Now this is a very hot topic.  Hotter than the surface of the sun.

Over the past few days, a “victory” was declared in this nation.  Now whether or not it is called a victory would depend on which side you speak to.

I don’t normally address controversial issues, but for something like this, I feel like I cannot remain silent.  If you are reading this (and should you read on) this is my point of view, and whether or not you want to accept it is your choice.  You, the reader, have the freedom to choose, just as this nation did a few days ago.

 

Now about the decision.  For those of you who are not informed, the United States Supreme Court made a very important decision that determined what the definition of marriage is.  Their decision?  They broadened the definition to include the union of gay couples.

Now for my view.  I believe that marriage is an institution that God created and it should be between a man and a woman.  To make any other change to that would ruin the holy sanctity that is marriage.  Why?  God created marriage, not man.

Now this does not mean that I hate gay people.  Every one of us is a sinner.  I have sinned.  You have sinned.  We have all sinned and have fallen short of God’s perfect standard.  God hates sin, but he doesn’t hate the one who sinned.  God hates homosexuality, but he doesn’t hate homosexuals.  Likewise, I hate sin, but not the person who sinned.

Now more about the decision.  Imagine a building with a strong foundation.  A strong foundation is needed to keep the building standing up.  For marriage, God designed this with a strong foundation, as this is a reflection of His nature.  Christ is the bridegroom and the church is the bride.

What happens when you attack a foundation?  When that happens, you weaken the structural integrity of the building. Marriage, by God’s design, is structurally sound.  When we try to change something that is already perfect, it becomes less than perfect.  Even those with the most pure intentions trying to establish fairness in the land.  If it involves trying to change something that God has already established, it hurts the foundation.

This was not the only foundation that has been changed. The foundation of creation itself has been changed.  Long ago, the world was perfect, since it was without sin.  There was one man and one woman who lived in a garden.  God told them that they could eat fruit from any tree, except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The man was warned that if he ate from that tree, he would surely die.  And we all know the rest.  The serpent in his cunning enticed the woman to eat from the tree, claiming that she would “be like God, knowing good and evil”.  She ate from it and so did the man.  As a result, the foundation of creation itself was cracked to the core.  The woman and man had a different idea of what creation should be.  Even after it was already perfect.  Since they tried to change it, creation became less than perfect, and this is the world that we live in today.  Crimes, thefts, murders, lying, cheating, earthquakes, famines, wars.  Everything that is wrong with the world today because man tried to change what was already perfect.

And in this age today,  the cracks are starting to form in the foundation of marriage.  Just like Adam and Eve, the Supreme Court is grasping at the forbidden fruit.  As a result, this could open the doors for any other foundation to be attacked.  How about freedom of speech or freedom of religion? If these foundations are next, then our civil freedoms are at stake.  The right to voice your opinion and the right to believe what you want.  The opposition will be marginalized and attacked.  Pressured into doing what is against their beliefs.  If only one side gets their way, the other side will be attacked and ridiculed.  Attacked and ridiculed for what was originally perfect in the first place.

And addressing the whole decision, worldviews have consequences and beliefs have consequences, good or bad.  While this may seem like a “victory” to the country, the cracks beneath us are already starting to form.  Was eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden a “victory” for Adam and Eve?  No.  There were horrible consequences for what they did, and all of the punishment was delivered by God.

And just as Adam and Eve were punished for damaging the foundation of creation, God will punish everyone else who damages the foundation of marriage.  Marriage is God’s institution, and He will defend it.  And so will I.

And if you still desire more reading material, you are in luck.  The remainder of this post is a re-post from Day 488 – Regarding Marriage (except for the profoundly different temperature.)

Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam. And wove, twue wove, wiww fowwow you fowevah and evah… So tweasuwe youw wove.

 

Princess Bride quote aside, marriage is a very important thing in our society today.  The definition of it has been under scrutiny with the changing of the times, and depending on who you talk to, there are some very strong opinions on it.

Now before I begin this matter on marriage, I will have to say that I am not an expert on it.  I have never dated a single woman and I am a single man.  These two points are what make marriage a very interesting topic for me to look at.  Now I would be a liar if I said that I never experienced feelings of envy and jealousy if I hear the word marriage or have seen a healthy marriage in progress.  These are the struggles that singles face.  And these struggles unbeknownst to me and others are blessings in themselves.  You have more time to serve and there are no lingering worries about how to best serve your Significant Other.  But I digress.

Now getting to the topic of marriage, it is a very unique bond between two individuals.  Now for the bond to be unique, we need to understand what makes it unique.  What makes marriage so special?  What makes it unique?  To even understand this,  we have to look at the One that makes it unique.

Marriage is unique because God made it unique.  This is assuming that you have a worldview that clearly says that there is a God, and that he has, in His likeness crafted a union similar to the union that reflects His character.  And regarding whether there is a God or not, this will be saved for another discussion.

