I believe in love, it's all we got
Love has no boundaries, costs nothing to touch
Churches and dictators, politics and papers
Everything crumbles sooner or later
But love, I believe in love
"Believe," lyrics by Bernie Taupin
(c) 1995 William A. Bong Limited
I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. If people would just listen to me, we could put this issue to bed once and for all.
Christians who oppose gay marriage often quote scripture from the Bible in support of their position. Simply put, it "offends God":
Whenever one violates the natural moral order established by God, one sins and offends God. Same-sex “marriage” does just this. Accordingly, anyone who professes to love God must be opposed to it.
Marriage is not the creature of any State. Rather, it was established by God in Paradise for our first parents, Adam and Eve. As we read in the Book of Genesis: “God created man in His image; in the Divine image he created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Gen. 1:28-29)-- Excerpt from "10 Reasons why Homosexual Marriage is Harmful and Must be opposed."
Ok then, if you are going to follow—and seek to enforce-- the Bible’s commands, then you have to follow all of the Bible’s commands. You don’t get to pick and choose the ones you want to enforce, and ignore the ones you would rather weren’t in the Bible.
Therefore, if gay marriage "violates the natural moral order established by God," then so does divorce:
By law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. Romans 7:2-3
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman
commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits
adultery. Luke 16:18
How many of the people who are against gay marriage are also
against divorce? An even better
question—how many of them ARE divorced?
Why is divorce ok but gay marriage is not?Here’s my take on all of this. The Bible must be read in the context of its times, economic, social and scientific. It was written before the age of scientific discovery. So to explain things like how the world got started, we have the story in Genesis. Was the earth really created in six days and then on the seventh God rested? Really? If God is all powerful, why did he need a day of rest anyway?
The Bible is full of parables, allegories and unscientific information that’s just plain wrong. I don’t think the Bible was ever meant to be a scientific treatise. Even Pope Francis agrees with this. He recently declared that evolution and the Big Bang theory are right and that God is not magician with a magic wand. Too bad fundamentalist Christians don't listen to the Pope.
I can’t reconcile everything that’s in the Bible. I’m not a biblical scholar. But I am a Christian. As a Christian, I disagree vehemently that "anyone who loves God" must oppose gay marriage. I think it's just the opposite. Anyone who loves God must not condemn gay marriage.
It’s the fundamental message that Jesus brought to the world that’s important, and that message is love, tolerance and respect for others: This is my command: Love each other. John 15:17.
That message has not changed. It remains as relevant today as it did back when the Bible was written. Maybe even more relevant.
The bottom line for me is this: If (and that is a big, qualified If) gay marriage offends God, then it is up to God, and only God, to judge.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37
Even Jesus said he was not the one to judge.
As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. John 12:47
The rest of us should stop condemning others and endeavor to love even those with whom we don’t agree. In fact, those are the most important people to love and tolerate. As Jesus said, it’s easy to love your friends. But a true Christian must strive for more than that.
I guess I should take a page out of my own book and forgive those who trespassed against me, shouldn’t I? I’m trying, I really am.
GOD HATES THE CONSTITUTION
They stand in front of churches
They stand in front of crowds
They carry signs that tell us
God’s message from the clouds
God hates the constitution
He wants to pray in schools
The godly have solutions
The rest of us are fools
I guess they have a private line
Directly to the Lord
But the line must have some static
Perhaps a faulty mother board?
When I read the Bible
The message there is love
And tolerance for everyone--
That’s the dispatch from above
And if it is a sin
Whatever they decry
Jesus said, before you judge
Take that log out of your eye.
(c) 2014 Renata Manzo
Once again Renata, you are spot on. I have always had difficulty with those who are quick to judge others. I seem to see the world in color and not black and white. There are too many sides to every situation, so I struggle internally when these issues become front page news. An old friend graduated "most likely to succeed" in our high school class, he was captain of the football team, and very well respected by his classmates and teachers. He was Valedictorian in high school and then graduated from University of Chapel Hill at the top of his class. He became the Director of Oncology at Boston Mass General Hospital during his career. Not too long ago, he confessed to me that from the time he was three years old, he had always thought of himself as a girl. He has struggled with his identity for over 50 years and I know he is a good person in God's eyes. This is just one example, but there are plenty I could share with others. In so far as you forgiving others, my guess is you have already done this. I think we tend to confuse forgiveness with forgetting. You will never forget, but you obviously have moved on and are very content with the choices you have made in your career. Your peace of mind and happiness come through loud and clear in your writings.
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