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"The gospel is deeply serious while Judge Walker's decision is a jumbled mess of sloppy thinking." (That's funny; I would have said the exact opposite.)

As most people who follow the news likely know, California's Proposition 8 (the ban against same-sex marriage in that state) was just overturned last week in federal court. There will of course be appeals, but this is a major step towards the legalization of same-sex marriage not only in California, but if it survives appeal, possibly at the national level.

Since Christianity is all about love, they are throwing their full support towards gay marriage, right? (Did you detect a note of sarcasm there?)

Here is a link to an article by Christianity Today (which I saw posted in a few freethought-friendly places) which provides some reactions from the Christian community. To be fair, there are some quotes that are fairly neutral or even supportive of LGBT community, but here are a few gems to give you an idea of the other side of the coin.

Majorities are unstable, and while traditional marriage has the upper hand now, it may not in 20 years. [What is going to happen, LGBT people will suddenly become a majority in the next 20 years? Now that's what I call evolution! Or will they just corrupt the rest of God-fearing people by then?]

Because gay marriage is less than God's best for relationship, we need to equip ourselves to minister to those who will choose it and later realize it might not have been the best decision. [Will they also equip themselves to minister to those who will choose and later realize it was the best decision of their life?]

At stake in the debate is the very nature of marriage itself. Thinking biblically does not allow us to regard marriage as merely prudential or preferential (I like strawberry, you like pistachio), but as a covenantal union of one man and one woman established by God for a purpose that transcends itself. [Comparing the love and devotion of two adults committing to spend the rest of their lives together...to liking pistachios. It'd be hard to make a more ignorant or belittling comparison. Although "my cute little strawberry" does sound like a nice pet name.]

The Bible makes clear that marriage is God's idea rather than a social contract that we are free to renegotiate based on changing social trends. [So if we have to follow God's ideas on marriage, does this mean we're sticking with the whole you-must-marry-your-rapist thing dictated in the Bible, then? (Deuteronomy 22:28). If we mustn't follow social trends when it comes to marriage, should we also wear BC-era wedding attire?]

The gospel is deeply serious while Judge Walker's decision is a jumbled mess of sloppy thinking [...] [That's funny; I would have said the exact opposite.]

Hopefully this ruling will lead society towards understanding of those who are not in the mainstream, instead of the continuing legacy of bigotry towards the "Other" that religions too often help perpetuate.

Tags: 8, Christian, Prop, proposition, responses

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Comment by IAmTheBlog on August 18, 2010 at 12:25pm: @Grundgetta, very good point & link. I never thought of the issue that way. I'll have to keep that in mind the next time someone argues for so-called "traditional" marriage as opposed to same-sex marriage.

Comment by Little Name Atheist on August 17, 2010 at 5:27pm: @Jason: Would you please add that to this list?

@IAmTheBlog: The Bible makes clear that marriage is God's idea rather than a social contract that we are free to renegotiate based on changing social trends.

Ah, but which type of marriage?

Comment by IAmTheBlog on August 17, 2010 at 4:18pm: @ Jason, good question. Hard for something to transcend itself. Then again, we're talking about a religion that teaches bread turns into flesh and wine into blood, so...

@ Jim, I agree, but there have been a number of constitutionally shaky decisions at various levels recently (including giving corporations the right to contribute possibly unlimited funds to political campaigns while "real people" still have limits). So you never know...

Comment by Jim DePaulo on August 16, 2010 at 3:27pm: Once more the US Constitution trumps the stupidity of the " Good book". Only an extremely bias judge would have found prop 8 to be constitutionally sound.

Comment by Jason Spicer on August 11, 2010 at 2:51pm: "...a covenantal union of one man and one woman established by God for a purpose that transcends itself."

How does something transcend itself? Or is that a euphemism for masturbation?

Comment by IAmTheBlog on August 11, 2010 at 2:14pm: [PS I know there are some conservatives who support same-sex marriage. It's true though that almost everyone who's vocally opposing it are conservative religious groups].

Comment by IAmTheBlog on August 11, 2010 at 2:11pm: Loren, I completely agree. They're criticizing the decision just because they disagree with it, not on what the Judge actually found in his ruling. Since they and/or the Bible disagrees with the decision, then they figure the Judge MUST be wrong! I bet the more intellectually honest among them are jealous of the opposition's arguments instead of angry at the judge or the ruling.

The Religious Right must know they're on shaky legal ground. They were already on shaky moral ground, but legally it must have gone a lot worse than they expected. I've heard several legal experts discuss it, and from what they say the Judge issued a very sound, thorough, and hard-to-overrule legal decision.

Michael, I'm also confused about why some have brought up his sexual orientation. They can't really dispute the ruling on its merits, I guess. I wonder if that's part of the reason Walker was so meticulous and thorough in his ruling. It sounds like his 80 findings of fact will be very hard to contest.

It is very ironic that he was a Bush the First appointee: I bet a lot of the Religious Right thought it would help out their case. Maybe Stephen Colbert is right that reality has a known liberal bias?!

Comment by Michael D. on August 11, 2010 at 12:46am: I'm still confused as to how the judge's orientation ties into it all. A judge's only reverence is the law. If it were seen that he is unfit to uphold this reverence he would be removed from the position.

Funny how he was appointed by a Christian conservative in the first place...

Comment by Loren Miller on August 10, 2010 at 4:20pm

Hmph. "Judge Walker's decision is a jumbled mess..." mostly because:

He disagreed with the proponents of Prop 8
The reasoning of his decision covered virtually every aspect regarding WHY gays and Lesbians should be permitted this right, leaving the christers NO wiggle room!

I doubt many of them would have the cojones to say so, but many of them are thinking: "Damn ... don't you HATE it when the opposition has the arguments?!?"

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