A Gay Marriage Surge

To any and all conservative Christians fighting against gay rights on Biblical grounds: LAWS BASED ON THE BIBLE ARE AGAINST THE FIRST AMENDMENT, specifically the Establishment clause.

If you are attempting to write Biblical laws into the U.S. legal system, you are in violation of Constitutional principles. You are acting in a way that is utterly unpatriotic, as well as genuinely illegal.

It's worrisome to me to watch so many people trying to "defend American principles" when they don't understand what those principles are and do not understand Constitutional law. To anyone reading this - I urge us all to uphold the separation of Church and State. Vigorously oppose any and all laws instituted on religious grounds. We all need to stand up and recognize that there are many ways to have a decent, loving, and fulfilling life!!!!

Sad to say, after 35 yrs of being together and one of us in our 70's...at the hardest times of our lives, we may be in legal trouble because of not having the protections of a civil contract. The religious part is up to the person and his church...the rest comes under 'render unto Cesar...' (Luke 20:25)...what is fair about that?

>Jesus himself says the laws of the Old Testament still apply.

How much of Levitical law do YOU live by? What rules have you decided are, and are not relavent for today? What about Paul's teaching that the Law separates us from grace? How many other elements of the Old Testament which were once held by the church are now not practiced today? Should we continue to subjugate women? Should we punish for inter-ractial marriage? Should we again allow slavery? These were all advocated by the church as being part of God's plan. What about Jesus own words when He said that loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself fulfills THE LAW and the prophets?

>So Jesus himself says the laws of the Old Testament still apply.

How much of Leviticus do YOU follow? How many rules have you decided don't apply for today? How do you answer where Paul says that the Law separates us from grace?

I would like to see the demographics of those polled. I would guess they concentrated on the SAN FRANCISCO area. This is just more lunatic left wing garbage that Newsweek is so proud of reporting. Say, Newsweek, how come all your "ACE" "journalists" end up on lunatic Keith Olbermann's show so often?

New Testament 1Corinthians 6:9-10 states "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolater, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, [verse 10] nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."
DWMUSIC - don't read the line between the first and last lines, since all the truth about homosexual behavior is "between the lines".

michaelangel7 Here we go again - the unthinking, unreasoning, unquestiong fundamentalists are coming out of the woodwork again. List for us all the things that Jesus Christ said specifically on the subject of homosexual orientation, homosexual marraige, transgender and transsexuality, and lesbianism. I'll save you the time. There isn't any. Wouldn't you think that if God were really troubled about our homosexual orientation, he would have ensured that his only begotten son would mention it at some point in His ministry? Now to another thing that Jesus actually did say - "do not judge others or you yourself will be judged" (Matthew 7:1) and take the beam out of your own eye before seeking to take the speck out of your brother's. He excoriated the religious fundamentalists of his day, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and were He around today he would lambast you for your faliure to use your God given intelligence and humane compassion.

New Testament Hebrews Chapter 1 verses 18 - 32, specifically verses 26 and 27 speak of homosexual behavior. God is intolerant of sin. He has provided us a way to escape His wrath (Jesus Christ). But people persist in their sin. I am not hostile. Jesus, in his first coming, was not hostile. But in the Second Coming, He will bring judgment and wrath with Him. [If you think writing about it is hostile, what name will you come up with to describe His destructive wrath?]

TeddyBoy Did you download the poll and read it? Obviously all your friends are homophobic. Since you are against homoseuxals yourself, it is highly likely that you will befriend people of comparable views. No doubt we homsoexuals could phone our friends "all over the country" and find the exact opposite to what you found with your straw poll. To claim as you have, that a publicly accountable organisation like the NewsWeek team handpicked over 1,000 people to be of only left oriented political ideology suggests a paranoia that calls into question the accuracy of any other findings your consultation with your gay hating friends might adduce. The former Soviet Union could justifiably be described as 'left oriented', being a communist state, yet this country persecuted and executed homosexuals on a massive scale.

