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To: lockeliberty
Tom Ehrich's guess is that by the time this ugly election year is over, "Homosexual marriage" and "Christian marriage" will be so thoroughly politicized that we will be seeking another way to understand the ways people commit their lives to each other at a level of ultimate intimacy, fidelity, trust and sacrifice.

That way will have to do with the quality of their relationship, not their gender. Just as we moved beyond believing that Roman Catholics had to marry Roman Catholics or they would fry in hell, so we will move beyond a single
view of Christian union.

Will we call it "marriage?" Probably not. Will it matter what we call it? Not really. People are already forming unions and families in diverse ways. Among the first people to open their hearts and homes to my dad after Mom
died were a gay couple. That love means a whole lot more to me than gender issues.

That's how I see it.

Let's assume, now, that some agree with my answer and some think it wrong. What next? To my mind, that is the question we need to address. Not, how can I prove my case? But, how can we hold opposing views but still hold each
other close? How can we love and serve God even as we disagree about what God is saying?

The tragedy isn't that we disagree, but that we dishonor each other and consider right opinion more important than servanthood.

When Jesus taught at the synagogue in Luke, he was handed a piece of tradition. He then chose how to use it. He didn't say that God had anointed Messiah to dispense right opinion or rewards to the righteous. What he chose--and took
as his mission--was Isaiah's call to "bring good news to the poor," "to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind."

That is a far cry from having right opinion about marriage or any other issue. That is servanthood, love in action, submission to the needs of others, an understanding of God as tender-hearted.


27 posted on 03/17/2004 2:52:52 AM PST by aikido7 (aikido7)
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To: aikido7
The tragedy isn't that we disagree, but that we dishonor each other and consider right opinion more important than servanthood.

My FRiend, it seems you have completely bought into the Post-Modern lie that your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth. It is not about opinion but the everlasting Truth of God. His moral law is a rock that is unalterable and transcendent. Yes, of course we should love our homosexual neighbor with an attitude of servanthood but the best way to love our homosexual neighbor is to reveal to them God's immutable moral law that will save them from everlasting damnation and also to care for them when they are sick and dying from the temporal curses that accompany a corrupted moral lifestyle.

It is not really too surprising that homosexuals want to pretend they are married. All humans long for shalom, that sense of universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight, but the imaga Dei was corrupted at the fall and the result is that ever since then humans have exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

The real tragedy is that Christians have allowed the State to define marriage. Marriage is a holy union and as Christians the meaning and purpose can only rightly be seen through scripture. The State cannot define my marriage because I have only one King that defines marriage for me, and his name is Jesus.

We all the right to free association under the Constitution and however people want to form those associations is a matter of liberty. If two homosexual persons want to enter into a contract with each other they should have the liberty to do so. But that is not what is known as Christian marriage. Because I do not allow the State to define marriage, and because marriage represents our relationship to Christ, only the Church can properly sanctify a union which is between one man and one woman.

My FRiend, you need to put away the contemporary Baal and worship God only. God does not tolerate other gods beside him. Let us clearly understand the antithesis between our God and the gods of this world. Not one dot or tittle has passed away from God's moral law and the best way to love our homosexual neighbor is inform him of this fact and tell him he must repent of his evil behaviours.

28 posted on 03/17/2004 7:54:21 AM PST by lockeliberty (Christ proclaims: "This is Mine!" over the whole plain of human existence.)
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