bcp
In My Opinion
Matthew 22:36 - 40
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord God with all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy mind
38 This is the first and great commandment
39 and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neghbor as thyself
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and and the prophets.
as far as Hate the sin and love the sinner,, I dont think that Jesus said that. I think it was more likely that St. Augustine can be contributed to that phrase.
Now according to this, it falls right back to the I am the light and the way, If you belive, and love Jesus with all your heart, and try to live in a way as described above, then you should be heading to heaven upon your death.
This tells me that the christian that chooses to be a homosexual, and at the same time belive in Jesus Christ as his saviour, will still have as great a chance at salvation as a like person that is non homosexual.
This then falls on the question of the Church, Now, Personally I dont know of any church that would throw a homosexual out of its congragation for that reason alone. They may not allow them to be pastors, but that is another situation completely. The church stand is that by bringing the homosexual closer to Jesus and God, the sin of homosexuality may be taken from him/her.
If we do use the phrase Love the sinner Hate the sin, then we have to look at the majority of people in the church, including myself. I do not hate the man or the women that is homosexual anymore than I hate the man or women that masterbates, (another sin) yet I do have a great dislike for the sin of homosexuality. For me, to think of having sex with another man is something that actually turns my stomach, I think that it is vile, Sorry if that offends some, but I have never been and never will be politically correct. I could no sooner engage in homosexual sex than I could sit down to a dinner of thrown up pizza and beer scraped from the local pubs toilet.
As I look deeper into my thoughts, I discover that I do agree that two people living together, sharing bills, responsibility as whatnot, do deserve a certain amount of financial protection under the law.
Yet, the christian side of me belives that marriage is a contract formed between a women a man and God. So how can we accept a marriage that goes against what is written in the bible? (Go back to Leviticus and read the Mosaic Laws for the answer on homosexuality.)
For me there is an easier answer to the question than marriage.
Civil contracts. Allow for the homosexuals or any two people that live together and share responsibility to form a civil contract that will basically give them all the legal protection that marriage gives a man and a women.
At the same time, since It is not a valid contract to be written with God, the church should have the right to refuse to perform a religious ceremony for the union of the homosexual.
Give them the rights and protections that they are looking for, as long as no law is written to give them any extra protections and the majority would go along with it. In other words, let them form a partnership, but keep the word and suggestion of a marriage out of it.
As far as this judge in Baltimore goes, When one judge can alter the law to accomodate her own thoughts above those of the general public, our system is in grave danger of failure. This is not a situation that can be decided without the public voice.
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord God with all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy mind
38 This is the first and great commandment
39 and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neghbor as thyself
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and and the prophets.
as far as Hate the sin and love the sinner,, I dont think that Jesus said that. I think it was more likely that St. Augustine can be contributed to that phrase.
Now according to this, it falls right back to the I am the light and the way, If you belive, and love Jesus with all your heart, and try to live in a way as described above, then you should be heading to heaven upon your death.
This tells me that the christian that chooses to be a homosexual, and at the same time belive in Jesus Christ as his saviour, will still have as great a chance at salvation as a like person that is non homosexual.
This then falls on the question of the Church, Now, Personally I dont know of any church that would throw a homosexual out of its congragation for that reason alone. They may not allow them to be pastors, but that is another situation completely. The church stand is that by bringing the homosexual closer to Jesus and God, the sin of homosexuality may be taken from him/her.
If we do use the phrase Love the sinner Hate the sin, then we have to look at the majority of people in the church, including myself. I do not hate the man or the women that is homosexual anymore than I hate the man or women that masterbates, (another sin) yet I do have a great dislike for the sin of homosexuality. For me, to think of having sex with another man is something that actually turns my stomach, I think that it is vile, Sorry if that offends some, but I have never been and never will be politically correct. I could no sooner engage in homosexual sex than I could sit down to a dinner of thrown up pizza and beer scraped from the local pubs toilet.
As I look deeper into my thoughts, I discover that I do agree that two people living together, sharing bills, responsibility as whatnot, do deserve a certain amount of financial protection under the law.
Yet, the christian side of me belives that marriage is a contract formed between a women a man and God. So how can we accept a marriage that goes against what is written in the bible? (Go back to Leviticus and read the Mosaic Laws for the answer on homosexuality.)
For me there is an easier answer to the question than marriage.
Civil contracts. Allow for the homosexuals or any two people that live together and share responsibility to form a civil contract that will basically give them all the legal protection that marriage gives a man and a women.
At the same time, since It is not a valid contract to be written with God, the church should have the right to refuse to perform a religious ceremony for the union of the homosexual.
Give them the rights and protections that they are looking for, as long as no law is written to give them any extra protections and the majority would go along with it. In other words, let them form a partnership, but keep the word and suggestion of a marriage out of it.
As far as this judge in Baltimore goes, When one judge can alter the law to accomodate her own thoughts above those of the general public, our system is in grave danger of failure. This is not a situation that can be decided without the public voice.