For now, let’s all form the assumption that there is a God, and that he has made marriage something that is quite unique.  If you are not willing to form this assumption,  you can leave at any time.  Even if you don’t have this assumption formed, you can gather what the one side is thinking in order to better understand this side.  As for the other side, we will get to that soon enough.

Getting back to the subject, God has made marriage a very unique thing.  But why is it so unique?  It is because it is based off of God’s character.  God is not just one, but three in one, all at the same time.  Father, Son and Spirit.  God is loving Father who created man in His likeness.  He then made Himself into a man, which is where we see the Son.  Lastly, there is His Spirit, which dwells with the Father and all of the redeemed.  The uniqueness is visible when we look at the bond between the three.  Because it’s not really three separate parts, but three interconnected parts that form one character: the Trinity, or the Godhead.

Likewise, marriage works the same way.  When a couple gets married, the two “become one flesh”.  (Genesis 2:24)  But where is the third part?  The third part would be God, the one that joined the two together.  And “what God has joined together, let no one separate”.  (Matthew 19:6)

This is what makes marriage unique.  To further stress the uniqueness, let’s pretend that man and woman are two pieces of a puzzle.  The two pieces need to fit.  Any other arrangement of the puzzle pieces would not work.  Likewise, with a similar analogy, there must be one key and one lock.  Can a key unlock a key or lock unlock a lock?  Following the scientific principle, opposites attract, like magnets or batteries.

While this is what makes marriage unique, we will now talk about other side.  The side that you have all been waiting for.  Marriage may be unique, but there is no equal.  To illustrate this example, we will look at currency.  U.S. currency in particular.  What makes the dollar so unique?  There are several defining characteristics that make a dollar unique.  But when you really think about it, a dollar is not worth very much.  Since that is the case, we will use the $100 bill as an example.  What makes this bill so unique is the value.  In fact, it is so valuable that the design had to be changed several times.  The reason for the change in the design comes down to one persistent problem in our country:  counterfeit currency.

Now counterfeit currency may look like real currency, but the real currency has defining characteristics that set it apart.  And it is these characteristics that define the legitimacy of the real currency.  A counterfeit one-hundred may look and feel like a real one, but it isn’t.  It doesn’t have the uniqueness that the real currency has.  It is only counterfeit.

And this is done for our own safety and protection.  Having unique currency prevents theft, and it keeps us safe from an illegal supply of bills entering circulation from the black market.

Getting back to marriage, the safety and protection are there, but only if the rules are followed.  The rules were established to protect our currency.  Likewise, God has rules that protect marriage.  The rules were established for our own good, and if they are broken the rule-breakers bear the consequences alone.

 

Muse:  This is referring to sex, right?

It is, and I am not going to delve in too much on this matter.  All I will say is that there are health related problems when the rules of marriage are not followed.

To close the matter on currency, I will say just this.  Just as there can be counterfeit currency, there can be counterfeit marriage.  This is a very hot issue in society, with a growing number of supporters.

Muse:  Why so many?

I think you know the answer to that.

Muse:  I do.  I just want to keep the discussion more interesting.

Okay.  To understand why we have so many people on both sides of this issue, it all comes down to one thing.  The worldview.  Is there a God?  Is the definition of marriage outdated?  Does it need to be redefined?  Those that don’t have God in their worldview have the freedom to put anything they want into their worldview.  A worldview that best fits them.

Muse:  What about those that are Christians that support it?

That is another worldview, and a heretical one at that.  To shed some light on why this is happening,  this passage makes a lot of sense.  “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”  (2 Timothy 4:3)  That is the age that is upon us.  An age that is becoming more and more tolerant of unnatural marriage.

Muse:  Why don’t you just say it?  If you have offended anyone,  they have probably stopped reading by this point.

But they’re not done.  The stubborn critics are still reading.  Carefully watching to see how this rhetoric unfolds.  And if they are that curious,  what is covered will be unveiled.  This age has a growing number of people who advocate gay marriage.  And if you are one of them, I just might offend you.  Differing opinions can do this, in a world where no one can agree on one thing.

Why such a following?  There are different worldviews and mindsets.  And if you are on the worldview that supports gay marriage, you have your worldview and mindset that justifies your beliefs and ideals.  And on the side that supports traditional marriage, there is a worldview and mindset that justifies their beliefs and ideals.

But with both sides having completely different worldviews, can both be right?  To answer yes to this question, it would be like saying that both up and down are the same. Or something more ridiculous like air can exist and not exist at the same time.  But these are laws, and laws are proven facts.  But with ethics, there are people.  People who argue over what is right and what is wrong.  What is right and what is wrong?  We can at least agree that there is a right and a wrong.  But where we assign them again depends on the worldview.  Ethics and morality will be discussed at a later date.  For now, I am talking about marriage.

