Well, I won’t say pot calling the kettle black, but really, people saying no to gay marriage? The whole Proposition 8 thing in California has me livid. And it wasn’t just California. Gay rights lost everywhere it was on the ballot. So, I want to talk about marriage or rather the sanctity of marriage. And then the sanctity of true Christianity. And then the sanctity of human rights.
I read that a lot of people voted against same sex marriage because they are Christians or Evangelicals or born agains or something. I’m not sure I have a working definition of the latter two but suffice to say they had a vested interest in making sure the sacred institution of marriage was protected.
I have lots of questions for those voters. How many of you have been divorced and remarried once? Twice? Three or more times? In the Old Testament there are strict rules regarding divorce and remarriage. It is the Old Testament you’re so fond of quoting, right?
How about those of you that negotiate pre-nuptial agreements? Isn’t your marriage supposed to last forever or aren’t we following that part of the Bible this year? Is it the sanctity of marriage that you’re protecting or given the fact that fifty per cent of all marriages end in divorce, are you protecting your own butt?
How many of you “protectors” wrote your own wedding vows instead of speaking the traditional, sacred marriage vows. No “obey” for you. Even though sacred marriage views the husband as head of the household and the wife obedient to him.
When I started to think about it, it wasn’t about protecting at all. It can be reduced to the lowest common denominator. Exclusion versus inclusion. Odd fora country founded on inclusion, you know, “give me your tired, your poor, blah, blah, blah”. Odd but not a surprise. Emma Lazarus aside, Americans have always been more into excluding than including. We like the secret clubs like masons and Knights of Columbus. We love our country clubs that exclude people who are the wrong color or don’t make enough money. Bottom line, we love keeping people out and it doesn’t much matter why as long as we make it in.
Is that how we honor the sanctity of our Christianity? By excluding people? By constantly proclaiming to gay people that God finds them an abomination? By allowing preachers to stand in pulpits of every denomination and pompously stating that “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,”? I did some work. The Holiness Code are found in Leviticus, Chapters 17 – 26. That’s where we find the quote that people like to tout as their reason for not liking all things homosexual. Okay, but what Christian can explain why other parts of the Holiness Code do not regulate ethical practices today. Jesus hated the purity codes because they separated people. Deut.23:1-2, says “No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord. No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, down to the tenth generation.” Yikes! We keep people out of church because they were born of a forbidden marriage. Or do we disregard that section while allowing our fear to let us cling to other sections?WWJD?
Yeah, you heard me, what would Jesus do? We missed the mark, big time. Jesus didn’t exclude. He included all of us. He died for all of us and for all of our sins. Mine. Yours, too. God created each and every one of us and Jesus only asks for a couple of things. Love every one. Black, white, gay, straight, rich and poor. Overwhelmingly His message is love. And He wants us to spread the good news of His love. To everyone. Not to exclude people by putting them down and treating them worse than the lepers of his time were treated. Yeah, we have commandments. And a few more pronouncements about what we should do, but we are not to judge each other. That task is left to God.
I find nothing that says it is my right to pick for you or your right to pick for me. God loves it more when we choose for ourselves. He could have made us all perfect but He didn’t. He allowed us to make choices. That’s what makes it sweet when we choose his way.
So, the next time you decide to judge someone because of their sin, think about your own sin. The next time you have a chance to vote and you decide to make a group of people pay for their so-called sin, make sure you can pay for your sins. God doesn’t take plastic.
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