The Debate Over Same Sex Marriage

The way people ultimately view homosexuality, whether in religion, politics or modern popular culture, is all determined by traditional or changing points of view. This essay will discuss mainly liberal and conservative Christian interpretations of the Bible, including many verses that may support or condemn homosexuality. It will also discuss the political views and laws against same-sex marriage and the social activism in the homosexual community. This is all about view points and it has many conflicting views and arguments.

The controversy between marriage equality and the exercise of religious freedom is a confliction between nondiscrimination laws and religious freedom laws. Religious freedom seemed to be an important aspect of an American citizen, after all it is the very first amendment to the constitution. With each American citizen being granted equality by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination made against an individual based on his/her sexual preference may seem to violate this act. In history, religious organizations typically been immune from state and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, with the cases of Obergefell v. Hodges and Kim Davis this stance is challenged.

In a very real sense, it is reasonable to argue that the government should have no say at all in the processes of marriage, or decide which adults may or may not legally marry. State and federal governments play a role, of course, in that marriage is a civil union, and provides benefits and legal protections for the couple. Historically, marriage serves the interests of the society by promoting stability and future generations of citizens, and governments usually act in ways to promote this very vital element. At the same time, it is highly questionable whether this governmental authority should have any voice in who chooses to marry, provided those involved are adults and wish to do so. This is in fact, at the heart of the same-sex

It was not until the twelfth century that homosexuality started to be condemned. This condemnation proved to live through then until now. Due to the fact that America incorporated these early views into its early laws, even the most bland of today's sex acts were seen as unlawful (“Homosexuality and Mental Health”). Since then, these laws have changed, however, there is still a primarily negative connotation on homosexuals when coming from a church or legal standpoint concerning the masses of America.

In the past ten years, the nonstop discussion and stress has been over the question of homosexuality. Are homosexuals to be excluded from the community of faith? Article writers, Richard B. Hays and Walter Wink explain their perspective and answer the ongoing talk.

Same-sex couples are becoming increasingly popular in our society and advocates have been pushing for social justice to abolish sexual discrimination. America has been misled by opponents of the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts who claim a business' right to religious freedom to turn away gay customers is discrimination and bigotry, and we need to return to the biblical view of homosexuality as what it really is: sin. This paper will cover religious freedom and the advancement of gay rights in society today as it pertains to the opposing arguments of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed recently in Indiana.

Reforming Sodom unravels the origins of homosexuality in relation to the Protestant Bible. White opens the reading by stating that the word “homosexuality” first appeared in the Revised Standard Version Bible in 1946. From this fact, we are left wondering why there was this change in verbiage and what did the Bible say prior to 1946. White seeks to answers these questions and in doing so, she challenges scholars to think critically about religious texts. Throughout, White exemplifies other works that align with her notion of sexuality and religion intertwining; Rebecca Davis’ My Homosexuality

Of course, there are specific passages in the Bible that do mention homosexuality and its condemnation of it. However,—whether being an avid reader of the Bible or not—the translation of the passages have been debated by many. One problems that arises in the translation of these passages is how literally one is reading the words of the Bible. There are readers who deliberately take the Bible word-for-word and believe it to be exactly how “God wanted it to be”. On the other hand, more so leaning towards the 21st century and post-modernism, these readers are now saying to look at the Bible as if it was an historical account of religions—like Christianity and Judaism—and what their beliefs were all these years ago.

The new thing — new for America, and new for history — is not homosexuality. That brokenness has been here since we were all broken in the fall of man. (And there is a great distinction between the orientation and the act — just like there is a great difference between my orientation to pride and the act of boasting.)

After long hours of no sleep I have concluded that one of the most debated and divisive issues within the Christian community today is the issue of homosexuality! What’s amusing is that homosexuality has been practiced for thousands of years. Since the concept of homosexuality as orientation was unknown until about a hundred years ago, on the basis alone, we know that the “clobber verses” used against homosexuals could not refer to homosexuality as an orientation. They refer to same-sex acts, which were understood to be perpetrated by heterosexuals, and therefore were “lustful” and “unnatural”. There is no word in biblical Greek or even in ancient Hebrew that is the equivalent to the English word “homosexual”.

Over the past several years the homosexual community has made great strides in attempting to justify their right to legally join in matrimony. Society as a whole has come a long way in becoming more tolerant and acknowledging of same sex partners and their choices to form families. Given our first amendment right to freedom of speech, there are plenty of sentiments regarding whether or not laws should be ratified permitting these male or female partners to have the legal right to marry. There are numerous of current trends that provide absolute support to the homosexual community with hopes of increasing the level of tolerance. In addition, the great economic advantages that have come about from same-sex marriages in supporting states, has

Concerning the Bible’s perspective on the topic of homosexuality, Kevin DeYoung acknowledges that homosexuality is not the center of it. Among the 1,189 chapters and the more than 30,000 verses of the Bible, homosexuality is explicitly dealt only dozen time or so. Nevertheless, contrary to liberal perspective on homosexuality, these few passages of the Bible make clear assertions that the practice of homosexuality is prohibited and condemned by God.

Since this is a legal philosophy essay and not a religious studies one, I won’t get into too many specifics here, but there are a few key points to clarify regarding the Bible and homosexuality. Firstly, a huge portion of the “anti-gay” passages commonly cited come from the Old Testament which, as was mentioned earlier, many modern Christians do not follow. With this, citing these passages as an argument to be anti-gay is a blatant disregard for and contradiction of one’s own faith, unless the individual is also willing to follow the other rules laid out in this part of the text such as that getting a tattoo is worthy of eternal damnation or that adulterers should be executed.

Imagine a society where it’s not even common to see a married man and woman walking around with kids, and instead you see two men or two women walking around holding hands and kissing, would this site make you very comfortable or would you be a little weirded out. This is the exact direction that our country is taking as we speak right now, with each state giving same-sex marriage a second thought, and most starting to make heterosexual marriage legal. There are plenty of people who disagree with this and that are taking a stance against gay marriage. With all of the gay activism going on it is starting to turn into a battlefield between the two sides.

On June 26, 2015, it was ruled by the the US Supreme Court that the US Constitution will guarantee that same-sex couples have the right to marriage in all 50 states of the US (state by state, n.d.). By many, this was celebrated as a victory. A Victory in the sense of equality, rights, and love. By others, this was seen as an immoral setback. I come to wonder who is right. Is there a right side? I know that there is a side who is for same-sex marriage and there is a side of those who oppose it. However, I know that the Christian faith tends to side with the opponents. I am a Christian; does that mean I am to be an opponent?