MInTheGap

Same-Sex Marriage and the Freedom of Religion

One of the big comments that’s thrown at anyone that opposes Same-Sex Marriage is the idea that it would not effect Traditional Marriage at all—or that it only adds to marriage, but does not take anything away from it.  The idea is that, if it causes no harm to you personally in your marriage, then you should not oppose it.

The problem is that this is a short-sighted view of the problem, and does not take into account the consequences of this action.

It’s About Acceptance

Read the rest of this page »

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Why Support Traditional Marriage?

On Friday, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4 to 3 in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in their state, overruling a state ban on the activity.

While I could wax eloquent on how amazing it is to find this right in a document that has been translated only one way since the time it was written in regards to marriage, I’d like to instead focus on the question of “Why Support Traditional Marriage?”

Attacked or Degraded

Is it fair to say that Christians getting divorced are doing more damage to marriage than same-sex couples?  According to the Barna Research Group, Baptists are the highest percentage of groups getting divorced, beating out un-churched 29% to 21%.

Read the rest of this page »

California, New York, and Same Sex Marriage

The past few weeks has seen a flurry of activity in the area of same-sex marriage.  Specifically, the Supreme Court of California ruled that same-sex couples should have equal protection rights under the California Constitution to marry, and have instructed the state to do so starting in the middle of June.

Read the rest of this page »

Marriage - all kinds

Why do people get married? 

• For some it is the culmination of a long courtship. 
• For others it is the expression of feeling.
• Still others do it for the tax break.
• Some do it to legitimize their relationship.

I think in all of this talk of homosexual marriage we are losing what
it means to be married, or why we should get married.  I do not,
however, think that homosexuality is the only problem marriage (as an
institution) has plaguing it.

Looking back two generations of
my parents to my grandparents, I find a couple that, after a week of
knowing each other, my grandfather was determined to marry my
grandmother.  Being stationed in Atlanta, GA, and she being a secretary
that he saw through a window, he courted her, and married her before
going to Germany to fight WWII.  They just celebrated their 60th
anniversary this past December.  Marriage to them meant committment to
one another.

There are many stories like this– some of
people even younger getting together and producing long lasting
marriages.  What did their marriages have that ours do not?  Yes, it
was the people involved.  No, not every grandparent that I know stayed
with the same spouse, but the average was greater.

Zooming forward through time we see many things that have erroded marriage.

Marriage was beginning to be redefined as an expression of love more
than an expression of committment.  We had the 50s/60s with free love. 
Since divorce was still not that prevalent/accepted, people got
married.  But since love (the emotion) does not last long unless it is
continually fostered (ask any long married couple), things changed, and
people who were married wanted a way out.  So, we introduce the
“no-fault” divorce.

The result of all of this is that we
train children and teens that love is all about love and nothing about
committment.  We put them in dating situations, where once the love
runs out, a boyfriend/girlfriend does too.  And then, we have the
divorce rate rise so that these same children/teens see how messy
divorce is and we have the latest problem– live ins.  People that
inherently refuse to commit to one another, and yet live in the same
house, and share same things, and even have kids together, and we are
supposed to bless these “relationships” the same as marriage!

And if that wasn’t enough, now we’re supposed to let same sex couples
enter “marriages” so that they too can express their love.  They level
the same charges as I do above about our supposed hypocrisy, and yet
they really don’t want marriage for committment either.

How
can I say that?  Isn’t that too much of a sweeping generalization? 
Well, just look at the marriages.  when the big hubbub was going on in
San Fran, Rosie went down there, not because she needed to authenticate
her relationship (for she has children with her “partner”) but to stand
for the cause.  Look at Canada where there’s a gay couple getting
“divorced” just to expand their rights.

Homosexuality does
not seem to have as it’s goal the desire to have committed
relationships as much as it wants to legitimize its activity.  For
years, homosexuality was labeled as a psychological disorder.  It was
against the law to practice sodomy in many states.  Now, it’s
mainstream.  It’s shoved in our faces on TV.  It’s glamorized in
reality shows.  And it’s trying to take over our institutions.

Will homosexuals be content with hijacking marriage?  No.  Because
marriage is not its goal.  They will not rest until those of us that
say that “God says it is sin” or say that their activity and lifestyle
choice is wrong are silent.  Getting “same sex marriage” allowed is
just a step in that direction.

You can see their intent in
the arguments they use about equal protection and discrimination. 
Again, look at Canada– and the man punished for publishing in a local
newspaper that God says that homosexuality is sin.

---

Marriage has been attacked at many angles.  The governments of many
states are attacking the issue of same sex marriage with constitutional
amendments.  This is a good thing and should be supported.  However, we
need to be teaching our children and modeling for them marriage
relationships based on committment through love for our spouse and
them.  We need to not be ashamed to state the facts– homosexuality is
a sin against God.  Living together without being married is a sin
against God.  God does not condone divorce.

We’re in a fight for our society.  Will you do nothing?

What would they do?

If all of those outraged about what is going on in Mass. today were to leave the state, what would they do?

I don’t think this ruling with stand, but whether it does or does not, the people of Mass. do not have to stay in that state and support that government.  They can stay, they can pass the amendment, but they are facing a battle.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for fighting it out.  I think that we’re on a slippery slope where we will eventually
be forced to recognize these people as being married if things continue this way.  I mean, think about it…  What is the ultimate goal here?

It’s not tax exemption, equality in the eyes of the law, or anything of that nature.  What these people long for is for society to proclaim their activity normal and acceptable.  As long as those who disagree do not, they will not be satisfied.

Hence my question, would a protest by leaving make more of a difference to these people?  Would it show the seriousness of the issue?  Because obviously those that are exercising authority over us just don’t seem to get the picture.  They don’t see the big struggle.  So, maybe, if they’re tax dollars started falling off, if their businesses left the area, and if their state became a state of gays only, maybe they’d learn their lesson.