Are you as confused by the details of Prop 8 as I am? My fellow Christians, we are quick to put up a wall and say, "God defines marriage as between a man and a woman. What's to argue? It's clear to vote Yes on 8."
I say, "Not so fast." What about Isaiah? He adamantly warns against supporting laws that are unjust, and legislation that oppresses people. So how can we - as believers - possibly stand on our soap boxes and dream of voting for a law that (on the surface) seems to treat a segment of people unjustly, and oppresses them and their children.
Let's not forget separation of church and state: yes, for us believers marriage is for men and women. But the leaders of this state are not put in their positions in order to force God's rules on people. They are put their positions of leadership (by our God) in order that they treat everyone fairly, without judgement....regardless of the population's belief in God or not.
Believers can't force someone to follow God's way. It must be their choice...Oh, yes, God's m/o that little thing called...FREE CHOICE. He doesn't want people to come to Him or follow Him via force. He wants to establish a relationship when we come to him by our own choice. Then, we learn to, love to, and are passionate about His laws...because we love him... Not because it's in the state legislation.
This is precisely why it is hard to be a Lawmaker and a Believer. You have to be able to take care of all people even when you know they are not God's people. Fair in society does not always mean God. In fact, God's way is a narrow and well-defined path...but we can't judge people who are not on that path...Christian lawmakers MUST care for all.
Also, wasn't it Jesus who came to the defense of his disciples when they ate wheat on the Sabbath? We have a living example of breaking the rules when it's the right thing to do in context with the circumstances. So as believers, we need to figure out if Prop 8 is the right thing to do. Not say, "yes" just because we know God's definition of marriage. We are no better than the Pharisees if we vote Yes without knowing if Prop 8 is fair or right in context with the circumstances.
There are things to question: 1. Do same-sex couples already have equal rights when you compare a domestic partnership or civil union to marriage? In other words, do they just want to use the word marriage? Is it the actual word that is in question? Is this another case of the Sneetches? Do gay couples want bellies with stars...want it just because they don't have it? We all know the moral of that story, right?
Side bar: The word marriage is God's word. He introduced in into the human race, and He defined it as His word; and it is wrong to re-define it, or give it a meaning different than what it is. The problem is that laws of this land use Biblical terms. They just do. That doesn't make the term 'marriage' less Biblical. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT PROP 8 IS ABOUT. The state supreme court has already done the redefining, has already taken it, and defines it in the state of California as a thing available to all. Prop 8 is about taking it back.
Ultimately, as it stands now, in the state of California, marriage is available to all sexes; same and opposite. Domestic partnerships have the same benefits as California's marriage. Legally, there is no difference in domestic partnership and California's marriage...(except, if you are not same sex, one partner must be at least 62 years of age in order to get a domestic partnership.) What's done is done. And in May...when marriage was redefined by the California Supreme Court, what happened? What happened was that millions of people felt liberated, freed, treated as equals, treated fairly, they stopped feeling oppressed.
Praise God for that. Praise God for sharing His word so that people He is trying to reach, feel liberated in society.
To overturn this supreme court ruling would be taking something back that has already been given out. It would isolate and treat a sector of society unfairly, emotionally; but not legally.
So, it kind of boils down to this: What honors God more: to advance his kingdom or to preserve His kingdom? What will advance His kingdom more; to take back a word stolen, preserve its meaning and therefore preserve God's mystical relationship between men and women brought together for life, or to let lawmakers use it in order to liberate an oppressed sector of society? Who is Jesus interested in saving? Who has he come for? Are we disciples or guardians?
Now let me ask you believers: what do you think Jesus would do at this juncture?
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