It’s time we all had faith in gay marriage
Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4442821/Its-time-we-all-had-faith-in-gay-marriage.html#ixzz21Qpgabd3
So why are the Churches so petrified of gay marriage that they are demanding a referendum on it? Is it really such a threat to civilisation?
Some claim that because parenthood is fundamental to marriage and gays cannot conceive, it should not be allowed.
So what’s next — imposing divorce on heterosexual couples who cannot conceive?
Not so long ago the same Churches taught that slavery was an institution supported by God. They ignored all the things the Bible said about the equality of mankind.
‘Good’ Christians in favour of slavery used a handful of passages from the scriptures to justify slavery, and today some find verses to apply to gays, without acknowledging that they are based on a culture that is no longer relevant to us.
Of course other Christians quoted the same Bible in the battle to abolish slavery.
Churches once justified bans on interracial marriages citing religious beliefs, arguing it violated natural order and would lead to unhealthy, disabled children.
Today those arguing against gay marriages privately call gays unnatural, but publicly claim their concern is about the sanctity of marriage.
Which Biblical tradition of marriage are they defending? Is it the polygamy of the Old Testament prophets or sleeping with slaves if a wife is infertile?
Maybe church leaders should look at what Jesus did in his day, welcoming into his circle the whores, the tax collectors, the thieves, the sick, the lepers, the disabled and the unclean. He said “love thy neighbour” not “love your STRAIGHT neighbour”.
Gay couples can be and are good parents. Meanwhile, on a daily basis in the criminal courts I see the products of straight couples — often unplanned and unloved. The Church claims it’s best to have parents of both sexes, but it’s actually even better to have good parents.
Some claim 2,000 years of tradition cannot be wrong, but this ignores when the Church has been wrong — burning witches, stoning of bad children, astronomers tortured to death because they challenged the Christian view that the world was flat, or the shameful cover-up of child abuse.
Why is there a pick and mix attitude to the traditions of the Bible?
The Church has had to move with the times. It would no longer be acceptable to speak about blacks or women in the way the Church once did, so why gays?
And what about Muslims? Absolutely — just replace the above words Christian and Churches with Muslims and Mosques — and no it’s not the case that Churches/Mosques will be forced to carry out gay marriages.
Maybe Church leaders should go back to their Bible and consider the greatest human rights laws of all — “love thy neighbour, treat others as you would have them treat you”.