05.27.09
Prop 8 Verdict Finally In
I know I’m a tad late on this, but still wanted to post the verdict of the attempt to overturn Prop 8 here in California. The verdict actually came out yesterday, and I’m only able to update now. For those who may not know what Prop 8 was, it was a proposition that would require the state of California to recognize that marriage was only between a man and a woman. The effect of that would mean that gay marriages here in California would no longer be legal or valid. Along with the Presidential election in 2008, Californians voted on Prop 8, yes or no, to overturn gay marriages here. Well it passed in November, which had the gay community up in arms. They fought it even though it was clearly voted in by the majority. Yesterday the judge deemed that Prop 8 was legal, so now gay marriages are no longer legal or valid here in California. I’m sure many people know that California is known to be quite liberal, so this is a big surprise as well as a wake-up call that just because some people are liberal in some ways that doesn’t mean that they don’t have any Biblical values.
Last year in 2008, gay marriages became legal for about 5 months until it was voted out. I think about 18,000 gay marriages took place then. The recent ruling determined that those 18,000 marriages that took place during the window that gay marriages were legal are still considered legal and recognized by the state of California because Prop 8 did not stipulate anything about being retroactive and that there would be too much disruption to try to annul those marriages. In the meantime, and as expected, the gay community will continue to try to fight for gay marriages. The premise they seem to use is that banning gay marriages is discrimination like discriminating against color. I disagree. Being whatever color a person is is just being. Sodomy is an act, just like adultery, fornication, incest, etc. which are also technically illegal. It’s a behavior which is not the same as being born with brown or blue eyes. I have nothing against the “people,” it’s the “action” which is frowned upon.
I’ve heard that marriage is only a “word” that we should be willing to change for the sake of tolerance. But words have meanings. Marriages were not only between two people who loved each other. Marriages were often times arranged between two people who had never met. The purpose was for family lineage, and in order to perpetuate the family line, the couple had to be able to procreate. That meant that one of them had to be male and the other had to be female. This is an issue of “bloodline,” which a gay couple could never do. If they did in vitro fertilization, the egg or sperm would have to come from a third party. There is no potential for a gay couple to continue the family line without a third party and thus a break in bloodlineage. When God created Adam and Eve, He told them to be fruitful and multiply. Their marriage was thus sanctified.
So should we change the meaning of the word marriage to include same sex unions? Why? Why don’t they just use another word since it does not truly conform to what a real marriage is. Why hijack a word that already has a full meaning? I think there is an underlying purpose. I think it’s subversive to try to change the meaning of marriage to include same sex unions. Because what I think they are really trying to do is make same sex unions acceptable in the eyes of everyone else if not in the eyes God. Changing words may fool some people, but is not what makes things acceptable to God. At least I have no reason to believe that.
Then there is the argument that God made them gay. They can’t help what they are. I ask then why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? God destroyed them because He made them that way? God also destroyed many other evil people. Did God make them evil? Or did those people have the choice to be (act) evil? There are many temptations in the world. Just because we have lots of temptations doesn’t mean that it’s okay because God made me this way. Part of the fruit of the spirit is self-control. Some people are compulsive thieves, liars, cheats, adulterers, etc. Are we no longer responsible for any control? God just made us all this way so might as well let lawlessness abound?
If love is the only criteria for marriage, then is it then okay for pedophiles to marry? There are men who love kids. How about beastiality? Can people start marrying animals, too? There are men who love animals. Are there no lines for what’s appropriate?
Gay people here in California already have many rights and are already pretty well received in the community. Many hold very good jobs and are even highly respected in many circles. But somehow they want more. They seem to want to “change” “everyone’s” feelings and thoughts, not just other people’s actions. It’s like trying to force someone’s religion on you. I think if gay people were just trying to obtain rights “without” trying to manipulate other people’s view of the gay community, then they would find another word to describe their union, instead of trying to claim equality with heterosexual marriages. Because there is a difference between heterosexual marriages and gay unions just as there is definitely differences between men and women. Choosing a separate word would be more honest and “might” foster less opposition from the heterosexual crowd. I personally don’t think the Bible approves of same sex unions at all (see Romans 1:26*), but God will be the ultimate judge on that one. And certainly, I can’t force Biblical truths on people who don’t respect the Bible, anyway. It’s not my job to judge those outside of the faith. This has nothing to do with hating the “people,” but rather disapproving of the “actions,” of which there are many that are frowned upon, sodomy just being one of them. Biblically speaking, there are some actions that are just not acceptable.
Somehow I don’t think that the gay community is going to let Prop 8 continue to go unchallenged. So stay tuned to what’s next up their sleeves. We might have to wait until 2010 to see the next move.
Marlakins
*Romans 1:27-28 –”Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.”
