Amendment One

This post is all about Amendment One. I've debated writing on Amendment One for a while now. But I haven't done it because I have friends who are bi or gay, and by no means to I wish to hurt them, or cause an argument with them... or even between my friends who are straight, but supportive of gays.... or even between straight friends who are utterly opposed to gay marriages.
So before I write anything, you should know (and probably have already guessed) I believe that the Bible is the word of God. I believe that Jesus is the son of one God, who exists in three persons. (Confused? We can talk about it later.) My point is, is that by societies standards I'm one of those "freaky cultish Christian folks", which if you read my blog for any length of time, you could figure out pretty quickly.

Now realize that as I write this, I generally don't state my beliefs right off the bat, I want to question others about what they think and acknowledge as truth, and generally just want to make people think. But because this is such a hot button issue, I decided it's important that you know where I stand.

Secondly, I want to put in another thing before I write any further, I do not wish to shove my beliefs down someone's throat...in fact, the Bible discourages it. As a Christian, my duty is to share with you and everyone else I meet or write to, that Jesus died to save your soul. If you think it's ridiculous and that I'm crazy, so be it... but you may not wish to be around me, because what Jesus did for me affected me so much that I can't help talking about it. (THAT is biblical, but 'shoving religion down throats' is nowhere in the Bible...) If you consider me talking all the time about someone I love "shoving religion" then I suggest you don't read any further.

 

So what about gay marriage? Because I have stated before that I am a believer in Christ, then you can assume that my standard are from the scriptures, regardless of what the constitution says. 

So does the Bible actually prohibit being gay? 

Many Christians say it does not, they will say that is only an "Old Testament" belief, and that Jesus would have supported gay marriage because he demands we should; "love your neighbors as yourself" (Matthew 22:39) 

But I would disagree... because earlier in the same book of the Bible, Jesus talks about divorce. In the passage he says:

"Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh'?" (Matthew 19:4-5)

Granted, this passage could be said to be 'ripping out of context' so let's take the idea even further. In Romans Paul talks about people who do not accept Jesus as the Son of God. He talks about the different things that God considers sin... well, I'll just let you read it: (and if you are not sure about what I'm writing I encourage you to read the whole passage and make sure I'm not warping God's Word)

"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. .... Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them." (Romans 1:26-27&32)

If you are a still reading this, then I can safely assume you're either very angry or heartily applauding... but I'm not done yet.

You can see now, why so many Christian's are saying that this is a bad thing... if you even "give approval" by this passage, then you're in huge trouble. But Paul wasn't finished writing:

"Therefore you have no excuses, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.(Romans 2:1-3)

Now my fellow Christian's are saying "Woah, woah, woah my dear friend, I am in no way homosexual!!" and my gay friends are shouting "You know *that's* right!!!" but hold the fort.....

I think Amendment One is good. (because I have the assumption that there are moral absolutes, if you don't... then you're claiming that I'm absolutely wrong... and that would be an absolute, but that's a different debate altogether.) Marriage is defined in the scriptures as between one man and one woman, and I would say that it needs to stay that way....but am I judging? Here's where things get a little interesting... (and I'll get back to this, I promise!!)

Amendment One should be passed, in my opinion. But this is based on a religious belief and according to America, we should have the freedom to our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. (As well as a generally held belief that wasn't in the original constitution that we should have a separation of church and state.) This is a huge can of worms, and I'm not eloquent enough to deal with all the issues at once. I realize that when you are finished reading this I will probably have a lot of nasty comments to dig through... and that's okay.

We in America are allowed to have freedom, but we believe that some things are inherently wrong. Murder would be one of those things as well as child abuse. Casey Anthony is a huge proof of that. But we aren't all 100% agreed on where we get those things we call values. But in America today, we are not built upon a church-government.
So yes, if the only basis for Amendment One is religion, then *technically* the government can't pass it. But here's the wrench that's thrown into the mix: We're ruled by the people, not the government...

