Maine’s law legitimating homosexual marriage was defeated last night (all 31 states to which this has been put to a vote have done the same). Here’s an article about the reaction to it by supporters and one homosexual couple who were planning to marry once the law went into effect. I note this because we must never lose sight of the humanity of this issue. People were terribly hurt by the results. Even if they are wrong (and I think so), one should, one must feel for their hurting and desire God’s healing redemption to change their lives and restore them. For those of us who do believe marriage is a sacred covenant for life between a man and a woman, we must resist all efforts to gloat and submit to all efforts to loving, compassionate, relational articulation of the truth.
Remembering the Human Element…
– November 4, 2009
Maine’s law legitimating homosexual marriage was defeated last night (all 31 states to which this has been put to a vote have done the same). Here’s an article about the reaction to it by supporters and one homosexual couple who were planning to marry once the...
About the Author
Adam Carrington After a year at Westminster Theological Seminary, Adam began a PhD program in Political Science at Baylor University in Waco, TX in the Fall of 2009. He received his BA from Ashland University in Ashland, OH, where he studied Political Science, Religion, and English Literature. During his undergrad, he worked on several political campaigns as well as interning with The Claremont Review of Books. He continues to be fascinated by politics, literature, and media’s interaction with theology and the Church. In the spare time he does scratch out, he likes to play guitar, read, and spend late nights debating any and every topic at all-night diners. Adam is married to Emily Carrington. 
Let me get this straight. Are you saying we should feel sorry for ruining these homosexuals chances at a happy marriage/relationship? Or that we ought not be proud of stopping this vile act? I really want to know what you are meaning by this post.
I see where he is coming from here.
He is not saying stopping the law is wrong, he is saying to not lose sight of the fact that people were hurt by it, no matter the reason. Don’t lose sight of the people, when doing the right thing.
Yeah, Jason. I think if you read carefully it’s pretty clear what he means.
I kinda figured thats what he meant, but I wanted to be sure.
Wow, thanks Adam. That was awesome.
Thanks for the post Adam, I think it strikes at precisely who we want to be at CAPC… Christians who hold to the Truth absolutely, but can also love unconditionally.
Well put, Ben.
I don’t understand. Am I suppose to be happy or sad that homosexuals can’t marry? From the take I get from this article, I feel as if CAPC thinks we should feel sorry for them. Yes they got their feelings hurt, but they made a decision to disobey God and be homosexuals. So I would say I am proud they lost. Sorry they are hurting, but in all fainess they shouldn’t have counted their eggs before they hatched. Sounds to me they were jumping the gun on getting married, and they were voted down. All in all it is their fault. They chose to go against God and His laws, they chose to make plans other than that of the people, and then they get upset when they are voted down.
How come it is when the majority says it is wrong, and in this case they did, the homosexuals seem to get even madder at us. Why should we (the majority and Christians) let them do what they want, and trample on our beliefs. Why can’t they (homosexuals) just say “If thats the way the majority feels, then we will back off”. Because we dont put our foot down thats why. If we said this vote is conclusive and the people have spoken, the end, period, maybe they wouldn’t push the envelope. But we continue to say we’re so sorry, and are push overs in most cases, well why wouldn’t they keep trying.
I’m sorry they are hurting. But they did it to themselves. If they want to spit on me and my God and continue heading down this route, how can I feel sorry. It’s like reading a sign that says “Danger Hidden Rocks DO NOT JUMP from cliff!” and then jumping. It sucks that that person got hurt but if they had read the sign, and heeded it’s warning, then they wouldn’t be hurt.
Since when has a majority opposition caused people to back away from a position they believe is right? If they majority of Americans said that homosexual marriages were awesome and that abortions are the best thing to happen to America since women got the right to vote, would you just take it or would you complain about the direction of this country and how things need to change? Educated guess: probably the latter.
Also, Pro Tip: It sounds much more genuine when you say you are sorry for something without qualifying it from here to eternity. Especially when you actually go so far as to revoke your previously referenced sorrow by saying: “If they want to spit on me and my God and continue heading down this route, how can I feel sorry.” You seem conflicted.
