Posted on 11/19/2014 6:16:01 AM PST by marshmallow
Two Episcopalian priests have urged American ministers of all Christian communities to join them in a pledge “to separate civil marriage from Christian marriage” by refusing to acts as “agents of the state” by signing marriage certificates.
The “Marriage Pledge” initiated by the two clerics appears on the web site of First Things, an influential ecumenical journal. R.R. Reno, the editor of First Things, introduces the effort with his own supportive comment. “As the legal reality of marriage changes, we must act,” he writes. “If the churches continue as if nothing has changed, the message is that for all our strong words nothing really decisive is at stake. It’s now time, then, to think long and hard about what we need to do—or refuse to do.”
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicculture.org ...
If tehy did that, I bet teh gays would sue them.
Hollow gesture. Further reinforces “marriage” is but a government contract, nothing more, nothing less.
The denominations should have fought this abomination decades ago when there was a hope of winning instead of supporting all Uber-liberal causes. You reap what you sow.
No it is not.
Civil disobedence on a faith level.
It would be nice if it were a TREND and not an anomaly.
I doubt the former as the Episcopalian churches have been doing same-gender marriages for quite a while. They are fairly independent entities throughout the country with no world-wide Catholic-like dogma to bind them together or world-wide papacy to lead them.
This isn't a condemnation, just a statement of what I THINK are facts.
Ping.
Messing with the Almighty’s design for normal marriage will have eternal consequences. To pervert what He makes holy is dangerous ground.
My reasoning in thinking this is that the government is going to force clergy to marry gays and will fine/penalize them for refusing. There are also the civil suits to be considered.
I agree. The marriage in the church will be the sacrament only (which in the eyes of the church is the real deal anyway). The civil aspect can happen at the courthouse. It will also be an economic stimulus plan for the wedding industry! Everyone will now have TWO weddings! lol....
This is when you'll know that all of these religious institutions recognize Caesar for what he is.
They are going to try and punish those who won’t accept ‘gay marriage’ with the power of the state no matter what anyone does. This probably wouldn’t stop that, it might blunt certain means of punishment.
As I understand it, this would be a demonstration that what the faith and state mean by marriage are separate. In any case as a teaching tool it would be more effective to do voluntarily as opposed to possibly the state imposing it down the road as a punishment for not accepting ‘gay marriage.’
FReegards
Two straight men got “married” in Australia or NZ to win a free trip to a ball game.
The sodomites went ballistic over it, weeping and wailing.
The two straight men still date women.
Same sex “marriage”(imitation marriage) is so easy to abuse for financial purposes.
**The denominations should have fought this abomination decades ago ***
Back in the mid 1960s, the Hippie movement declared marriage dead. The license was “just a piece of paper” and if you were were sincere that is all you needed. The “shack up” till you moved on was the way to go.
Today marriage is the most important thing two people can engage in, BUT ONLY IF YOU ARE GAY!
This is already happening with older folks who want to opt out of inheritance laws. They have a church commitment ceremony but no marriage license.
Not being legally married would be pretty difficult for most Americans, for instance a Navy SEAL with a wife and a couple of kids.
Anybody has always been able to have their private definitions of marriage, it just wasn’t legal, two gay American soldiers could be married in 1790 America, the “wife” just wouldn’t be recognized by the federal government.
So what? Life is difficult, and I'd suggest that a Navy SEAL deals with things a lot more difficult than a bunch of bureaucrats in the Federal government.
My whole point is that committed Christians are likely to get to the point where they don't give a sh!t what any legal authority thinks about how they conduct their lives.
You don’t understand, he wouldn’t receive on base housing, or separate rations, or any of the other necessities that a military family needs to survive, he would be just a sailor, yet one that is trying to maintain his family off base and without benefits.
If individuals want to do away with centuries of American tradition, well they could always have done that, George Washington and Jefferson didn’t, but the option of a non legal marriage was available to them and it still is, and always was to everyone.
Then he shouldn't be in the military.
For that matter, why would any Christian volunteer to serve in the military in a nation that is enshrining a pathological opposition to Christianity in its culture and legal system?
LOL, I see pretty deep thinking there, not goofy and childish at all.
If you don’t want your marriage to be legal, then make it so, millions of Americans live as man and wife without concern for a marriage license, gays do it, polygamists do it, rebels do it, you can to.
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