And technically we have the right to amend the constitution if we believe it has put too much power into the governments hands (instead of the peoples) or if we feel that it doesn't control us enough. So the reality is that when it comes to Amendment One, the people have the right to decide whether it goes into practice or not. Where the beliefs are that factor into one's opinion has nothing to do with whether it can be counted as a valid vote.

So now that we have that out of the way, I want to go back to my previous question:

Is this a judgmental attitude towards bisexual and homosexual people? 

Yes, because in the Scriptures it states that if I approve of these things, then it's basically the same as doing them and God doesn't approve of those things. But God also says we shouldn't judge... so where in the world should we stand on this one?? Let's re-read that passage again: 

"Therefore you have no excuses, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.(Romans 2:1-3)

Practice the very same things. Well then we're in the clear right? As long as I'm not gay, then I don't need to fear. God doesn't say, "Thou shalt not judge". He does say we need to be careful about condemning people, that's his job. But the real truth is, God holds every sin equal. In fact, in James it says:  

"For whoever keeps the whole law, but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. " (James 2:10)

 So me, not respecting food the way I should, or me, not respecting my parents, telling crude jokes, or using inappropriate language... is just as bad as homosexuality, and in the presence before a Holy God, I fall completely short. If I fail in even just one of the commandments, then I'm going to hell. Homosexuality is a serious sin, but so is ignoring any of God's other demands on our lives. So why are we so quick to point out a brother's sin, when we won't deal with our own.

Homosexuality is wrong. Amendment One should be passed, but I also think it should be "illegal" to talk back to one's parents. But the truth is that we aren't in a Christian nation, and God didn't ask us to make one. He told us to make disciples, and watch and wait for Jesus to come back and make the perfect world. So while we're here, we do what we can. Amendment One should be passed.

But if you're still reading after all of this, and you disagree (or even do agree) with me, I want to point out a much larger truth here: (Because Paul also talks about not getting into frivolous arguments "Have nothing to do with foolish ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels" (2 Timothy 2:23)

If all religions are the same, and we're all just trying to earn our way to God, then why would someone pick this religion.  How in the world would we ever "get" to God? Why would we want to? This God considers gossiping the same thing as homosexuality, which to him is the same thing as murder.

With such a terrible demand on ourselves, how could we ever desire or even achieve a relationship with this God??? He's so untouchable. If I even use the Lord's name in vain, I'm going to hell. If I talk back to my parents even once. I'm kicked out of heaven. With such a high demand, I can never balance out all the good things I do with all my bad things. In fact, no one can make it.

What an unloving God. What a wrathful, unloving God. So why even try?

But here's the thing:
We don't have to earn our way to heaven!!!!!

God not only is a Holy, "untouchable" God, but he also loves us to no end. He'd do whatever it would take to be with us. But because God is perfect, he can't be around imperfect people...that would make him imperfect and he would then cease to be God (which is why there's such a huge demand on us through 'laws'). But he also knew we were incapable of being perfect because we're human.Someone needed to pay the penalty of our imperfectness, and somehow make us righteous. So he actually lived and died for us. He came to earth as a man, fully God, and fully human. He lived the perfect life that he knew we couldn't. Then he died so that the penalty of sin (sin is just our imperfectness) would be paid off. Now through Jesus' death are we made perfect, but through his resurrection we can be with this God (who loves us!!!!!) for forever.

He did all the work for us. Gay people, Bi people, Straight people. He did it all for us.

So what does it all mean??

We're perfect! Once you accept it and believe it as truth--- yeah, God *actually* did that. It should change every part of you!!
Repent. Believe. It's not that hard. Begin to be changed by this God. Begin to see your gossip as it is. Begin to see sin in it's reality--- and amazingly, you'll realize you're just as bad off as the next guy. Fight your sins together as a body of believers. Love the people who don't know this truth, and are acting the only way they know how. Show them what Jesus has done, and together fight your sin because of the amazing sacrifice God gave you.
"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22)