Marriage.
A word, like many others, yet attached to an act that is treated as a sacred oath by many people all over the world. The institution has been called outdated, pointless, sacred, specific, a joke, unequal. It has been lauded, laughed at, scorned, adored, revered, insulted. Some call it a useless anachronism linking us to a past we no longer need, while others use it as a rallying cry to forward their own agendas, and still others cling tightly to it while the world shatters around them.
I have heard it said many many times, usually by straight people talking to non-straight people, “Why keep fighting for it? It’s a useless affectation, and it doesn’t change the way you feel about your partner!” Except that it means so much more than that, but most heteronormative people can never really understand that. To many, if not most of them, it is an institution that is so built into their psyche that it is often taken for granted. “Of course, when I’m ready, I’ll find some girl to get hitched to, spawn a few kids, settle down.”
To these people, even those that revere it, it is taken as a given that if they find the right person, they will get married and move through the rest of their life in wedded bliss, happy in their little institution. They move through life with only ever wondering if they can afford the right cake, or the perfect dress, or if they can get a real band and not a DJ, which church to have it in, to host it outside or inside, what time of year, all of these little minute details building up to something many people have been looking forward to their entire life.
Except, for some, it may never be a reality. No matter how many dresses she looks at, she might never get the opportunity to marry the woman she has given her heart and soul to. It does not matter if the tuxedo fits, there is a very good chance that he will never get to wear one as he stands at the altar with his soulmate.
This is why it is more than just a word talking about an institution, why the fight for marriage equality is not a fight to grant some the right to join in a union that millions around the world never even think twice about whether or not it is even legal. No, it is a fight for one person to be able to stand up and say "I am a human, with the same rights as you."
The fight for civil liberties in the United States did not end with desegregation and the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination did not just end, racist hate did not simply go away. It is a fight that continues to this day, and it only continues because there are many that believe that just because the color of the skin is different, that one race is somehow better than another. Person Y may hate Person Z because they have different skin colors, racial backgrounds, ethnicities, or even cultures, but that absolutely does not give Person Y the right to pass laws that restricts Person Z's rights. We laud the civil rights leaders for their successes in the fight for equality, and most Americans would laugh at the idea of de-legalizing interracial marriage. "Pass a law that says a black man cannot become president? How silly would THAT be?"
Except that that is exactly the same as saying that a lesbian cannot become President. Oh, we wont come out and say "No lesbians allowed on MY watch!" But it amounts to the same. We are still guilty of mass discrimination, we still turn our noses up and say "We are free, but YOU are not. Now go back to your corner."
"But, but, but…" you might say to me. "What about the Bible? And the Law of God?"
First, where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that WE THE PEOPLE are to subject ourselves to Biblical law, or to the law of ANY religion? Let me give you a spoiler, it does not. What it DOES say is:
Article VI (3)3: The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
And
Article I of the Bill of Rights (also the First Amendment)Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
But, let us ignore federal law, and let us instead focus on the purely Biblical aspects.
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.
Wow. That does sound pretty damning. For those of you that have not spent long hours pouring over the Bible, Leviticus is a long list of Thou Shalts and Thou Shalt Nots. It is basically the terms and conditions of God's Covenant With Man. It details not only the laws of God, but lists the punishments both temporal and spiritual for breaking these laws. It all pours from the premise that Mankind has sinned and without repentance, sacrifice, and a strict adherence to God's law, Man is damned to eternal hellfire and separation from God.
Except, according to New Testament Christianity, the ultimate sacrifice was made.
And The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of The Only Begotten of The Father, full of grace and truth.
Yeshua bin Yoseph was born of a virgin and walked among us, and fulfilled the law. At the Sermon on the Mount, he spoke on it and said:
Do not think that I have come to revoke The Written Law or The Prophets; I am not come to revoke but to fulfill.
So, because of the sacrifice of the Word-Become-Flesh, the old laws of Leviticus were no longer applicable. If a Christian accepts the Lord Jesus as their savior, then they no longer need to adhere to draconian dietary laws, refuse to wear multiple types of fabrics, never shave their forelocks, etc. etc. etc. As for homosexuality? What did Jesus say about it?
The New Testament…
But, the New Testament does have some beautiful words on love.
“I give a new commandment to you: 'Love one another; just as I have loved you, you should also love one another.' “ 35“Every person will know by this that you are my disciples, if you shall have love one to the other.”
7Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, 8Because God is love, and everyone who does not love does not know God. 9In this the love of God is known to us: for God sent his only Son to the world so that it shall live by him. 10In this is love: it was not that we loved God, but he has loved us, and he sent us his Son, the atonement for the sake of our sins. 11Beloved, if God loves us in this way, we are indebted also to love one another. 12No person has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is fulfilled in us.
So, I ask you: If Yeshua spoke to us of love, loving each other as we love ourselves, if his teachings lead John to say that if we love one another, God abides in us, then why must you speak only of Homosexuality as an abomination worthy of hate? I can understand that you may not wish to engage in homosexual acts, and that is a choice that YOU make, but why must you make that choice for everyone? And if you insist that it is biblically imperative for you to abolish homosexuality, then why are you getting divorced, wearing unbiblical clothing, shaving all the time, and engaging in other prohibited activities? I do not believe that you get the luxury to pick and choose. Either you accept that Yeshua abolished the law and came to be your savior, or you deny him as Peter did and continue to preach the Biblical law Yeshua DIED to fulfill.
To conclude what has become a far lengthier sermon than I intended to write, I leave you with this thought. Above I posted a link to a video of a young Jewish boy speaking from his heart about Marriage equality. A boy who carries a belief in a religion that has at its core a law that states that homosexuality is an abomination. And yet, he has the courage to speak out in front of his congregation, his friends, family, peers, against inequality. He speaks out in favor of love, in favor of peace, in favor of all the things that I believe Yeshua was trying to tell us. Love your neighbor as you love thyself.
So far, all I can really say, is there are an awful lot of Christians that seem to really hate who they have become.
