Gay Marriage

Of all the issues we are forced to consider and debate on a regular basis, this one has caused me the most trouble. I have always been quite divided on the issue, partially because I never was one to blatantly offend people (or at least I haven't been since around a decade ago). But I've been forced to consider it with greater focus lately as my inbox is bombarded with petition requests - petitions to outlaw gay marriage; petitions to make legal gay marriage; petitions for gay rights; petitions against gay rights....it's overwhelming. After much thought, I have finally come to a conclusion and I know where I stand. Given the enormity of the issue, I ask for your patience as I attempt to assemble clear and concise thoughts, so as not to cause confusion about any idea I'm trying to get across. Let me begin by stating my political beliefs. Obviously, I'm a conservative. This means that my biggest belief when it comes to politics is Constitutionally limited government. I don't want to government in my business. I have a right to raise my children in the manner I deem appropriate. I have a right to own weapons for the purpose of defending my family. I have a right to worship as I choose, to believe as I choose; and above all, I have the right to the pursuit of happiness and freedom. Next, my religious beliefs. I believe in the One True God. I believe His Son Jesus Christ is my Savior. I believe this with all my heart and mind and soul and being, and there isn't a person or event that could or has changed my mind. I believe He loves me, with all my faults, and that He made me perfect in His eyes. However, I am not perfect. All have fallen short of the glory of God; that is to say, none of us can be as pure and perfect as He is. That being said, I can move on to the next segment. My personal beliefs about homosexuality: I'm pretty certain it's not the way God intended us to live. It's by no means a "logical" lifestyle when you consider evolution and the way nature works and so on and so forth. I don't believe you can be born gay. I believe it's something that develops, for one reason or another, throughout the course of your youth. That is not to say that I believe it's a CHOICE, because really, who would choose to be hated, cursed and persecuted? Not anyone I know, that's for sure. Whichever side of the nature vs. nurture issue you're on, I think you can agree with that statement, and agree that your sexual association is not something you can really change. If you're gay, you're gay, even if you weren't born that way. Now that you're either praising me for being anti-gay or cursing me for being a bigot, let me move on to my next thought... Whether or not being gay is a sin, I have no clue. I've heard the Bible says things about it, but I also believe the unfortunate truth is that the Good Book has been interpreted and changed and abridged so many times throughout history, God is the only One who knows what it is actually supposed to say. I do know that none of us, not one single person on this planet, is clean enough to sit in judgement of the sins of others. There's only been one man in history who was capable of doing such a thing, and that would be Jesus. While this suggests that I support gay marriage, I can assure you, that is not the case. In my mind, God would not want us marrying our own gender, simply because that is not the way He intended it to be. However, I, being of a conservative mind, do not believe the government has any right to tell people how they can or cannot live their lives. Being gay is not a crime; their actions are hurting no one. So why should it be illegal? I really believe there should be NO LAWS regulating any kind of union between two (or more) consenting adults who are of legal age. That puts the government into the role of playing judge and jury of our souls, regulator of our sins, and I don't think that is their place. I think it should be up to individual religious institutions whether or not they will perform the ceremony, and let God decide if they did something wrong. There are some who would say God hates homosexuals, and that we should too. I refuse to jump on that bandwagon, or any similar bandwagon. I believe God's wrath is reserved for those who truly deserve it: murderers, rapists, child molesters...not for two people who can't help how they feel, who fell in love with each other and decided to make a commitment in front of their family and friends. And if He does hate them, He'll take care of it. it's really not for me to decide. I'm not clean enough to point a finger at them and call them sinners, and neither are you. Honestly, if we spent half the time working on the sin in our own hearts that we spend worrying about the sins of others, the world would be a better place for all. We have replaced guilt with judgement.... we know our hands are not clean, and we feel guilty, but choose to focus on the guilt of others instead of addressing our own. But we all have blackness in our hearts. Anger and hatred, bigotry and discrimination, selfishness, materialism, jealousy, greed...these are all terrible sins; sins which we commit on a daily basis. Until we can get to a point where these are not intricately woven into the fabric of our lives, we should not be so focused on the sins of others, sins which have no affect on the lives of other people. Obviously, violent crimes and causing physical and emotional pain to other people would be a different story. Your rights do only extend to the end of your nose after all, and once you cross that barrier and harm someone else, then you should be judged for it. So... to sum it all up: Gay marriage may be unnatural and un-Christian, but I don't believe it should be illegal. Homosexuality may or may not be a sin, but I'm not going to judge you for it either way. I choose to spend more time on things that matter to my own soul than worrying so much about the sins of others. I will not sign a petition for or against anything having to do with any aspect of this particular area of discussion. I welcome your comments below, but please, be respectful of others' opinions. I will delete any comments that are unnecessarily rude or argumentative. ****One final note to my Christian friends: rather than telling people what they do wrong, I prefer the lead-by-example approach. I live my life in a way that I hope makes God happy most of the time, and I hope other people will see that AND see God's Light coming through me, and then maybe they will consider where that light is coming from and why I have it and they don't, and then maybe they'll think about looking into this whole Christianity thing and seeing what it's really about. I think that if you constantly preach about God's wrath, or you routinely judge people in a boisterous sort of fashion, people will get the impression that THAT is how a Christian behaves, and they'll immediately lose interest in knowing God. Just some perspective for you. Have a blessed day everyone :)