by Montanna Wilber on Monday, September 24, 2012 at 12:16am
Today, I have decided to talk about homosexuality. I will split this into three sections: The Issue, Christianity's Fight, and The United and Equal States of America. Aren't you excited? I'm kind of excited. (Disclaimer: I am including lesbians under the term gay for this note.)
I. THE ISSUE
America has seen so many radical changes since its beginning. The first presidential election allowed white men over 21, who owned land, to vote. It is now possible for black women over 18, who do not own land, to vote. Equality has been an issue since 1776. In 1868, the issue of owning land was abolished. In 1870, any color person could vote (and even then there were still issues that kept blacks from voting). In 1920, women were granted the right to vote. In 1964, conditions were removed that restricted a large population from voting; black citizens as a whole became allowed to vote at last. In 1971, the age you could vote was changed from 21 to 18.
Great! Now everyone can vote. But wait! There's another issue that's cropped up. Homosexuality. And let's face it. It's been an issue for a lot longer than people think. "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was recently repealed. Before 1993, no homosexuals were allowed to serve in the military at all. In 1993, however, President Clinton attempted to appeal this. The only thing they were able to come up with was a compromise: DADT; you could now be gay and serve in the military as long as no one knew you were gay. Heh. Well, as of one year and three days ago, DADT has been abolished. You can now be openly gay and serve in the military.
But the issue of homosexuality still stands. The big issue currently is gay marrage. We are a country all about equality and yet, somehow, we still have the ability to say you cannot have the same rights as me because I am straight and you are gay. Fail. Where is the equality in that? And so what is the issue behind the issue? ISSUE: Homosexuals should be allowed to "marry." ISSUE behind the ISSUE: Religion, pride, and prejudice say no. I am Christian, so let me jump into our next section.
II. CHRISTIANITY'S FIGHT
Leviticus 18:22 states, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination." (KJV)
Leviticus 20:13 states, "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them." (KJV)
There are more than these two verses, but this gives you the gist. Leviticus was written by Moses who stood on top of Mount Sinai and spoke with God. This leads us to believe the author is sharing with us that which God has presented him. And you thought God's only laws were the Ten Commandments? Go read Leviticus and try to wrap your mind around the myriad of laws. Did you know any man with a deformity is not allowed to be a priest? Seriously. Go read it and tell me how you feel. Does God discriminate against His own people? We'll save that for another time...
Back on track... As a Christian, if I am to take the Bible as pure and true in its depiction of what God wants, then I should be against homosexuality. And that is the stance most Christians have. Westboro Baptist does not speak for all of Christianity, but they do claim to speak for God, and they say that God hates gays. I don't hate people. Ever. But I would be lying if I told you there wasn't a large part of me screaming that those motherfuckers can rot in hell. Again, topic for another time... But here we have a quote: "God hates gays." I actually saw two men in Key West holding these signs on the street. For those who don't know, Key West holds a large homosexual population. I wanted to go over and knock their jaws loose. It's more than my wanting to defend homosexuals; it is my wanting to defend ALL people from these lies. God does not hate homosexuals. God hates homosexuality. One is a person. The other is a sexual orientation. If there is one thing the Bible seems to iterate and reiterate constantly it is that He loves all people regardless of their sins, but He still hates their sin.
So where do I stand? I stand conflicted, to be honest. As a human being, I say that people should be able to do whatever the fuck they want as long as it does not harm another human being, directly or indirectly. Being gay does not harm people. Sure. Go ahead and bring up all of the diseases homosexuals can contract from sexual interaction. But while you're collecting that information, please also provide the statistics for straight people with sexually transmitted diseases and illnesses. So again. Being gay doesn't hurt anyone anymore than being straight does.
As a Christian... Well, for now, let's just say I'm finding many faults within my Bible. We can talk about that later as well.
But devout Christians should say no to homosexuality. This does not make them bigoted. If they say that God hates gays, you can sock em one for me. But if they just say that they believe homosexuality is wrong, respect that belief.
III. THE UNITED AND EQUAL STATES OF AMERICA
So here we are. Homosexuals should be allowed to "marry." And I know you keep eying those quotation marks. Here is why: dictionary.com defines marriage as "the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc." This would exclude gays. BUT... like any evolving language, dictionary.com has included a secondary definition: "a similar institution involving partners of the same gender: gay marriage." I mention this because there are some people who say, "They can get married like us, but we'll just call it something different." And that, my friends, is a separation which keeps things from being equal. If we want to live up to being a nation defined by equality, then we need to allow homosexuals to get married. It's as simple as that.
Many Christians believe that America was created as "one nation under God"; however, the pledge of allegiance was not implemented until 1942. The people that came over from Europe wanted to live where they could worship God freely and in their own way without the confines of British law. With this, there is the freedom of religion. And the freedom not to have a religion. So if you think your Christian beliefs should keep homosexuals from getting married... Well, you need to go start your own theocratic government that revolves around Christian fundamentals, because the United States of America is not that country. We are a free people. It's about time everyone started letting each other act like it.
I am a straight Christian, and I support gay marriage in my eqaulity driven United States of America.
(Hopefully my being a conflicted Christian doesn't hurt any of my credibility. It probably does. But hey, no one can call me liar.)
If you want more, follow this link to Dan Brown's thoughts on the definition of marriage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVmrlRGXamY&feature=relmfu
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