With the arguments, the battlefield is created.  Those that maintain that marriage is right and gay marriage is wrong.  The other side maintains that gay marriage is right and should be included with traditional marriage.

Why is the other side so passionate about their stance?  It is because of their worldview.  God is not present in it.  They don’t acknowledge the existence of a Creator.

Muse:  What about those Christians that support gay marriage?  Looking at the passage of 1 Samuel 20, David and Jonathan kissed each other and they made a special vow to each other.

Thank you for mentioning that.  Yes.  There are “Christians” with a deluded worldview that use that passage as an argument.  First of all,  David and Jonathan are friends.  Best friends.  Have you ever had a best friend?  Secondly, Jonathan told David that they have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD.  Would God ever approve of an unnatural relationship? He wouldn’t.  And kissing is old and dated in this context when comparing it with our culture and the current times that we live in.  But we still do hug.

Muse: That makes sense.  But what about genetics?  There are those that argue that they were “born that way”.  That sounds pretty compelling, don’t you think?

It surely does, but there is a reason.  And in saying that they were “born that way”, they are very close to the right answer, but not quite.  A murderer could say that they were “born that way”.  A pedophile could say that they were “born that way”.  Just fill in the blank.  There are a lot of arguments that list a variety of conditions that plague the world that we live in.  But they all point to a common thread.  Sin.  We are all born sinners.  Every one of us.  We were “born that way”.  Now when you put the answer into that context, the reason for every known condition makes a lot more sense.

Now I don’t hate gay people.  They are just like we are.  We have all fallen short of God’s standard, and just as I hate my own sins, I hate theirs.

Muse:  But it’s not sin, right?  Remember, they were born that way.

It is.  We were all born into sin.  We were all “born that way”.  But there is a Savior that can forgive those sins, and it’s not me.  It is Jesus Christ.

Muse:  What about those that serve Christ yet decide to be gay?

You can’t serve two masters.  And with any condition where you have the choice of whether to do it or not, I understand the thrill and draw that goes with staying on the one side.  Clinging to the thing that shapes who you are.  It works the same way with any addiction.  You are attracted to that one thing, and you will do anything not to let it go.  But it’s a choice, and sometimes the other side is stronger and it is hard to give it up.  Especially when you love it so.

Muse:  So it’s a mindset, then?

It is.  Whether it’s a homosexual or any kind of addict, there is always the draw, and it’s the draw that keeps them content on the one side.

Muse:  Then what’s the cure?

The cure is up to them.  It’s really their choice.  And whether they choose one way or the other, I will still love them unconditionally.  Isn’t that what Christ did for us?  “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Muse:  Okay.  I’m done playing Devil’s Advocate.  But it’s a tough issue, isn’t it?

It is because not everyone agrees on one thing.  The world believes one thing and us Christians believe another.  But as I said before, we both can’t be right and we both can’t be wrong.  One side is right and the other side is wrong.

Muse:  Says who?

God said it first.  I can’t distort or delude what He said.  Call me dogmatic.  Call me intolerant and close-minded.  But be sure to call God intolerant too.  They are His views, and ones that I zealously defend.  I am patient to hear the other side, but I am also patient to disagree with you.  When there are two sides with differing worldviews, one side will always disagree against the other.  There are no resolutions between the parties, but only when one side joins the other.  And whichever side you are on, you better hope that it’s the right side.

There is still much to discuss on this matter, but for the sake of time, I will close it.  Marriage is a wonderful thing.  It is a unique invention of God, just as the lightbulb is the unique invention of man.  But marriage has rules, and disregarding it can result in a counterfeit version.  But with the trends changing with the times,  a growing following favors counterfeit marriage, or gay marriage.  When the both sides are involved, a battlefield erupts, with one side trying to assert their views over the other.  Worldviews form the beliefs of both sides, with one side arguing with bible passages and genetics to justify their position.  In reality, genetics is very close to the answer of sin, putting a new meaning on “born that way”.  Homosexuality and addictions are similar, each having their draws.  But at the end of the day, Christ loves all of us sinners and will forgive us if we will answer His call.  Both sides will argue until the end of time, when one side is proven right and the other wrong.  If you eagerly desire the cliffnotes version or the “too long didn’t read version”, the whole of this paragraph sums up the whole matter.

With this discussion complete, it is now time for me to relax.  I will have something to eat.  Maybe watch a video or two or play a game before I retire to bed for the night.

Muse:  Sounds good to me!  That was a good discussion.  I look forward to the next one.

And that will be on a day that I have off.  These discussions take time to write, you know.

Muse:  Works for me.  It’s my dinner time, too!  Delicious ideas, here I come!

Time for dinner, and the end of this post.

Today’s high is going to be 78 degrees and the silver lining is being able to discuss a controversial issue and having this evening to enjoy.

To those of you who love controversial issues, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.

Muse:  That was a good one.  I know what we’re going to talk about next, and it’s going to be good…