Comments on The Hippie Housewife: Homosexual marriage

I didn't see rachel's comment until just now - "se...

2008-11-13T17:39:00.000-05:00

I didn't see rachel's comment until just now - "separate but not equal [is] not equal." That was exactly what I was trying to say, only I'm not so great with brevity :). Obviously.

I seriously love you for a lot of what you said in...

2008-11-13T17:35:00.000-05:00

I seriously love you for a lot of what you said in this post. Religion shouldn't dictate law, and sins shouldn't be selectively made illegal. And I love that you, a devout Christian, said all of it. I seriously want to hug you for this.

As for marriage vs. unions, I think the point on that is that it is a difference, even if it gives the same rights. It's still singling them out in a way, not allowing them to have something that everyone else has, and trying to replace it instead with something "good enough" or "pretty much" the same. Does that make sense? I think if I were gay, I would be okay with a civil union, but I can understand, too, why some aren't.

Did you see Keith Olbermann's special comment about Proposition 8? It's here. I found his comparison between gay marriage and slave/interracial marriage interesting.

I also want to add that I think marriage should be...

2008-11-11T20:38:00.000-05:00

I also want to add that I think marriage should be outside of government anyway. :) And that in terms of visitation and things like that.. well technically any two people can enter into some sort of binding contract and get these things anyway, again, at least here. Which, would essentially be the same thing as a civil union.

I think I agree with you. I wanted to add that I ...

2008-11-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

I think I agree with you.

I wanted to add that I think the reason, at least here, Christians fight the actual legislation for homosexual marriage is because our affirmative action, hate crime and "special privilege" laws are so intetwined that things like this could potentially force all pastors or priests to marry homosexuals, even if they don't agree with it. I know that in order for people to get "rights", we often pass laws that create rights, thereby forcing them all across the board, if that makes any sense.

I support gay marriage and the need for the word m...

2008-11-11T02:49:00.000-05:00

I support gay marriage and the need for the word marriage is that separate but equal in not equal. Also, international law does not recognize civil unions. There are a lot of american laws that also don't recognize civil unions and civil unions do not pass over state borders the way that marriage does.

There are a couple things that came into play for ...

2008-11-10T23:47:00.000-05:00

There are a couple things that came into play for me when considering my vote: from the civic perspective, outside the sentimental reasons to vote for gay marriage, I don’t see any practical reasons for it and it will end up costing money. Right now, at every level of government, we have no business deciding to spend more money regardless of how grand an idea might be. At my house when finances are tight we forgo things that otherwise make perfect sense to purchase. So, as a citizen attempting to voice an opinion that I think will lead to a stronger, more stable society in my state and country, I must make a vote to not expand our financial obligations.

And, though I wasn’t voting with the goal of imposing morals on people, I was voting with God looking over my shoulder. He told me not to be a man pleaser. He told me to fear Him and not man. He told me to trust in Him with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. He told me that my heart is deceitfully wicked and that I cannot trust it. He told me that I must decide today who I will serve. With all that in mind, I decided to listen to Him above and before I listened to all the other voices bombarding me from every direction. I decided to serve Him with my vote. In that moment, the outcome of the vote was irrelevant – the only thing that mattered was my bowing my head in humility before Him.

P.S. I also agree with pretty much everything else everyone else has said.

I really enjoyed this post. I am someone who typic...

2008-11-10T23:20:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this post. I am someone who typically never allows my politics and religion mix. It has also been a pet peeve of mine for years that Christians like to pick our favorite "sins" if you will and enforce those while we cheat, lie, envy, etc. I was brought up to believe that a sin is a sin. No matter how great or how small that it's.

I also believe that being gay isn't choice, but that the lifestyle is. I really feel it's a chemical issue for many people, but to act on these feelings is a sin. But it is also a sin to act on the lust you feel for someone, and it's a sin to act on the backbiting nature you may have so you can further yourself. I guess my point is, I'm not going to go crazy over one sin someone is choosing to commit when there are probably people in my church sinning as well (including me). After all, "He who has not sinned, cast the first stone..."

I am a strong believer in the separation of church...

2008-11-10T23:11:00.000-05:00

I am a strong believer in the separation of church and state. I think that marriage is a religious concept and that it should be left to religions. In Europe, most people get "married" twice, once in church and once in the town hall, because the church wedding isn't recognized as legal.

I would take it a step further than that. I would say if you want to get married, leave that to the churches. The government should have some definitions around what makes a couple or family if they need to for the purposes of tax treatment, benefits, pensions, immigration, etc. but it should not be marriage. Not for homosexuals and not for heterosexuals. Not for anyone.

But as long as the government recognizes the marriage of heterosexuals as a legally binding contract, I think they need to offer the same option to homosexuals.

My husband and I only got married because at the time Canada's immigration requirements required us to be married in order for me to sponsor him to come to Canada. Today, cohabitation is sufficient for immigration purposes.

This post made me think. I'll try to articulate m...

2008-11-10T23:10:00.000-05:00

This post made me think. I'll try to articulate my thoughts. :)

I suppose the reason American Christians take issue with the idea of legalizing gay marriage is because we already have laws that limit it to man/woman relationships. The idea of redefining marriage to include homosexuals is controversial to Christians because this would allow sin to taint the idea of marriage.

As you mentioned, there are a LOT of sins that taint marriage. Lust, premarital sex, cohabitation, divorce/remarriage, abuse, the list goes on. Perhaps the reason we don't "fight" these sins (like we do gay marriage) is because there is no current legislation against them to begin with.

My opinion on the matter? I oppose homosexual marriage. However, I predict it will be legalized across America in the next four years, much as it already is in Canada. If you had asked me six months ago how I felt about this, I would respond with indignation and disgust. While I am still against legalizing gay marriage, I now realize that this does not make Christians less responsible for their actions. In fact, the darker this world gets, the brighter our lights can shine for Christ. People will sin, legalized or not. Instead of getting caught up in legalities, I think our time would be better spent being a light to a world where right and wrong are becoming a matter of popular vote.

Thats for summing it up so clearly for me... This...

2008-11-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

Thats for summing it up so clearly for me... This will be very helpful with talking to friends. Thanks for being bold.

Hilty Sprouts
Hub
aka recycling man

As a christian and an American, I couldn't agree m...

2008-11-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

As a christian and an American, I couldn't agree more! My husband and I have often talked about this because he has a gay family member. We have come to the same conclusion that you have. Thanks for taking on this topic.

Jennifer

This post made me smile in a completely compliment...

2008-11-10T20:12:00.000-05:00

This post made me smile in a completely complimentary-to-you way. I love that you are asking these questions. I hope people will at least think about them if not start talking more about them. If I can put together something respectfully brief, I'll add my two cents... :)