Activism and Politics > Discrimination
Why are churches against gay marriage?
tekla:
I think they are afraid that gay people might be really happy when they get married, and become a bad example for straight folk.
apple pie:
Well, there are people who agree with giving all the rights of marriage to homosexual couples but simply think the word "marriage" can't refer to a homosexual couple in meaning yet, and so they disagree with it being called marriage.
I myself think that until recently, the meaning of marriage does mean de facto that it's between a man and a woman, because that's how the vast majority of people perceived it to be for so many centuries. Meanings of words change over time though as people use words differently over time, and I think from the current trend, after a while it will acquire a changed widely-accepted meaning that includes homosexual couples.
Slanan:
--- Quote from: FullMoon19 on August 24, 2011, 05:11:07 pm ---it's no reason really. they use the bible as a manual for life, and that's most of it.
--- End quote ---
Not everyone interprets the Bible the same way - ironically in the New Testament, the most frequently cited "anti-gay" verses are in a section about not judging or a section about why it isn't necessary that a penis look a certain way (circumcision). How you can interpret a verse in a section about not judging to mean "We should judge" is beyond me, never mind the uncertainty about translation, the huge difference between now and Bible times, that homosexuality is not equal to transgender (not that I think it says anything against being gay either), and the grace expressed elsewhere in the Book. So don't lump us all into the hateful groups just because some of us believe the Bible.
The reason that I believe they interpret it that way is to seek justification for their hate and to feel "better" about themselves (they can feel "better" about being soldiers who are fighting against the great evil hordes who include any LGBT person, educated person, etc - they truly think they are the minority fighting a war against the majority and that God is going to help them win; It feels good to be an underdog that knows they are right, apparently). I also think a lot of churches and members just plain haven't questioned anything that comes from their own upbringing, particularly when reinforced from the pulpit.
That said, there are accepting churches. I wouldn't tell you to come to a specific denomination, not even the one my church is part of, nor even "LGBT affirming" denominations, as individual churches are sometimes hateful even when they are part of a non-hateful denomination. But you would certainly be welcome at the church I'm part of, in addition to many others. Unfortunately acceptance isn't easy to find in most churches, though.
Slanan:
--- Quote from: apple pie on August 25, 2011, 12:17:32 pm ---I myself think that until recently, the meaning of marriage does mean de facto that it's between a man and a woman, because that's how the vast majority of people perceived it to be for so many centuries. Meanings of words change over time though as people use words differently over time, and I think from the current trend, after a while it will acquire a changed widely-accepted meaning that includes homosexual couples.
--- End quote ---
It's also culturally dependent. Many cultures had no problem with gay marriage, transgendered individuals, etc. Even in recent history, many haven't. And marriage in the USA looks absolutely nothing like it did when Jesus walked around Israel, nor even what marriage looked like when the USA was founded (among other things, women can actually own possessions[1], can sign contracts, can file rape charges against a husband, can divorce for any reason, can inherit the husband's possessions, can marry regardless of their and their partner's race, can have citizenship independent of their husband's, can vote, can have "unnatural" sex with their husband[2], can't be entered into contracts at her husband's whim, receives her own paycheck[3], etc.) Nevermind that many of the founding colonies did not even register marriages legally, while others didn't see any point to a religious ceremony/service and kept it a 100% civil court issue. I don't know if there is another social institution that has undergone as much change as marriage.
[1] Well, at least outside of shared-property states. In shared-property states, it's a bit different, but the husband doesn't own it all like he used to.
[2] Excepting the invalid, but still-on-the-books laws in places like Virginia which make oral/anal sex between a man and a wife a potential felony! (sarcasm ahead) But at least they are showing those homosexuals that they are unwanted.
[3] In many places, if a wife did have a job outside of the home, it was the husband that was paid.
Janet_Girl:
I often wonder why they say that same sex marriage will destroy their marriages, unless one of them wants to leave and be in a same sex marriage.
Jack MCCoy, of Law and Order said it best. When asked if he supported same sex marriage, he said ...
--- Quote ---Let 'em marry. Why shouldn't they be as miserable as the rest of us?
--- End quote ---
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