JL, writer of the local blog, Pretension Deficit, asked an important question in the comments section of another post. I want to follow up on that question and ask it of those who oppose gay marriage. I am very interested in how those conservative bloggers view this issue. Here is the question, in my own words:
Jesus spoke explicitly about divorce, condemning it except in cases of fornication. Therefore divorce, and especially remarriage is a sin, unless the spouse has cheated. However, our courts routinely allow couples to divorce for irreconcilable difference. People get divorced willy-nilly these days. I’ve heard the statistic of 50% used to describe the number of failed marriages. I don’t know if that stat is accurate, but it is bantered around a lot.
Considering that issue directly affects the sanctity of marriage, and is eroding our society, why does the anti-gay marriage camp not condemn the re-marriage of individuals (except in the cases of fornication) and advocate for a constitutional amendment banning re-marriage and the adoption of children by such immoral and sinful people?
It is an issue that is dealt with in the New Testament, spoken about by Jesus himself, and has significantly more scriptures applied to it than homosexuality. A search of MyBibleScripture.com netted 25 results for divorce in the Old and New Testament. To my knowledge, and after a quick search, I could find no scriptures where Jesus, himself, spoke about homosexuality.
Where is the outcry? Where is the hate for the sin but love for the sinner? Where is the strong push for a constitutional amendment to protect the sanctity of marriage? Do the bloggers, who so readily commented on my last gay marriage blog post, believe that we should ban re-marriage?
Scriptures to consider:
Matthew 19:9 (The exact words of Jesus)
“And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” (KJV)
Luke 16:18 (The exact words of Jesus)
“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” (KJV)
Jesus spoke explicitly about divorce, condemning it except in cases of fornication. Therefore divorce, and especially remarriage is a sin, unless the spouse has cheated. However, our courts routinely allow couples to divorce for irreconcilable difference. People get divorced willy-nilly these days. I’ve heard the statistic of 50% used to describe the number of failed marriages. I don’t know if that stat is accurate, but it is bantered around a lot.
Considering that issue directly affects the sanctity of marriage, and is eroding our society, why does the anti-gay marriage camp not condemn the re-marriage of individuals (except in the cases of fornication) and advocate for a constitutional amendment banning re-marriage and the adoption of children by such immoral and sinful people?
It is an issue that is dealt with in the New Testament, spoken about by Jesus himself, and has significantly more scriptures applied to it than homosexuality. A search of MyBibleScripture.com netted 25 results for divorce in the Old and New Testament. To my knowledge, and after a quick search, I could find no scriptures where Jesus, himself, spoke about homosexuality.
Where is the outcry? Where is the hate for the sin but love for the sinner? Where is the strong push for a constitutional amendment to protect the sanctity of marriage? Do the bloggers, who so readily commented on my last gay marriage blog post, believe that we should ban re-marriage?
Scriptures to consider:
Matthew 19:9 (The exact words of Jesus)
“And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” (KJV)
Luke 16:18 (The exact words of Jesus)
“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” (KJV)
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5 comments:
Yes, this is highlighting exactly how fruitless it is to try to reform the morality of our culture through legislation. I believe very strongly that our culture is falling apart at the seams and that there should be a great and terrible outcry against it. HOWEVER, I do not think that Legislation is a vehicle for reformation. It is within the hearts and minds of people that reform needs to take place. Creating laws that outlaw personal immorality that do not protect individual citizens from others is not only ineffective and unconstitutional, it is actually immoral.
This is a very significant issue, and I feel that the majority of the partisans involved from the "left" and the "right" are wrong on this issue.
Christian Republicans are right that the moral decay we see is very significant, and Liberal Democrats are right that we cannot control people through laws, but often they try to lump the two together. It is absolutely incorrect that morality is equivalent to the law. Cultural decay is not because of law decay, and conversely moral decay is not a justified end of increasing freedom.
Government education is where all this crosses and becomes a firestorm. The Government is taking money by force of law (by guns remember), and the Government is defining for us what reality is through the curriculum. The largest battle should be diffused by removing government. We must have freedom in education if we are to move past this issue.
It is not necessary to choose only between Nero and Constantine! We can choose freedom for all individuals.
-- Very minor funny note, I assume you're not a KJV only person, and realize that the KJV is a Translation of Jesus' exact words :)
Jack, you asked that question in much better words than I could ever hope to use! Bless you!
Great post Jeremy.
Jack: I've been searching for where in the New Testament Jesus talked about homosexuality as well and have come up with nada. I believe it was Jason (sorry if I'm wrong, Jason) who suggested in a comment that we should go be the New, and not Old, Testament law. If someone can point out where Jesus talked about it, I am genuinely interested in knowing.
Hmm, so...
How about a woman puttething away her husband? Is that ever forbidden and/or condoned?
Are we to assume that divorce should be legal for the wife at all times, but only in the cited examples for the husband?
Does this mean that lesbians who are married can divorce when they'd like, but homosexual males have to stick to the rules set forth here? Or does that go back to the puttething away of a husband, for which there are no rules?
The answer to these questions and many others next week, on "As Fat Jack's Bible Turns."
On a less sarcastic, note...
Of course most people who use the Bible to restrict the rights of others use it selectively at best. What is interesting, is that many of them do know the Bible well enough to know the other rules, yet somehow convince themselves that there is some kind of a difference there.
I agree with much of what Jeremy says. The point of law should be to protect the rights of the people, not to enforce morality.
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