Thursday, October 23, 2008

| yes/no? |

I've been hearing a lot about this prop 8 business. I doubt there's been a day in the past at least 8 days that I haven't either spoken about it. I've also found myself being asked by other people to even explain why a Christian would want to vote for it, instead of against it. Here's how I look at things... 


Here is the entirety of the content of Prop 8, according to the california voter information guide website:
"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

So this is what has people up in arms?! The Christian folk are all ready to straight up jump in people's faces and say, this is a huge abomination! I've seen more Christian people become mobilized around this particular proposition, than I've seen Christian people be willing to step out of their comfort zones and have a conversation with a non-Christian about their faith. It's so easy to get behind this thing, and get other people to vote yes on something, because this shows people who are living differently than what we believe is right, that we can take a stand for something. Apparently salvation of people's souls takes a back seat to the ways that we can show them our convictions for attempting to mess with marriage. (we'll show them, won't we?)

This is a great opportunity for the non-Christians and the homosexual community to show the world just how horrible we Christians and conservatives really can be. We're so bent on making them suffer, that we would fight as hard as we could, in order to strip them of basic human rights, guaranteed by the constitution. We don't want them to be anything like us, so we're denying them their human rights as citizens of California! How dare us....

I, for one, will be voting yes on proposition 8. If God wanted there to be marriage between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, I think there would've been mention about it in the Bible. As it is, the only mention about those situations is that sex amongst someone of the same gender is something that is an abomination. Based on that, I would have to be against any law that was encouraging the following of a lifestyle that I knew was not traditional, nor could be seen as delighting in the eyes of Jesus. It's not that I'm hating on those people who are homosexual and want to have families. I'm am scared of the potential personal problem that I would have with the fact that I voted to ok gay marriage in California. 

Now, people would say to me. How is that fair? How are you showing Christian love by not being able/willing to give them the rights that tradionally married couples have. How are we making things equal with oppurtunities for all? This country was based on the idea of equality for everyone here right? How is it that God is present in the world, and doesn't allow for the openness to welcome others' lifestyle? How is it that He made homosexuals the way they are, but does not accept them as He made them?

My pastor had a great sermon this past week. It was about fairness vs. justice. 

fairness: opportunities available to everyone, provided that they all are starting from the same level, with the same circumstances, handicaps, and abilities. fairness is everyone getting the same thing.

justice: the administering of deserved punishments and rewards. Justice is everyone getting what is deserved.

The world does not care about fairness or justice. The world cares about convenience. Somtimes it is more convenient to be fair in a certain situation, sometimes it becomes convenient for us to pursue justice. 

So, I have to say. No it isn't fair that I don't want to allow people of the same sex to be able to marry each other. It isn't fair of me to want to help deny people some of the same rights. My response to that is, it's not fair that there are systems in place that are keeping the poor poorer. It's not fair that I know people who are working harder than lots of the ceo's in this country, but are poorer than some of the people in the nations that we so fairly neglect to help. It's not fair that although everyone in this country has the same opportunities to make something of themselves, the richest of us are not amongst minorities. Right now, it's not fair to not want homosexuals to marry, tomorrow it'll be something else that's unfair. 

I wanna tell you the truth about unfairness. It's unfair that an innocent man had to be spat upon, beat, and crucified for the fact that we were loved. It's unfair that there are definite truths that come out, in the form of the Bible, that people consider to only be trivial or entertaining stories. It's not fair that I get a label just because I tell someone that I'm a Christian. It's not fair that my children won't be able to hear anything about God in a publilc school, because that's not what the majority of people want to have their children hear about. Is it fair when all this Savior asks us to do is talk to people about who He is, that people get angry with us and call us to shut up about it? 

The Bible says that we are supposed to love Jesus more than everything else in our lives. So, speaking as a man who has a homosexual parent, and homosexual best friends, I must say that even though I love these people, I cannot go against what the Lord says is right. I'm not judging them, because ultimately it is up to them and God to decide what their salvation status is going to look like. It's not fair that I can't pray hard enough to get some of my friends and family into heaven. They have to do things for themselves, so that they can get there. I'm not sorry that I'm choosing God's ways instead of the ways of this world. I'm supposed to be in it and not of it.

It's not fair that because of these thoughts, I'll be considered to be close minded. It's not fair that even the most "enlightened" people, shall write me off for having done what they strive to do everyday, just express myself and expect to be left be to do that as much as I'd like. 

The bottom line for those people who are wanting to fight for this proposition not to pass is, things are not meant to be fair. It's not fair that you're fighting only for yourselves and not for the rights of all homosexuals everywhere to marry. Make a federal case, don't just fight on the level that'll allow you to marry who you want. What about the other people in this country who want the same thing? If we're going to do things for the sake of fairness, why don't we let fathers marry their daughters, or let brothers marry their cousins? If two people are really in love, who are we to say that two consenting adults can't be together under the law?  As long as they're in love, and are willing to commit to each other why would we try to stop them? I don't see people striving for incestual rights. 

prolly becuase once again, it's more convenient for the homosexual community right now to make a big stink. Remember, it was the majority vote in this state that people didn't want to let homosexuals marry, and 4 supreme court judges overturned the voice of a whole state of people. How is that fair in a democratic country?

Don't make the complaint about fairness. Jesus isn't a God of fairness and equality. He is a God of Justice. If He rewarded any of us based on what we deserve, I don't think that any of us would have very much. He works with each of us as we are and as we need. If He was really all about fairness, He'd treat us all the same, and would actually have just written us all off, as our forefathers had written Him off before. 

He still has mercy on all of us. Saved or unsaved. Think about fairness vs. justice. 

I'm voting yes on prop 8. God wouldn't stand for the desecration of marriage as an institution.

Here's to all of us getting Justice instead of fairness.

I'm out...

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