This shift in public attitudes to the more humane is very encouraging. I do hope this comments page won't get swamped with endless debate on religious minutiae about wearing different coats, keeping slaves and sowing fields with mixed seeds. Last time I looked, there were over 38,000 Christian denominations worldwide. Not all of these are hostile to homosexuals or indeed homosexuality, ineed many bless same sex unions. When inconsistencies are pointed out, many hardline Christian commentators point out the Old Testament was written for the Hebrews, leaving only the New Testament for us. There is no sexually explicit referral anywhere in the Bible to homosexual sexual orientation or behaviour, all of it is reading between the lines, and heavily subjective to the translator. The world population exceeds 6 billion, 2/3 of which never even heard of the Holy Bible. Taking the US 2004 Census exit polls showing 4% openly gay as a rule of thumb, suggests that at least 250 million homosexuals are alive today, and no doubt will be replaced by homosexuals as our parents are invariably heterosexual. Given that most of these are non-Christian, it behoves governments to act humanely in all our interests. We homosexuals may differ in our predetermined sexual orientation, but our tax liabilities, and commitments to our families, communities, education and social obligations are just the same as yours.

Slavery was abolished in America since the Civil War. Which country are you living in?

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. Which do you think is a better investment, a slave from Mexico or Canada?

People also voted against interracial marriage - often under the guise of religious passages. The people had spoken - especially the Southern god-fearing ones. Fortunately people (and the courts) later realized how ridiculous that was. The world didn't fall apart. It used to be taboo to even have a Catholic marry a Protestant (it could lead to death by the the more radical factions in Northern Ireland not so very long ago). We progress, we grow and we learn. And this country was actually 'founded' by people coming over from Asia thousands of years ago, and conquered by European Christians. The nation we know (and enjoy) today is a result of that. Dozens (hundreds?) of religions existed here for thousands of years before the Europeans brought over their religion. It just makes me sad that in this 'free' country that normal, generous and good people that happen to be gay can't have compete, fulfilled life like us heteros. I don't quite understand the opposition and the ferocity of it.

The Bible's response to homosexuality: Old Testament: Leviticus Chap 18 God tells Moses to tell the children of Israel that "I am the Lord your God" (verse 2). In chapter 18 God defines sexual sins. [Note: homosexuality is in the list, verse 22. God doesn't "single out" homosexuality. Liars, thieves, murderers, rapists, anyone who has sex with animals, anyone who has sex with anyone outside of the bounds of marriage, anyone who divorces their spouse and remarries - except for certain cases, will all go to hell unless you repent/"walk away from" these evil practices and ask God for forgiveness. God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die on a cross to pay for the sins of all humankind. Because each and every single human being (past, present, and future) have sinned/"disobeyed God's commands" against God, we all will go to hell unless we each repent from our wicked ways and ask God to forgive us. Jesus Christ said that He is the gatekeeper to Heaven; the only way we can get to the Father/God is to go through Him. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door [to your heart] and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."(Revelation 3:21; which is chapter 3 verse 21)]. God doesn't just list sins and punishment. He provided the way out of sin - His son Jesus Christ. It is our choice to deny or believe the existence of God. It is our choice to continue doing sin or asking Him to forgive us and asking Jesus to come through the door of our heart. There will be a day of judgment. God shall judge everyone. Those who do not repent, do not ask for forgiveness, and do not ask Jesus to come into their heart are not forgiven. The penalty of sin is death (in other words blood is the required payment of sin). Jesus death was not bloodless. His death (blood) is the payment for the penalty of sin for all those who ask him into their heart. Those who deny Him - can't at judgment claim that His death paid for their sin. Therefore, all who do not belong to Jesus (those who haven't asked Him for forgiveness and into their heart) will have to pay for their sins with their own blood (their own death). If you have read this, you can't claim on judgment day that God didn't tell you He existed. You can't claim that God didn't explain that you need to ask for forgiveness and for Jesus to come into your heart in order to get to Heaven. Ask for forgiveness now! Jesus didn't come to earth the first time to condemn us sinners. He came the first time to announce the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and that He was. "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." All who call upon the name of Jesus Christ shall be saved. Repent, ask forgiveness, ask Jesus into your heart, and you shall be part of the Kingdom of God as of that moment.