Marriage is still a state based institution, therefore it can do whatever it feels like. However what it is supposed to represent to us Christians is the eternal joining of a man and a woman for their happiness and that of their descendants. I think that it takes a man and a woman to properly raise a child. Can one or the other raise one? Yes. Can homosexuals do it? Yes. However, in these cases something that the child needs is missing. I believe that gay marriage goes against that which marriage stands for in the first place, i.e. raising and educating children, thus it should not be allowed.
Alright chums, let's do this. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU&feature=player_detailpage#t=84s]
First of all the issue of my support for gay marriage comes not from my issue with the institution of marriage, but by the homosexual connotation behind it. As a christian, I see homosexuality as wrong because the the bible specifically calls it an abomination.
You keep using that word. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk]
The way we use and define words changes over time, usually very drastically. Everyone knows, for example, that before "homosexual," gay used to mean giddy, or happy. Abomination changed similarly. We today regard an "abomination" as something terrible, detestable, something to be loathed and abhorred. However, this guy [http://www.blurtit.com/q858604.html] claims that it once meant "against custom/ tradition/ societal norms." Here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abomination_%28Bible%29#cite_note-0], it states that "Linguistically in this case, it may be closer in meaning to the Polynesian term taboo or tapu," which would mean what our anonymous source above claimed.
See, Leviticus 18:22 says "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." However, it does so in the same way (indeed, in the same time and context) it calls eating shellfish an "abomination;" they are (were) unclean. It's no offence to God that people ate shellfish, they were just told not to because it wasn't healthy. Same with gay sex. Neither is still necessarily the case. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWdCKPtnYE&feature=player_detailpage#t=29s]
Males should not feel the same passion towards one another as they would feel towards a woman because it is unnatural. The issue with homosexuality is that it is not natural. Man and woman were designed, by God, to be together.
The word natural is completely meaningless. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IIkiUxebrAw#t=20s]
I don't usually use this argument, but considering, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior] whenever people say that homosexuality is "unnatural," all I think is this. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGMmqvWavDM&feature=player_detailpage#t=24s]
The number of animals with homosexual tendencies is huge. Just look at it for Christ's sake. But here's the thing, and why I don't usually use this argument: We can look at a huge selection of animals that have homosexuality and say, "Look, it's happening in nature!", and that's fine. But it creates a disconnect between us and nature that ought not to be there. We don't need to look at other animals, we just need to point at ourselves and say, "homosexuality happens in us, we are part of nature, therefore homosexuality is natural."
Also, if God created man and, as you say, designed man and woman to be together, then he must also have created homosexuality, in which case, to deny them their attributes is a sleight against He who put them there: God.
Unless you're one of the people who thinks that homosexuality is a choice. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=g23GiivXC78#t=110s]
Now do I hate homosexuals and want to burn them alive because of how they are? No. I disagree with the way homosexuals think just as much as many people reading this disagree with the way I as a Christian think. So seeing as I disagree with homosexuality in general, how can I agree with allowing them to be married?
Silly ***** you're opinions don't matter to me. Don't you know where the fuck you are?[footnote]Reference, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b83TrW1Ktgk] not insult.[/footnote]
This, my friend, is America, and above all else, America is founded on one sole principle: Your right to throw punches ends at my nose. That is to say, you can do and think whatever you want, so long as you don't infringe on the rights of others.
Saying you can't agree with allowing homosexuals to marry because of what you as a Christian think is flawed logic: It's not up to you to
let them get married. It's none of your business, and you should treat it as such. Let me ask you something, if this was a dominantly Muslim nation, and yet you were still a Christian, would you appreciate it if the government forced you to participate in Ramadan? Starting July 20th this year, you would have to fast for a month every hour the sun was up because of the rules of
somebody else's religion.
Your duty as a Christian is to follow the rules of Christ. Fine. Don't have gay sex, don't get tattoos, don't eat shellfish, don't whatever. But your duty as an American-- or, more precisely and importantly, as a decent human being-- is to ensure that everyone has their rights, and to fight anyone who would oppress another. After all, we don't want those kind of people in control. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Rbh1LNQxgkk#t=36s]