Posted on 04/30/2009 10:32:47 AM PDT by steve-b
Within just a few days this month, the push for gay marriage found a wave of fresh momentum. A unanimous state Supreme Court decision legalized the practice in Iowa. The state legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto and instituted the practice in Vermont. And Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson announced plans to push legislation that would open the door to the practice in New York.
Beyond the political and legal arguments on the issue, however, are demographic shifts indicating that the controversy over same-sex unions may eventually fade altogether. Younger Americans are far more supportive of civil unions and gay marriage than older generations; in December, pollsters for Newsweek found that 51 percent of people between ages 18 and 34 support gay marriage, compared with 39 percent of all respondents.
Leaders of evangelical Christian organizations — the most vocal opponents of gay marriage as the issue polarized the electorate for much of this decade — now face a similar divide in their own ranks. In a survey last fall by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Inc., 58 percent of white evangelicals ages 18 to 29 said they support either civil unions or gay marriage; support dropped to 46 percent among white evangelicals who were older than that. (Asked about gay marriage exclusively, the support figures were 26 percent for the younger group and 9 percent for the older group.)
"The data do show a growing divide between younger and older evangelicals. There clearly is a generational difference,” said Amy E. Black, a political scientist at Wheaton College, an evangelical liberal arts school in Illinois. She characterizes the thinking among many younger evangelicals as, "What big deal is civil unions, really? What I care about is the environment, or what I care about is human rights."...
(Excerpt) Read more at cqpolitics.com ...
“LEARN FROM THE OLDER GENERATION”, The Older Gen needs to learn it first.
You’re right on the money.
Hebrews 5:12 “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
Hebrews 5:13 “For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”
Hebrews 5:14 “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Evangelism has a place, but too many such churches allow new Christians to remain stuck at salvation and never give them a strong Biblical foundation..Which is why we can have so many Evangelical “Christians” vote for our present Administration.
Singing a few songs and a feel-good sermon isn’t gonna get it done.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
I think it depends on who they are calling “evangelical.” In the rapidly-growing evangelical churches of the Reformed (Calivinist) tradition (Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City would be a good example), they are made up disporportionately of younger people, and these young people tend to be more conservative than older evangelicals, as well as being secularly better educated and more knowledgeable about Scripture.
McCain was an abysmal failure. The GOP better get it’s head out of it’s ass.
You flunk today's Bible Study class:
"Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
--Ezekiel 16:49
What an unfortunate reality.
“58 percent of white evangelicals ages 18 to 29 said they support either civil unions or gay marriage”
Then, they’re not CHRISTIAN evangelicals. Now it’s “gay” marriage; what’s next? Pedophile rights???
No fault divorce begot all this “stuff” which creates a powerful argument for those who favor homosexual marriage.
I would say it is more that kids aren’t being properly taught the faith anymore.
IN general I would expect younger people to care less about something like gay marriage since in their lifetime it has been pushed as thoroughly normal behavior. The culture (by way of the media) drives A LOT of this. It doesn’t mean they’re right, it just means it seems right to them.
“At best, they are infant Christians. The depth of their theological knowledge is limited to “Jesus loves you”. They’re only interested in pop music and good feelings.”
A lot of these evangelical churches limit the teachings of Christ to this. It’s all very touchy-feely, very “self-help” oriented. Very shallow.
It always annoyed me that to find fellow young parishioners that I had to go to these places. I’d often find myself going to church twice a day—once at a church that actually dealt with the tough issues and another for fellowship with people my age.
This gay marriage business is one that has worked its way into the popular media and the schools, and I’m afraid it’s going to destroy the American family from within. You don’t define marriage to the exclusion of child conception and rearing and keep any historical importance it has always had. Marriage is about so much more than “being happy,” but really, that’s all our society seems to care about. It’s a very myoptic, reptilian way to go through life. No higher calling. Just be happy. *rolls eyes*
Every generation thinks they are somehow wiser than the ones before. I don’t think most realize it until they are the older generation themselves. Good on you, we all learn more by listening than by talking!
They must conduct their polls outside a typical American movie theater.
The younger generation of Christians is also very casual about living together without getting married. A young gal who used to cut my hair got married and told me that all her friends thought it was “quaint”. It’s not just non-Christians with that view, unfortunately.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.