Posted on 03/19/2013 4:55:19 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
Gays should start their own religion and worship themselves.
Only the General Conference speaks for The United Methodist Church. When the lay and clergy delegates to General Conference approve a statement, it is published in the Book of Discipline and/or the Book of Resolutions. These words come from the people of The United Methodist Church.
http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=4746363&ct=3169111
From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2012.
http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=5066287&content_id={1F927523-A422-4005-BA60-517220DB6D1E}¬oc=1
161 B) MarriageWe affirm the sanctity of the marriage covenant that is expressed in love, mutual support, personal commitment, and shared fidelity between a man and a woman. We believe that Gods blessing rests upon such marriage, whether or not there are children of the union. We reject social norms that assume different standards for women than for men in marriage. We support laws in civil society that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Get any local UMW to preach that at any sermon. It'll never happen. Never.
For one thing, they're afraid of the 501C3 prohibition of preaching "politics" from the pulpit.
My experience doesn’t agree with that statement.
Not a specific sermon focused on that topic, but on making decisions based upon desires that are contrary to biblical teachings.
Then again, I’ve attended UMC services where most of the congregation was part of the military. We sold a shotgun as part of a fund raising event. Probably not typical of many UMC churches but they do exist.
Seriously. It is not as if violating the incest taboo would lead to children. It seems no more “unnatural” than any other same-sex pairing. I mean, once you arbitrarily reject one moral value, how can you refuse to object a similar one?
Further, I can see utility between sibling marrying under those conditions, especially in states where uncontested divorces are low-cost and simple. It would allow two siblings to file at married rates, which could be useful if one sibling has a high-paying job and a second is in college.
Besides, gays have claimed for years that the gummint doesn't belong in the bedroom. If it does not matter with whom you are sleeping, it does not matter with whom you are not sleeping. If two brothers or two sisters wish to take advantage of gays wanting to pretend that playing house is marriage, why should they be stopped?
Of course, this makes a mockery of marriage, but no more so than redefining marriage from its traditional definition of a union between one woman and one man.
When? Is there a chance that it might?
If so, you should have been long gone already.
There is vast difference between holy matrimony and a civil union. The first is a sacred commitment between a man and a woman seeking God’s blessings. The second is a commitment between two people seeking the government’s approval. The sacrament of marriage is a part of God’s plan for His people. A civil union is a state sanctioned contract. The government has the ability to sanction an infinite variety of civil contracts: two men, two women, one man and four women, one woman and two men, two brothers, and on and on. Holy Matrimony was created by God to bless His people. The government created civil unions(state sanctioned marriage) as a contract between two (or more) people.
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