I can't think of an appropriate title

There has been lots of talk about Christians and The Church in general in the “atmosphere” in the last few weeks. Just about everyone has heard of the growing debate about same-sex marriage. There are opponents and proponents which will always be the case because we are free thinking humans and we base our decisions on experience, emotions and a myriad of other complex factors. Christians have been taking a lot of heat for their perceived intolerance and bigotry and …yeah, you get the point. I am not sure how to broach the subject without being lump in with the rest my brothers and sisters in Christ.

 In order to understand why Christians believe this you need to understand Christianity and have some knowledge of the Bible. If you have no idea what’s in there, then I don’t think that it’s fair to judge-at least not objectively (that sounds weird but bare with me). We Christians believe that the Bible was inspired by the creator of the universe and written by men to use as a history book and life manual. I’ve heard it described as God’s love letter to His Church. This love letter has many unpleasantries and many question its authenticity. I’m not going to get into all of that. What I would like to mention is why I think some Christians (as Christianity is a spectral religion) hold the beliefs that they do by stating a simple fundamental fact that I’ve come to learn: we were created by God for HIS glory and pleasure. How does that translate into what we see today? Well for one, we have developed into a culture which embraces and promotes self exaltation which is in direct contrast to what is taught in scripture. We cheer for Olympic athletes who can accomplish great feats of strength, speed and endurance and reward them for it. They are given endorsements worth millions to promote products based on our idolatry of them and their skills. We as a people see nothing wrong with it because we were raised in the culture and we basically know nothing else. We are raised to be the smartest in our class, the fastest on the track, the most fun-loving in our group of friend. We thrive on being loved and exalted by those around us. Social networking adds other dimensions- we derive our status from how popular we are on FB, how many followers we have on the T, how many times we get retweeted etc. Essentially we thrive on being celebrated, it’s a status symbol and we place our worth of ourselves in what others think of us. We live our lives (me included) trying to make ourselves happy. We buy cute shoes so that we can get complimented. We buy the latest electronics so that we feel superior to the guy with the outdated gadget. I could go on but you should get the gist by now.

I believe (don’t quote me since this is my interpretation) that pursuing relationships falls in with our need for validation. We need someone to love us, tell us we’re beautiful, and wipe our tears. In biblical times and even today in some countries, people don’t get married for the reasons that the we in western world do. In some cases, you don’t have a choice in who you marry; it’s about duty and obedience. Christians have adapted marriage differently but with undertones of these “prehistoric” reasons.

So how does this mish-mash that I’ve described mean anything? Well, pursuing relationships is one way which we seek to please ourselves. Many people don’t give a second thought to God when choosing a partner. Christianity teaches that your marriage should honor God first (don’t ask me about Christian divorce. If your marriage honoring God should mean that you will honor each other I don’t understand why Christian marriages end up in divorce but they do). In order for your marriage to honor God, it has to mimic the first marriage described and created by God himself-Adam and Eve. One man One woman. (Modern Christians completely ignore the cases of Polygamy described and in some cases Okayed by God (King David for one who God loved). In the Church, a Christian can’t marry a non-Christian and even within Christianity you can’t or shouldn’t marry outside your denomination since differences in belief are sure to lead to discord.

So how does that affect those who identify as LGBT among us? Well for one two men or two women can never honor God. The Bible (English translations) makes specific references about homosexuality being an abomination. In line with our selfish nature, seeking a relationship with someone of the same gender may make us happy but we were not created to make ourselves happy.

The chief end of man is to glorify God. So if the chief end of man is to glorify God we are to deny ourselves anything which though it would make us happy, would displease God. That’s it. It is actually a pretty simple concept but one which we have great difficulty accepting (me included) because of innate nature to please ourselves first.

Questions I’ve asked myself:

Does the marriage of atheists honor God even though they are opposite in gender?

What is the definition of marriage in this society? Is it sacred joining together of two people who love God and each other (as defined by The Church) or a civil ceremony where a document confers exclusive legal rights to the parties involved.

If it is the first then, off course we can’t have same sex marriage but if it the second, then why not?

Would I prefer for a child in the “system” to remain in the system and be abused and neglected than adopted into a home with two people who love each other who happen to share the same genitalia?

Is homosexuality genetic? If it is I’d be better to reconcile it. Is it my business to understand it?