God makes it clear that the marital structure He created us for is that of one man and one woman.
He makes it clear that marriage of a man and a woman was the arrangement he created for a man and a woman who want to have sex with each other, yes. But to say that God's plan doesn't include gay people having sex with each other, or gay people not marrying each other, is to read way too much into the text.
However, if there were other marital structures equal to that of man/woman, aren't you pretty sure that it would have been mentioned at least once in one form or another?
Like, maybe, one man and two wives?
quote:
Genesis 4:19
And Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
Or a man and a man?
quote:
1 Samuel 20:17
And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
(Now before you accuse me of misinterpreting or taking out of context, follow up with 1 Samuel 20:26;
Yet Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, "Something has befallen him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean." Shoudn't take a genius here to figure it out, right?)
All scripture aside, homosexuality is an unhealthy lifestyle and I would love people out of it regardless.
So is smoking. But there's no law that says you can't do it at all. There's no law that says two smokers can't marry. And smokers get as many rights as anybody else - including the most contentious one; access to healthcare.
Like any sex, homosexual sex has its risks, but like straight sex they can be managed. And if straight sex is "safer" within marriage, it stands to reason that gay sex will be too. So again your argument is circular: "Gays can't marry because their sex isn't safe. Gay sex isn't safe because they can't get married."
I wonder why Jesus was never asked about man/man or woman/woman divorce?
I wonder why Jesus wasn't asked how to program a VCR? Oh, right. Maybe because those weren't issues at the time? At the time, marriage was a property arrangement, clearly demonstrated by Levitical law. "Gay marriage" didn't make sense, because if a man wanted to own a man like he owned a woman, they'd call that a "slave."
Well, now we don't have slavery, and marriage is no longer a property arrangement but a committment of love between two people. (How come Christians don't bitch about
that redefinition?) As such it now applies to persons of any sexual orientation.
The 10 Commandments are interesting because not only do they tell us not to commit adultery(which I'm sure we all have a clear understanding of what that is),
Yeah, not cheating on your wife. Explain how this is applicable to gay people? Remember, lesbians are both wives, and gay men don't have wives. Oh, and please support it with Biblical citations, if you would.
but the last commandment specifically tells us not to covet our neighbor's WIFE. Seems like wife is singled out pretty clearly.
Did you read the commandment? Because it doesn't look like you did.
quote:
Deuteronomy 5:21
"'Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.'
Wife isn't singled out at all. Wives are listed as part of a list of
property not to be coveted.
Remember that the Bible transcends time with it's teaching
Ah, yes. Such transcendant teachings as this:
quote:
Leviticus 19:19
You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff.
Quick, check your tags. Cotton/Rayon blend? Oops, it's hell for you.
Oo, here's another timeless teaching.
quote:
1 Timothy 2:12
I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent.
Did you have woman teachers growing up? You know, the National Security Advisor is a woman, last I checked. So one of two things is true: your tax dollars are paying the salary of an advisor who can't talk to the president nor any man in power; or your tax dollars pay the salary of a harlot flaunting God's law. Boy, it sucks to be you, huh?
This is really one for the ages:
quote:
Leviticus 25:44
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round about you.
Do Canada and Mexico know they're supposed to be selling us slaves? Moreover don't you think the INS is opposing God's law when they try to restrict immigration?
The point here is that the Bible, like all literature, breathes and expands with time. The Bible expanded to consider women as full persons. The Bible expanded to consider slavery wrong. The Bible will expand to consider loving homosexual relationships as valid as any other, in time.
Given the time period it was written
Given the time period in which
we're reading it, and the example of Johnathan and David, it's reasonable to conclude that God doesn't have a problem when people of any gender love one another and express that sexually with a bond of mature committment.
™ Version 4.2
