Hate the sin but love the person...except when voting?

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The topic is whether or not activity towards prohibiting homosexual marriage is necessarily hatred-of-individuals driven.

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Over 200 posts and I still haven't seen a good argument (although I may have missed it) that voting against homosexual marriage by a Christian is driven by actual hatred of the individuals and not driven by the desire not to condone an act believed to be sinful or to "save" the person/society from "higher" judgment of an action perceived as sinful.Did a county ban toys in the kids meal due to hatred of children?

You're still missing the point of the thread. Hate the sin, not the sinner. It has nothing to do with rights. It has to do with what drives the activity.When a Christian votes against gay marriage, is it driven by hatred of the individuals or the perceived sin?I don't see that anyone has actually made a good argument for hatred of the individual.From your view it may be seen as hatred, but that doesn't mean hatred is actually the driving force behind the decision.

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Good motives can produce hateful acts.

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Exactly! So when the Christian is voting in such a way to prevent what some view as sin, they aren't hating the person supposedly. Some don't want to promote what they see as sinful.Is the result of the action a sin per the Bible?Homosexuals are fighting to get married and heterosexuals are starting to avoid marriage.

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Ocourse it is hatred of the individuals. You cannot do anything to stop "sin" tough you can punish the individual.

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The issue is whether the Christian actually hates the individual, not whether you think they hate the individual. Hate is a very strong emotion. Just because I disagree with what a person is doing, doesn't mean I hate them.Just because I like the guy who wants to start a liquor store in my community doesn't mean I'll vote to let him build the store or sell alcohol.

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When a hateful act is being committed, it's possible that one person might not be aware of hating the other person but I'm still going with "by their fruits ye shall know them". Hatred is as hatred does.

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Hate is a very strong emotion. As I pointed out to Frako, just because I disagree with someones actions, doesn't mean I hate them.I don't see not voting for gay marriage as a malicious act. It doesn't stop gays from living together. It leaves them in the same boat as any other nonmarried couple, although not by choice.No one is showing the hatred or the malicious intent behind any of this towards the individuals.

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Allowing homosexuals to marry is not promoting homosexuality. The ban on homosexual marriage is merely a punishment that serves no purpose other than to reduce the freedoms of others that they don't like. I wouldn't go as far as "hate", but it is serious when we take away people's rights based on prejudice.

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Show me that punishment is the intent. This isn't about how you view it, it is about how the Christian voting against it views it.The decision is supposedly based on religious beliefs.ABE:

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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

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Unalienable RightsMarriage doesn't really fall into unalienable rights. As I said in an earlier post, homosexual couples can still live together like other nonmarried couples.Edited by purpledawn, : ABE

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So they are not trying to stop the sin, even if they claim as much.

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Not condoning the sin. They consider marriage to be sacred. They attach it to their religion.This isn't about what America is as a nation, this is about Christians who vote against homosexual marriage based on religious beliefs.This isn't about whether their argument is valid or not. It is about whether they hate the individuals or the perceived sin.I added a bit to Message 280 if you interested.

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Whether or not voting against homosexual marriage is an expression of hate is irrelevant. The instruction is to hate the sin but love the sinner. Thus, the question becomes not whether it's hateful, but whether it's non-loving.

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The point of the topic though is whether it is hating the individual. Tough love doesn't seem to loving sometimes.By voting against the marriage are they committing a sin per the Bible?

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Significant arguments have been made in this thread, that I do not have an adequate response to, that voting against allowing homosexual marriage does not have to reflect hatred of homosexuality. However, not one single person has demonstrated to any degree how a loving society could deny those benefits to homosexuals, and the children that they raise, particularly since nobody has yet articulated a single adverse consequence to allowing homosexuals to marry, other than that it would make some homosexuals feel ooky.

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Not really the topic of the thread.

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Actually, I think you are wrong on this one. There is a portion of christians who see this country as a christian nation founded on christian law. Their religious views are melded in with their view of what America is. In "their" country gays should not marry because being gay is sinful and therefore they do not deserve the same rights as I do as a heterosexual.

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IMO, homosexuals would do better to change the way society applies those legalities.As I mentioned in another post, heterosexual couples are refraining from marriage more and more. They are running into the same issues as homosexual couples. They don't have those legal perks either.Maybe they need to come up with something new and better. Not just a new name for the same thing, but a new system. Make a new path.It isn't about whether their reasoning is right or wrong, but whether they themselves are committing a sin per their own beliefs when voting against gay marriage.

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I would say the topic is really about the hypocrisy of the position. Which has been clearly shown.

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Exactly, but only if one can show that they are committing a sin, per the Bible. I don't think they generally consider breaking secular laws as a sin.

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While marriage is not an inalienable right being held equal before the law is an inalienable right.

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Given the definition, I'm not sure about that. Inalienable is what we have regardless of laws, governments, beliefs, etc.I think homosexuals will get there some day in some fashion. The right combination will come up eventually.

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Not due to legal constraints. Also, I would like to see the data for this. More and more people are putting off marriage until later in life but I don't know of evidence that says that there are significantly more refraining from marriage altogether. I would really like to see that data.

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Mentioned the choice option the first time I said it. The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families