California to De-Legalize Gay Marriage

I just can't take anyone's criticism of gay marriage (specifically "destroying traditional values") seriously if they are an Anglican (Church of England) when their own church was created purely so Henry the Eighth could divorce.

@ treat02
Many Christians who are against same-sex marriage and use the Bible to condemn it are simply cherry picking their Bible. They will only be against things that won't negatively affect them in the end. If they were against divorce, it would negatively affect them. But same-sex marriage, for the most part, doesn't negatively affect them because they're not gay and they don't know anyone who is. It's cherry picking religion. It's believing only what suits them when it's convenient. In order words, they're just using their religion as a scapegoat to justify their hatred towards a certain group of people for no real reason.

Besides that, if they think one sin is bigger than the other, then they don't know their own religion too well. No sin is bigger than another, they're all supposed to be equal, except possibly blasphemy against the holy lord. All in all, there is often no logic behind people being against same-sex marriage for religious reasons or non-religious reasons.

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At the Pride Parade, the couples who sued Prop 8 were in it. It was really sweet. At one point, when Paul and Jeff came by, the parade had to be stopped momentarily so they could make sure Jeff was okay because he was in tears from the emotion of it all. The two couples received the loudest applause during the entire parade, and the parade was almost 6 hours long.

I just don't get it. I don't get how people can look at these things, can look at these couples that are so happy to be able to get married and still be against it. I really just don't understand it.

@ Airi.
I was making a wild guess when I said "sin bigger than another."

@ treat02
I know. ^^ I was just giving a reason why most "Christians" against same-sex marriage aren't against other things their Bible says they should be against. It's all just cherry picking and scapegoating.

@ Airi.
That's what I do. For example, I'm a Christian. I am pro-choice (mostly), and I think that it's ridiculous to not let people of the same sex marry.

@ treat02
I think there's a difference than having progressive beliefs and cherry picking a religion. I think your beliefs are just progressive, a lot of Christians have progressive viewpoints. It's a natural thing. As times change, religions get more progressive and modern. There are still religions that are not modern like Islam, the religion largely keeps its traditional roots and followers won't modernize their views. But with Christians like you, your views have been modernized as you grow and change. Like it should be.

Cherry picking a religion is believing on thing because a holy book says it but refusing to believe another because it doesn't suit them. For example, many anti-gay Christians will use Leviticus to condemn homosexuality. But Leviticus also says you should not eat shellfish nor wear clothing of mixed fabrics. But anti-gay Christians won't use Leviticus to condemn those because that wouldn't suit them, it would make life too hard for them and harm them. But using Leviticus to condemn homosexuality doesn't harm them, it just harms others. So it doesn't matter to them because it doesn't affect them like the shellfish and mixed clothing rules would. On a side point, I know Leviticus is not supposed to be listened to anymore, but I bring it up because certain Christians still use it to condemn homosexuality.

So I mean, there's a big difference between have modern and progressive views and cherry picking a religion. There's nothing wrong with having modern views when it comes to religion, it's better than having archaic views in fact. But there is something wrong with cherry picking a religion and then using your religion to hurt people, at least in my opinion.

You guys have no idea how much this thread has scared the crap out of me ever since California legalized gay marriage

@ I feel insane
Don't worry, same-sex marriage is here to stay this time. With the Supreme Court refusing to touch Prop 8 anymore, how liberal California courts are, and the fact that the majority of Californians are in support of same-sex marriage now, Prop 8 has almost no chance of being revived. The proponents still have something like 20 days to appeal to a district court, but the chances of their appeal being accepted is very low. It's dead and gone for good this time.

Airi.:

@ treat02
But with Christians like you, your views have been modernized as you grow and change. Like it should be.

Thank you!
But sometimes I don't understand some Christian points of view. Sometimes they make NO sense whatsoever to me. As you mentioned selfishness, I would think it's being pretty selfish to say they can't marry.
My opinion, on that one.

Edited by moderator

I honestly don't think that gays should marry. It says so in the bible.

@ judgingyoulol
So you think people who don't follow your faith should be forced to obey it? Can we do the same thing to you and not let you eat pork or kill you for premarital sex?

Also the bible says you can't get tattoo, have sex on your period, and you must marry the man who rapes you. Would you like to follow those rules, too?

@ dru is taken apart.
That's different.

@ judgingyoulol
Why?

@ judgingyoulol
How is it any different? Honestly, it's not. You're picking and choosing what you feel people should follow, which also ignores the fact that not everyone believes in the same thing as you. If I remember correctly, the bible says something about how we shouldn't eat shellfish, should we follow that too? The bible is the bible, and you can't pick and choose "rules", especially when they have no negative impact on you in the end.

I Don't know if I'm a little late, but I saw this and felt like it needed to be shared with you. It was written by a pastor of a church in Texas (I know!) and it restored some of my hope that the church doesn't need to be a hate-filled place.
Ten things I wish the Church Knew About Homosexuality:
1. If Jesus did not mention a subject, it cannot be essential to his teachings.
2. You are not being persecuted when prevented from persecuting others.
3. Truth isn't like wine that get's better with age. It's more like manna you must recognize wherever you are and whoever you are with.
4.You cannot call it "special rights" when someone asks for the same rights you have.
5. It is no longer your personal religious view if you're bothering someone else.
6. Marriage is a CIVIL ceremony, which means it is a CIVIL right.
7. If how someone stimulates the pubic nerve has become the needle in your moral compass, you are the one who is lost.
8. To condemn homosexuality, you must use parts of the Bible you don't yourself obey. Anyone who obeyed every part of Leviticus would be rightly put in prison.
9. If we do not do the right thing in our day, our grandchildren will look at us with the same embarrassment we look at racist grandparents.
10. When Jesus forbade judging, that included you.
*Jim Rigby.

Now isn't that just beauuuuuutiful?

Our founding fathers should have put an asterisk after the word 'equal' in the Declaration of Independence.

That's unfortunate. But only by law are they divorcing. They can still live together. And blaming just the Christian faith for the problems isn't fair. I know my religion isn't perfect, but it has done a lot of good. The basic rules of society (don't steal, cheat, love and help each other, ect) stemmed from the Christiab faith.

@ January Rose
Actually, most of those laws (with the exception of love and help each other which aren't actually laws) and 'rules' of society, did not come from the bible, but rather from the code of Hammurabi, which dates back to at least 1754 BC. From what I can tell, even the torah only dates back to roughly 625 BC. In fact, while "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" is often credited to the bible, it was actually first found in the babylonian code that had actually nothing to do with religion whatsoever.

@ CallusedSilk
Cool, I didn't know that. All I know is that Canada was founded by the British and the Fench. One was Christian and other other Catholic. The First Nations were there as well, but they believed in a God or "Creator" as well. The 2 Christian groups' faith helped and contributed to the laws we all have to follow in Canada.