Sorry for not weighing in earlier. My point was that we should have compassion on those who are hurting even when their hurting is the result of their own sin. I think this is true for many reasons. One, Christ loved us and had compassion on us “while we were still sinners.” Second, our struggles, our pains, both before and after conversion, often stem from our own wrong-doing. Knowing Christ’s example and knowing our own state should lead us to love those who sin as we do even if not in the exact same way we do. In other words, our compassion should also be grounded in Christ-centered humility.
I do not in any way want to deny that homosexuality, like all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman, is sinful and ultimately harmful to those who partake (though that certainly includes many other heterosexual sins, too). I do not even want to deny that legislation has a part to play. Martin Luther King, Jr., when confronted with the “just change hearts, not laws” argument agreed that changing hearts must be the ultimate goal. But he also said that laws help to do that if done properly and that the two methods are not mutually exclusive.
Ultimately, passing laws can only be at best a part and that a small part. But if we are to change people’s hearts, we must first truly care about those we hope to change. Then we must show them we care. We must show them regardless of how mean-spirited they might reply. So being triumphant in the face of homosexual persons, who just lost what they think is a fundamental right, upon which many have staked most of their self-definition, is the way to close hearts and minds to our arguments and in the end to the Gospel. Let’s make the argument for the Biblical view of marriage, amassing the many means to do so. But let’s do so in a spirit of love. Let’s do it in a manner that never shirks the truth; let’s speak the truth in a way that homosexual persons have no doubt that what we say and do is because we love them and we want what is best for them as fellow creatures made in the image of God. I hope and think God would be glorified in that approach.
Thanks Adam I understand better now. I just cant help but stand against it anyway. I have always been strongly opposed to homosexuals, and I feel that God is strongly against all sexual sin. I understand that we should love them, but I wonder how much can we love them before we hurt our own cause? We must draw a line in the sand and say this is where it ends. We can tell them all day that they are wrong and they are sinning, but when we make them feel loved they do not really understand they are doing wrong. I think they take us for a joke because to them it is all backwards. They think because homosexuality is wrong we should hate them, so when we love tem they figure it can’t be that wrong.
Christians as a whole are mainly straight forward about sin. We don’t (in most cases, whether it be Biblical or not) cuss, commit abortions, drink, steal, have affairs, cheat, or do anything that society deems wrong. –But sometimes I think that last one gets us in pickles. Society calls it a hate crime to say homosexuality is wrong, so do we as Christians, in essence, break the man made law, or do we break Gods law?– Sorry My main point was that when homosexuals see Christians take such strong stands (even though sometimes not so stong)against other sins, and then they see how we love them and don’t try to stay away from them I would imagine one would get confused. As if a homosexual is not already confused. But then add in the factor “I thought I was a dirty ole sinner and these guys are loving me anyhow, maybe what I’m doing isn’t so bad after all.” I hope you can see my side of this.
Honestly I am a little torn about it, I know we should love them, but on the other hand I see all of the sexually transmitted diseases that God has created for those who partake in any kind of sexual sin. So I wonder if God has done these things to make them miserable, what part should I play? How should I feel? Nowadays many of those STDs have transfered to people who don’t deserve it. Children who are born with it, doctors who get exposed to it, maybe these are Gods punishment on us for not heeding his word, and for not punishing them. That is where I am coming from.
Jason, I would just challenge you to stand back and see which one of these approaches most characterizes the life and ministry of Jesus. The woman who committed adultery… did Jesus decide not to love her “too much” so as to “take a stand”? What about the Samaritan woman who’d had a bunch of husbands? The guys who were nailing Jesus to the cross?
I see that you are concerned that homosexuals understand they are sinning. That’s great, but I think the best way to communicate this is from a perspective of love rather than perceived hatred. It’s not confusing if someone who loves you tells you a hard truth. I know for me, it’s much easier to accept criticism or hard truths from those I know actually give a crap about me.
To just add to what Rich is saying, Jason, I think it might be helpful to think about the way we love our children. When they sin, even if they sin strongly against us, we do not need to hate them in order to condemn their sin. In fact, if we did hate our children when they sinned, just so they would understand how strongly we opposed the sin, they probably would not respond well.