Personally, I don't think the Gov't should be regulating marriage. Marriage is a binding agreement between two consenting people, not two people plus the gov't, and the church (in many cases). Marrriage is just another control that the gov't and church has over people.
I read some interesting conflicting thoughts online from
www.faithfacts.org, which sides against gay marriage.
The article could have stopped after the first two paragraphs, and served great purpose, but instead, the writer continued, and began contradicting the opening two paragraphs. The writer also quotes another author in the article, who states that homosexuality will prevent procreation. LOL! Right -- if everyone was homosexual, that might be the case, but knowing about the animal world, I seriously doubt even that. Anywho, if you are looking to better understand people's religious reasons against homosexuality, you will find the article ... (???) "interesting."
The article begins:
Christians, especially, are sensitive to the issue of
fairness. Most sincere Christians have the biblical attitude that we are all sinners and we all have our struggles, straight or gay. We are each one, not just a little bit sinful on the edges?we are deeply depraved, with sin touching every aspect of our being. So in terms of our sinful nature, we are all in this together. Thus, Christians recognize that people in a homosexual lifestyle are people, made in the image of God, who should be treated fairly by all.
Admittedly, it is not a perfect world and some may have an "us versus them" mentality which is decidedly unbiblical and wrong. To the extent that some people, in the name of Christianity, have fostered a hateful attitude toward any group of people, we sincerely apologize.
While it is very important to strive for fairness for everyone, it is equally important to consider an important concept: While
all people are created equal, not all ideas or behaviors are equal. There is, in fact, a
hierarchy of ideas. This is intuitively obvious, as well as biblically obvious. And it is the place at which we must begin. It is the key statement that must be made in this debate.
In the area of human sexuality, for example, adultery is not morally equivalent to fidelity. Prostitution is not morally equivalent to sex with love. Fornication is not morally equivalent to the virtue of chastity....
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I'll leave you with a religious quote from the Bible (New International Version -- NoHall's favorite). The passage is on the topic of adultery, but it is simply enough to show that in the eyes of Jesus, we don't have to look further than the reflection in the mirror to find sin. I don't remember reading passages in the Bible which say that one sin is worse than others.
Matthew 5:27-30
27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.