How can love harm us?
I am elderly now with my formative years being mainly in the 1930s and 1940s when I was raised by Baptist parents to believe that the central message of Jesus was to be loving and kind. I was taught that the life and words of Jesus were the guide on how I should behave, not because of any reward, but to be in harmony with God.
If we believe in this message of love, how can we possibly support the marriage amendment that denies an entire class of people the rights and benefits of an officially committed relationship? How can love harm us? Let us not fear love — let us allow others to share it too by defeating the marriage amendment that permits the government to block the union of those who deeply desire it. We should be kind as Jesus would want. The issue of gender should not blind us to the commandment of love.
Stephen B. Long
Brainerd
Comments (12)
Add commentThis Christian is Not Eating a buffet...
A wise woman once told me Christians are not at a buffet were one can pick and choose what you desire to believe...
The word of God is final Mr Long, HE said it is an abomination for a man to lie with a man, a woman to lie with a woman, no-one is saying we dont love anyone because they choose a life that is an abomination, however we do NOT condone it any more than a Christian would condone murder, theft, fornication ect....
Whats LOVE got to do with it....
Do you love the person that killed all the people at the theater in Colorado a few weeks ago, maybe murders should get the same rights you have, freedom....I DONT think so!
Quoting Bible Verses From Old Testament?
Using verses from the Old Testament to support your position? Levititicus? Really?
How many other Old Testament verses guide your life?
When you have some New Testament verses to support your position, repost, otherwise we do not care.
4TGOG...be careful with
4TGOG...be careful with cherry picking verses. It will bite you.
Do you also believe that if a woman's husband dies, then his brother must take her to bed and marry her even if she doesn't want to?
If you believe one, you have to believe the other.
Really....you list fornication on the same level with murder? Good think you aren't the one who sits in judgement because the fiery pits would be a very busy place.
How about let ye without sin cast the first stone? Pretty sure you have no more right to sit in judgement than anyone else.
Bond wants to change another definition
Unless you want to twist the definition of mother , father & wife I do believe this scripture pretty much says it all.
(Ephesians 5:31-32) As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
annnd then they have children, 2 men , nor 2 women can concieve their own child, cant be done...
You can twist the truth all you want but the majority wont be moved by your deception!
okey dokey, dont care who u pokey...
really dont care who u be pokey with, I'm pretty sure we all can guess...
However, I wont judge you, in fact I love ya with my whole heart, and ill keep ya in my prayers.
JB
Please tell us what the difference is between the O.T. and the N.T.
Are we to disregard the O.T. in its entirety? Can we be selective in what we choose to follow from each testament? If so, is there a guiding principle that tells us what we should and should not follow? Who gets to decide?
It would be so much easier if we could just strip the O.T. from our bibles and rely entorely on the N.T.
Nicely done, tripwire...
...I can't wait for JB's response.
Also, if you want some of Christ's own words on sexual behavior
You might want to try his Sermon on the Mount...
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, 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. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, 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."
[Hmmm, no discussion of homosexual lust, but some REAL condemnations of heterosexual lust. I guess that means homosexual lust is okay because Jesus doesn't address it.]
And on divorce...
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
Wrong 4TGOG....I've been very
Wrong 4TGOG....I've been very happily married to a member of the opposite gender for over 18 years. No desire to be homosexual, but I do have several friends who happen to be gay. Most of them I didn't know were gay when we started being friends. Found out later, and it really didn't make a difference to me. One of them had some serious health issues and his partner of many years couldn't even get into the ICU to be with him. "Family only" was the policy. They'd been together for about 10 years at that point. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now. They did all the appropriate ceremonies within their church and had a marriage as real as anyone else's, but what they didn't have was a license from the state of MN saying they were legally wed. Who am I, or who is anybody to deny their relationship because it is not the same one we would choose for ourselves?
Think of it this way.....say you are a man, and you have a man friend who wants to get married. Problem is, you don't like the woman. You think she's a *&^%%. You find her totally unattractive...repulsive even. You can't imagine why anyone would want to live with this woman or sleep with her. But your friend marries her anyway. Did you have any right to tell him who to fall in love with? Who to sleep with? Who to marry? Nope. You don't. You can tell him you don't agree with his choice. You can affirm to yourself that you would never choose to marry this woman if it were you. But in the end, you have absolutely NO say, nor does the state of MN, in who your man friend decides to marry. Why is that privilege extended to some and not others?
Don't like same sex marriage? Then don't be in one. But that doesn't give you the right to make the decision for everyone.
Thanks for not judging me. That's God's job.
And yes, homosexual couples can have biological children. There are many choices...surrogates, IA, sperm banks.... They can be as real as any other blended or adoptive family. In my family, my dad had a child and my mom had a child and then they got together and had 2 children. So out of 4 siblings, only 2 of us are fully related and 2 are not related to each other at all. But we all refer to each other as brothers and sisters with no designation as to "bloodline" (for lack of a better term). But we are as real as any family. Couples who adopt and have no blood relation are absolutely families as well. Homosexual couples can have the same dynamic. It doesn't take a direct bloodline to be successful at raising a family. Some kids grow in our bellies and some grow in our hearts.
Nice try Oakey Dokey-deception is unbecoming....
Okey Dokey, first off, your not married, marriage is 1 man, 1 woman. Thats the law.
Your happy, great.
Lets get this clear, dont care whom you love, you could love your cat and not get to go in the vet room to watch it get fixed.
I would think that if you had been with someone for 10 years and were not allowed in the ICU that there is ALOT more going on than your stating here.
Even I have been allowed in a room of an ICU patient when I am not a relative of that patient, your dramatic stance is a scare tactic and wont fly.
biological children - hmmmm i see your desperate to change that definition as well. So this law you want changed does not stop at this one point.
Dont continue to try and decieve the majority that you should have what does not belong to you.
The majority are not fooled by your tactics.
Wrong Okey
When one guy marries another guy or one woman marries another woman, and one of them is a government employee, state or federal or local, then it becomes our business because our taxes pay for the addirional health benefits of your spouse. Get rid of your nice free union health benefits and the story could be different. That's the bottom line for many people. Otherwise, why are you so damning about a piece of paper. Stay in your closet, nobody cares. Come out of your closet, DON'T TREAD ON ME.