Today, in the year 2012, society is more accepting of all
colours, creeds, genders and orientations than ever before. And it is the
latter that I am going to talk about in this special blog post, inspired by a
huge debate that I saw on Facebook.
Currently, in the United Kingdom, homosexuals do not have the right to get married. They have the right to enter a civil partnership with one another, but that is how their status must remain: legally, a man cannot be married to another man, a woman married to another woman. This also makes all civil partnerships void of certain things, such as tax benefits. However, the government recently began a 12-week consultation period into the possibility of gay marriages in England and Wales, and I for one fully support the notion and will be most disappointed if it is rejected. Why? Well read on…
Currently, in the United Kingdom, homosexuals do not have the right to get married. They have the right to enter a civil partnership with one another, but that is how their status must remain: legally, a man cannot be married to another man, a woman married to another woman. This also makes all civil partnerships void of certain things, such as tax benefits. However, the government recently began a 12-week consultation period into the possibility of gay marriages in England and Wales, and I for one fully support the notion and will be most disappointed if it is rejected. Why? Well read on…
Firstly, I believe that, as long as two people are in love
with one another and wish to be together for the rest of their lives then they
should be allowed to marry, regardless of whether they are man and woman, man
and man or woman and woman. I really don’t think it’s right that there should
be double standards on this sort of thing. We as humans cannot help which sex
we fancy or who we fall in love with, and the law should not hinder that in any
way.
Secondly, and the big debate at the heart of this, is the
religious standings on the subject. We are a predominantly Christian nation,
there are more Christians in this country than any other religion, and
understandably so the Church of England has it’s own views and standing on the
matter. However, as a Christian myself who has grown up in this society, I
would like to throw my two cents into the mixing pot and if this is heard, then
brilliant.
People will draw on Leviticus 20:13 from the Bible which
states:
“If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have
done a disgusting thing, and both shall be put to death.”
Now, I cannot change what is written, but I can challenge
it, and I do so thus: the verse says quite clearly that men cannot have sex
with other men. But that only condemns the PRACTICE of gay sex. It does not
condemn the ORIENTATION. Furthermore, the Bible should be taken as a set of guidelines
on life, not taken as word-for-word literal. If you begin to do that, you end
up getting the wrong end of the stick. As such, each teaching needs to be
applied in as modern a context as possible. And in a world where gays and
lesbians have more rights than ever, I think that the Church should not condemn
gay sex any longer, but merely frown upon it for a moment and then let it go.
Sex is a wonderful thing, the Bible teaches that it cements a relationship
together and bring a couple closer, and if you are in a healthy relationship
that has a wonderful sex life, I do not see any reason why you should be seen
as inferior based solely on the gender of the person you happen to be sleeping
with. In my opinion, the Church needs to kick itself into the 21st
Century and welcome all orientations through its doors and teach every one the
word of God, and if they wish to be married then so be it.
Following on from this is something very interesting I came
across on the internet. Listed below are 11 of the 14 ‘prohibited marriages’
that the Bible lays out. The three missing cause debates in their own right,
and I would rather keep on topic at this point:
- With father or mother.
- With one's sister or half-sister.
- With one's mother-in-law.
- With a grandchild.
- With one's aunt.
- With one's uncle or uncle's wife.
- With one's daughter-in-law.
- With your brother's wife.
- With a woman and her daughter or her grand daughter.
- With two women who are sisters.
- With thy neighbour's wife.
Now, I was looking down that list and what do I notice?
That’s right; nowhere in that list (nor in the three omitted) does it say that
a ‘prohibited’ marriage is one between members of the same sex. I admit that
the Bible does not say people of the same sex CAN marry, but it also does not
say they CAN’T. As a result, I see no full argument for why the Church should not
allow gay marriages and will be very hurt if this legislation is not passed in
three month’s time.
To summarise quickly: In my view, all couples should be
allowed the chance to marry, regardless of orientation – the only rule should
be that they will be committed to one another for life. The Church should not
be stalling on this; they should have revised their teachings long ago and
moved forward. If I were the pastor of a church, I would welcome everyone
through my doors and treat them as equals, for Jesus did not practice any form
of elitism.
Please, feel free to leave comments below and I will reply
to them as soon as possible.
Over and out.
xx
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