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The Presidential Prayer Team is currently urging Americans to: "Pray for the President as he seeks wisdom on how to legally codify the definition of marriage. Pray that it will be according to Biblical principles."

Ok, so let's consider for a minute, a Constitutional Amendment to codify marriage on biblical principles.  Incidentally, I have checked several of these passages, and they appear to be real.

  • Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)
  • Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines, in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)
  • A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)
  • Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)
  • Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)
  • If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe. (Gen.38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

The Presidential Prayer Team implores, "...pray that God's Word and His standards will be honored by our government."   I say to you, radical conservatives:  You'd better be careful what you pray for.

-Brought to you by Betsy, A proud LGBT ally and supporter of gay marriage

Click here to share your thoughts on the matter.  I will post them on this page, even if I disagree.  Hey, I'm a rabid liberal, but I'm fair.  Wait....I guess that's what makes me a liberal.  (scroll to see what other people have written)

Shared comments on the subject:

Betsy,

            Excellent points indeed!!  It reminds me of the guy I heard on NPR pointing out that the biblical prohibition against a man lying with another man is a verse or two away from the instructions on how to correctly sacrifice an ox.  (I hate it when people do that wrong!!  If they’d just take their time… it’s not like the ox is going anywhere…) 

            As you may know, I am decidedly not a Christian and am losing patience in my old age for this sort of foolishness.  Did you know that the state of Georgia is now required by law to teach creation science (an oxymoron if ever there was one) in addition to evolution.  How did we end up back in the 1930s in this country??  Incidentally, you may know that the looney tunes conservative movement currently led by  the Dumb-ass in Chief started in Texas among other places as a group of concerned parents who would not sit idly by as their children were indoctrinated in liberal science theory like Darwinism.  What year is it?  Sometimes I forget.

            On a historical note, I am reminded of the words of Clarence Darrow at the Scopes Monkey Trial in the 1920s or so, who responded to William Jennings Bryan’s accusation that Darrow was trying to belittle Christianity by saying something to the effect of “No sir, this isn’t about mocking Christianity.  It’s about preventing our children’s education from falling into the hands of ignoramuses and no-nothings.” 

            On a final note, the trial drew widespread press coverage, including a visit from famed newspaper guy H.L. Mencken from Baltimore (often credited with saying “Go west, young man!”)  Mencken, a devout eastern snob, uncharitably described the Tennessee locals attending the court proceedings as “gaping primates” and my favorite, “anthropoid rabble.”

                                                                                                                                          Stanley


From: "Greenlee TaNeil AMN 22 LRS/LGRMA "                                Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 

I am from Michigan but I am stationed at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas.  I was just surfin' the web and came across your page!

Well simply put I have to say in one aspect I whole heartily disagree with gay marriage being legalized.  That's just the way I was raised. But on the other hand, I had a gay friend and I don't see anything wrong with same sexes having relations with one another. And the "pretend" marriages that they do in Vegas that's not a problem for me either. But making it legal, come on now. Why is it necessary? I'm sure everyone they want to know knows that they are together. Why make it a political issue? Be happy with who you are and call it good!

Amn TaNeil M. Greenlee

United States Air Force


From:  Andrea L. (co-workers of Betsy's)            Date:    November 4, 2004

I dig your website! Especially the gay marriage biblical passages. Another old testament prohibition that is often ignored is the one against eating shellfish; I wonder how many people who are anti-gay marriage love loading up at the all-you-can-eat shrimp buffets? :-)

And sure you can quote me, but here's something better and funnier than little ol' me:

http://www.godhatesshrimp.com/


My concern with gay marriage is that with or without it, we've tilted to 'unfair' on the scale of couples rights and I think we've done that because both sides are trying to define the word marriage. Common law marriages were in affect years ago for a reason, because after a certain period of time it really didn't matter if a couple had stood up before the preacher, the judge, the JOP, or whoever and professed their undying devotion and commitment to one another. So what would you call a couple that had been together for 43 years even though they'd never gone through any type of ceremony or whatever that legally defined their relationship? 

Legally is where the problem lies and therefore legally is where the problem should be decided. I believe that the states -- not the Feds, please -- need to come up with standardized processes and procedures that legally entitle one person to certain specific rights of another person because of that couple's relationship. I also believe that ALL couples should have to abide by these processes and procedures, if they intend to commit to one another and request of each other those specific rights (rights of survivorship, ownership, etc.). ALL couples -- just because I got married by a Notary Public but my friends got married in a church and we had our marriage licenses properly filled out, attested to, and filed, doesn't get us off the hook. We would still need to, just as any other couple, same sex couple or not, file certain writs and forms with the state claiming the rights that are currently granted to what we now refer to as married couples. 

I have to say up-front that I'm a Christian man and have my own issues with homosexuality, but before anyone jumps on me for that please understand what I'm saying: my issues are my issues, and certainly not the issues of any gay man or woman and I therefore keep those issues to myself. I strongly believe that every man and woman has the right to live the way they choose, and it's just none of my business. I absolutely cannot and will not judge others for the way they live their lives. 

Then, with this in place, let the churches hold onto the word marriage, and conduct their marriage ceremonies and sanction what they will, separate and independent of the state (no, this is not, at least I don't believe it is, what the founding fathers meant by separation of church and state). Let the churches recognize what they want to, and let the state recognize what they need to. In other words, take the word marriage out of the debate and solve the legal issue. Because it's simply not fair to keep some couples from having the same legal rights as others just because you don't want them to be married. 

Now if we really want to debate, we can talk about: 1) what's inherently wrong about any Christian making an issue out of same-sex marriages; 2) what do we do about common law; 3) what was (IMHO) really meant by the clause 'separation of church and state.' 

So how's that for someone who's basically a conservative?

Dennis McCarthy, January 24, 2005

 


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