Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 1, 2015 16:29:52 GMT -5
I've just read an article on a lady who quit her job as a civil servant rather than deliver marriage certificates to gay couples. She stated that she preferred to obey the laws of God over the laws of man.
Well, props to her for sticking to her guns I suppose... but there are a few points I would have liked to raise with her, as with people who share her views.
First, it seems to me that the core message of Christianity is "love thy neighbour". It shouldn't matter if some passage of the Old testament says that two men shouldn't lie together, because even if Christians are supposed to believe that, their dislike of homosexuality shouldn't trump their neighbourly love. The formula "hate the sin, love the sinner" is a lot of hogwash if it means you're not going to act in a loving fashion toward said sinner (it's just hypocrisy if you don't act on it), and refusing a marriage licence is a definitely unloving gesture. As for condemning those who act against whatever's written in the Old testament, let's remember that Jesus himself abstained from condemning the adulterous woman; he just let her go without even a harsh word, just recommending that she do better in the future (and the regular punishment for her behaviour was death by stoning!)
Second, even if the lady in question insists that she must obey "God's law" as it is written in the Bible, I would point out that she already willfully turns a blind eye on several articles of it. I am convinced, for example, that she never saw any harm in issuing marriage licences to divorcees who were marrying again. Read your deuteronomy, ma'am: if a woman goes to her new husband and is not a virgin, she must be stoned to death. I'll bet you never threw even a pebble at such a woman, though (and with good reason, as that's a ridiculous law!!!) Sex before marriage? Death by stoning. Adultery? Death by stoning. Getting raped when in town without shouting for help? Death by stoning. Other "crimes" against God's law are not so gruesomely punished, but if we insist that the law is the law, then we should refuse to serve people who sow two different kinds of seed in their garden, wear clothes with two different types of thread, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton should never have been allowed to remarry. There's no dearth of laws that even the most devout Christian does not enforce.
So what is it about gay marriage? Why, clearly, it's not about religion; it's about bigotry. It's about not being happy that gays exist and that they may have the same rights as everybody else. Yes, such views can have roots in this or that religious passage; but ultimately, it is all about what we choose to do about those passages.
I swear, if Jesus could see what so many people do in his name he would weep. Your average liberal atheist is probably a better Christian than most of these "gays will burn in hell" types.
Well, props to her for sticking to her guns I suppose... but there are a few points I would have liked to raise with her, as with people who share her views.
First, it seems to me that the core message of Christianity is "love thy neighbour". It shouldn't matter if some passage of the Old testament says that two men shouldn't lie together, because even if Christians are supposed to believe that, their dislike of homosexuality shouldn't trump their neighbourly love. The formula "hate the sin, love the sinner" is a lot of hogwash if it means you're not going to act in a loving fashion toward said sinner (it's just hypocrisy if you don't act on it), and refusing a marriage licence is a definitely unloving gesture. As for condemning those who act against whatever's written in the Old testament, let's remember that Jesus himself abstained from condemning the adulterous woman; he just let her go without even a harsh word, just recommending that she do better in the future (and the regular punishment for her behaviour was death by stoning!)
Second, even if the lady in question insists that she must obey "God's law" as it is written in the Bible, I would point out that she already willfully turns a blind eye on several articles of it. I am convinced, for example, that she never saw any harm in issuing marriage licences to divorcees who were marrying again. Read your deuteronomy, ma'am: if a woman goes to her new husband and is not a virgin, she must be stoned to death. I'll bet you never threw even a pebble at such a woman, though (and with good reason, as that's a ridiculous law!!!) Sex before marriage? Death by stoning. Adultery? Death by stoning. Getting raped when in town without shouting for help? Death by stoning. Other "crimes" against God's law are not so gruesomely punished, but if we insist that the law is the law, then we should refuse to serve people who sow two different kinds of seed in their garden, wear clothes with two different types of thread, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton should never have been allowed to remarry. There's no dearth of laws that even the most devout Christian does not enforce.
So what is it about gay marriage? Why, clearly, it's not about religion; it's about bigotry. It's about not being happy that gays exist and that they may have the same rights as everybody else. Yes, such views can have roots in this or that religious passage; but ultimately, it is all about what we choose to do about those passages.
I swear, if Jesus could see what so many people do in his name he would weep. Your average liberal atheist is probably a better Christian than most of these "gays will burn in hell" types.
