I saw the following quote in a Facebook group and it made me realize that a lot of people opposed to same-sex marriage may be basing their opinion on an insidious lie:
Another issue that was raised was that some Christian folks felt betrayed by their government, and they wondered why it was bad for the government to outlaw homosexuality yet it was alright for the government to order their churches to perform marriages that were(in their interpretation) deemed abominations in God’s eyes.
This is simply NOT TRUE. The government cannot ORDER churches do anything, due to the separation of church and state. Even today, a church can refuse to marry a couple for any reason it sees fit. Most Catholic churches will not marry you if one of the parties is divorced, for example, and some churches will not perform the ceremony unless both parties are confirmed Catholics (although some only require both parties be baptized). I have also seen evangelical churches refuse to marry couples “living in sin” unless one of the parties moved out.
A church’s prerogative to refuse to marry a couple is simply not an issue when discussing the legalization of gay marriage because marriage in our country is a secular institution. Yes, churches perform legally valid marriages, but a church wedding without a marriage license is legally meaningless (trust me, I know people who have done this). It is the CIVIL marriage which is legally binding and which confers myriad rights and responsibilities on the parties involved. This is why many liberal churches can perform “commitment ceremonies” for gay couples in states where same-sex marriage is not legal — because the government CANNOT tell a church who it may (or may NOT, in this case) unite in the eyes of God.
So if your main concern about legalizing same-sex marriage is that your church will be forced to condone or embrace homosexuality, rest assured this will NEVER happen. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise, whether it’s a TV pundit, priest, parent, or self-proclaimed “Christian leader” is either LYING to you or is so uneducated about the laws and history of this country as to make his or her opinion irrelevant.
Some other day I will tackle the topic “Why legalizing same-sex marriage will not lead to people marrying their pets” and attempt to disprove the myth that all lesbians are fat.
Tags: gay, politics, religion, same-sex marriage
August 5, 2008 at 8:37 pm |
Wow…that makes TONS of sense. So legalizing gay marriage won’t cause a rush of gays and lesbians into the world’s churches like many people seem to fear. Maybe if more people realized this, they would be less pressed about John and Brian or Mary and Cathy getting hitched. Their church can still keep people out as they please while letting other people live their lives as they wish.
August 12, 2008 at 8:05 am |
First there were the people of England who were tired of the King’s tyrannous rule. They were persecuted and beaten down until they moved away to form America. Then there were the Continental Natives(Indians). White people beat them down and persecuted them and stole their land from them, forcing them onto Indian Reservations. Then there were the Africans. White men brought them to America as slaves and beat them down and persecuted them. During which, all this time, women in general were beaten down and persecuted for their gender. Now that all of this has been put beyond us, aside from a few select bigots, the white man, joined by the Native American and African American, and women, and those of all races, have chosen now to pick on someone else. Who? Homosexuals. Why? The human race has a terrible need for self destruction. It’s time to let go of that hatred.
August 13, 2008 at 12:58 am |
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!