Gay Marriage - being more acceptable!?!

The article below by Greg Carey, Professor for New Testiment, Lancaster Theological Seminary really hits the target! The other stuff is just my opinion!

I know it is said that the Bible is the word of GOD, but it was written by men over hundreds of years that reflected their beliefs at the time. We must remember the Old Testament is written from a Jewish perspective and primarily deals with living by the laws that Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai and maintaining the lineage of Abraham. It appears that the only thing God approved and supported was any copulation that maintained that lineage such as the story Abraham, Sarah and Hagar! This begets Isaac and Ishmael! And we all know what happens after that!  Along comes (Saul) Paul who was not even one of the twelve apostles but was going to Rome to assassinate Peter when Jesus appeared to him (why I can’t figure!) and told him he was to be his instrument to convert all of the Gentiles to Christianity!  Here is where the split starts between the Jews from the Old Testament and Christians in the New Testament primarily because Christians worshipped Jesus as their savior and Jews did not! Also to convert Gentiles Paul and others changed, ignored or removed many of the laws brought down from Mt. Sanai such as things like circumcision! When Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity is when we saw many of the rules of marriage inserted into the New Testament! If we listened to Jesus and Paul we would all be celibate!! The new testament has so many quotes about marriage and so many interpretations that each and every one based on his or her upbringing an prejudices can find what they need to support their position. One thing I have gleaned from the Bible is that Scripture is clear about marriage being a holy and divinely established covenant. It is equally clear about our obligation to honor and obey the laws of our earthly governments. Remember what Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's"! What this could mean is if our government decides that is it legal for a man to marry a man then that is a marriage in the eyes of the law! So be it! Most of these marriages are performed in civil ceremonies which is just a quick way of engaging into a legal partnership! Even when men and women get married in civil ceremonies it’s just a quick way for them to engage in a legal partnership governed by the laws of the state in which they are married. Will they now be able to move on and get married in the eyes of God is another issue that will be debated for a very long time. It is currently apparent that most traditional religions will not perform a wedding ceremony for same sex couples! Do they need that to be married in the eyes of God? For many these unions will never be sanctioned in the eyes of God, but the fight now is just to be sanctioned in the eyes of the law! Like I said earlier, “So be it!”

What Does the Bible Actually Say About Marriage?

From Greg Carey, Professor for New Testiment, Lancaster Theological Seminary

Let's Be Honest

Unfortunately, many Christians use the Bible to support their own prejudices and bigotry. They talk about "biblical family values" as if the Bible had a clear message on marriage and sexuality. Let's be clear: There's no such thing as "biblical family values" because the Bible does not speak to the topic clearly and consistently.

It's high time people came clean about how we use the Bible. When Christians try to resolve difficult ethical and theological matters, they typically appeal to the Gospels and Paul's letters as keys to the question. But what about marriage? Not only did Jesus choose not to marry, he encouraged his disciples to abandon household and domestic concerns in order to follow him (Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:28-30; Luke 9:57-62). He even refers to those "who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:10-13). Whatever that means, it's certainly not an endorsement of marriage. Paul likewise encourages male believers: "Do not seek a wife" (1 Corinthians 7:27, my translation) -- advice Paul took for himself. If neither Jesus nor Paul preferred marriage for their followers, why do some Christians maintain that the Bible enshrines 19th-century Victorian family values?

Let's not even go into some of the Bible's most chilling teachings regarding marriage, such as a man's obligation to keep a new wife who displeases him on the wedding night (Deuteronomy 22:13-21), his obligation to marry a woman he has raped (Deuteronomy 22:28-30) or the unquestioned right of heroes like Abraham to exploit their slaves sexually. I wonder: Have the "biblical family values advocates" actually read their Bibles?

Christians will always turn to the Bible for guidance -- and we should. If the Bible does not promote a clear or redemptive teaching about slavery, that doesn't mean we have nothing to learn from Scripture about the topic. The same values that guide all our relationships apply to marriage: unselfish concern for the other; honesty, integrity and fidelity; and sacrificial -- but not victimized -- love. That's a high standard, far higher than a morality determined by anachronistic and restrictive rules that largely reflect our cultural biases. Rules make up the lowest common denominator for morality. Love, as Paul said, never finds an end.