Not that theres anything wrong with that...

I don't live too far away from DC. Very recently DC passed a bill that allows same sex marriage. In reading various forums and blogs I have noticed that this doesn't really sit well with a large part of the US population... even well outside of the DC borders. I can't say that everyone that disagrees with this bill (or any bill approving same sex behavior) draws their reasoning from their religion but I can surely say that the majority does. In fact, it is what most of them use to defend their opinion.

Though most of you that will read this already know my views on religion I won't go into it here. I am just going to lay down what I see to be as fact and let you decide for yourself.

James 2:10 (New International Version)
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

That is from the New Testament of the Holy Bible. That means that Jesus has already come and made the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world and that thru him, we may all be saved and forgiven according to God's will. That does not change what the words say. You break one rule, no matter which one, you are just as guilty as if you had broken them all. Aside from whether or not this flows well with me, I can read and that seems to be what it says.

Numbers 15:32-36 (King James Version)
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Now here is a guy... in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible... who was out collecting sticks for whatever reason and it just happened to be the sabbath. So God ordered him dead. Since it was the Old Testament I am sure we can all agree that the sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament would allow for the forgiveness of working on the sabbath and related sparing of this mans life? I thought so. That is probably why so many people work on the sabbath here in the modern world.

Leviticus 18:22 (New International Version)
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

This verse, also from the Old Testament, seems to be the ultimate line of defense for people who are against same sex marriage and/or rights. I failed to remember an example of someone getting stoned or killed by order of God as a result of homosexuality. Please, if you know of one, I would love to be refreshed (it's been a long time since I read most of this stuff). Again, this is from the Old Testament. Blood of Christ washes clean and forgiveness is granted, on with life.

So unless the Old Testament is strictly for history, we should still strive to obey the laws presented. If we do not observe the laws as a whole and disobey even one, we have disregarded the entire bunch of them. I don't think most Christians would disagree. The difference is the New Testament. Now, instead of being stoned a person has the option to ask God for forgiveness. "God, forgive me, I worked on the sabbath" or "God, forgive me, I slept with someone with the same parts as me". You can break the rules, be forgiven and continue to live life. I imagine that the sacrifice of God's only son came along with the idea that if you sin, and are forgiven, you will try really hard, really really hard, not to commit that sin again. Maybe that's just me.

Let me remind myself....
break the law, ask for forgiveness, try not to do it again.

I guess my point without all of the run around is this as follows

If you work on whichever day you observe as the sabbath you have sinned. If you sleep with someone of the same sex you have sinned. If you ask the Lord for forgiveness it will be granted. If you continue to do either after the first time you ask forgiveness.... personally I think you have shit all over the face of your creator. So now that all of you fundamentalist Christians out there have wiped shit in the face of your God, maybe you should worry a little more about getting Him a moist towelette than you are about two dudes who want to be happy and live a life all their own.

And to show how a rational and open mind can change... up until mere hours ago, I defaulted to saying "marriage is a practice with origins from the Holy Bible and therefore should only be allowed in the eyes of an approving God. anything else should be considered a civil union". When I did some comparing and research I changed my mind. Marriage is traceable back as far as 5000 years and the earliest recorded marriage was 2500 years ago. These occurrences did not have relationships to the church in question. So I basically learned that just because we celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday now doesn't mean that it was spawned as a result of Christianity. Marriage, it's just a word. I was stupid to think that it belonged to anyone.

I am not gay. I also do not slight anyone for a belief in anything. I do however disrespect anyone who thinks that they have the right to alter the laws of their respective deity or to let the "freedom of religion" slip into a "freedom of religion as long as it's okay with me".