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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - First sentence, second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence
Maybe it's just me, but it seems apparent that not allowing homosexuals to marry, is most certainly denying them an unalienable right.
I'm not saying homosexuals shouldn't be happy. If they want to live in that lifestyle then go for it. However it's not marriage as that's not how marriage was created.
Now that I cleared that up, I have a question for you. Since you brought up the Declaration of Independence, I have a few questions for you. The Declaration of Independence talks about how men are endowed by their Creator, who is the creator? If you say God the Father, you are correct. Therefore with God being the creator, he made us the way we are. There is a reason he made us so that procreation is a gift from a male/female relationship. The presence of design should pretty obvious to anyone.
My second question regards babies being slaughtered inside the mother's womb. Are you pro-choice? If so, doesn't your opinion conflict on the exact same argument that you just made that men are created with certain unalienable rights with one of them being life? So if you are pro-life, congrats for at least being consistent. If you are pro-choice, your argument is flawed and therefore have no argument.
First, if you believe that God made us the way we are (which I am in agreement with you), then it would stand to reason that God made homosexuals the way they are as well, regardless of their ability or proclivity to procreate. Why are they not heterosexual, who knows? Why is a person left-handed? Or blue-eyed? Or red-headed? I don't know nor do I presume to know why.
Second, I reject the pro-life/pro-choice argument because I think that most people, like me, do not see it as an either/or proposition. Personally, I view birth control as a preventive action and not as a form of homicide. However, I would discourage my children or any of my friends or relatives from seeking an abortion except for the following circumstances, 1) the doctor/s have determined that the mother may lose her life during delivery, 2) the doctor/s have determined that the fetus would not viable or would suffer unduly upon birth, or 3) both.
I hope that you also have a great day.
God made us all sinners- whether that be are natural drunks, selfish, angry, homosexuals, or any other sin in the book. There is repetence in any sin within all of us and homosexuals can be rehabitated if they so choose to do. We have seen proof of that, and the fact that there are people who are "bi-sexual" demonstrates this point.
I do not have a problem with birth control. A life is not murdered as the baby is growing as what you get with abortion.
Well then I am going to take a moment to give a Prayer of Thanks that I never had some idiot jackass football coach "leading me in prayer". Because if some fat moron in grey polyester stretch shorts had tried to shove G-- down my throat, then I would have concluded that there really could not have been a Supreme Being (if Coach Bubba Ray Dumbley was forcing me to pray to him, then how could he possibly exist).
Luckily, I never had to live through that, and so am NOT AN ATHEIST.
I'm pretty sure of what would have happened, because the whistle-wearing Sanduskies DID force us to recite the 'Pledge of Allegiance'. I was not about to swear anything to any piece of cloth. I smelled a Rat. Even at six, I was forming notions about false idols and graven images, and this (considering who was pushing it at me) looked like a graven image to me. So, I crossed my fingers & toes, and substituted words and phrases like "where the Witches stand", for "for which it stands". And to this day, those color-clashing rags have never been part of our home's decor.
So I am truly thankful that I was not deprived of my love for G--, by having the concept dirtied through association with the idiots who ran our schools.
God doesn't care if prayer comes from a gifted pastor, father, "fat football coach", or a 4 year old kid. Prayer is special because it's our way of talking to our creator. Now I'm sorry you feel an overweight football coach isn't capable of leading a simple prayer. I'm glad you are not an atheist. It is my prayer that someone like you, who i feel probably has a great heart, understands that God does some things we don't understand. I don't know why he allows us to sin. Maybe it's a test that will allow us to show our love for him by trusting in what he says? I'll ask him one day. He has everything figured out.
This conversation is over. Some of my posts have been deleted and I'm not getting caught up in this conversation anymore. This topic is done. My apologies to the MODS.
Religion is not being shoved down out throat; in fact it's more and more being kept out of society because of liberals. There was a time in the 60's that students had the opportunity to have a class prayer in public schools. The liberals began removing God at that point and America has continued down a path of unrighteouness ever since. People are so offended that liberal groups complain any mentioning of God's name.
And no I wouldn't abandon my child if she was a homosexual. We can always have a solution to sin and homosexuality is no different. I wish I could elaborate more, but I have too many violations already for speaking freely and I really enjoy my account and I don't want to be banned.
Religion is being shoved down their throats just as you believe liberalism is being shoved down yours. It's not being kept out of society, times change and this country is not the religious land it was in the 18th and 19th centuries. Student's didn't have the opportunity, they were systematically forced to participate, which is wrong. You can pray at home, or in your head. Public school is not the place for that, just as it wouldn't be the place if Mumbai got an overwhelming influx of Catholics and they continued their practices in public schools.
Saying a prayer in school won't solve a darn thing, neither will having required religious classes.
I was unaware you had any violations.
Religion is being shoved down their throats just as you believe liberalism is being shoved down yours. It's not being kept out of society, times change and this country is not the religious land it was in the 18th and 19th centuries. Student's didn't have the opportunity, they were systematically forced to participate, which is wrong. You can pray at home, or in your head. Public school is not the place for that, just as it wouldn't be the place if Mumbai got an overwhelming influx of Catholics and they continued their practices in public schools.
Saying a prayer in school won't solve a darn thing, neither will having required religious classes.
I was unaware you had any violations.
Your point about 'religion' being shoved down our throat is not correct; just the opposite is happening. Now I'm not an advocate of religion, I'm a lover of our Lord... There is a difference. You cannot even bring up God anymore without having someone get their feelings hurt. Now while I am not in favor of forced prayer, your pagan liberal buddies have taken away the right to pray for people who love God. So your argument that religion is being shoved down our throat is nonsense. The attacks against Christianity are on the rise and it's blatently obvious.
And your final comment about saying a prayer in school won't solve a darn thing is extremely unfortunate. You cannot put God 'in a box' and suggest that we can pray in this venue, but not in this venue. This is just typical liberal dogma to suggest that God does not belong in the public spotlight when the reality is that he deserves love more than anything or anybody. I'm praying for you my friend.
Hi,
To answer you first question, let me extend some background information about myself. I am an evangelical Christian first and foremost, and a conservative politically leaning person second (but I do not like Wall-StreetJ ). Now with that kind of understanding in mind, you probably have an idea of why I have my set of beliefs that I do. With that understanding you can understand why I believe marriage is between one man and one woman. The law was given to us by God. If God says marriage is between one man and one woman, then as someone who loves God, I’m going to abide by his rules. What I believe politically has no relevance here.
Regarding the homosexuals, I have no agitation for them. It’s not my place to judge them. What I do have a problem with is the political left making homosexuality seem, well …. Again, I am not limited to elaborate until a MOD will gives me a lot of latitude here to speak openly and honestly.
Now we have all seen the statistics on the divorce rate among “Christians”. What many fail to realize is that the divorce rate among serious Christians who take God’s word seriously is much less than non-committed Christians.
Therefore my ultimate argument on why marriage is between one man and one woman is more spiritual than political. And to your point I was wrong on my statement that marriage has always been between one man and one woman. You are correct that in the Old Testament days polygamy was a common practice. I still don’t know when that changed but that practice was not in effect in the New Testament.
So with that being said, I take the literal Biblical belief not just on homosexuality, but on everything.
So it sounds to me like you take the bible literally and therefore I think it would be a waste of time trying to debate with you on things outside of the bible's authority--namely politico-legal constructions of marriage.
While you have your beliefs I think you should be aware that others have probably very different beliefs--and ones not based on scripture. You should probably consider that there are vast differences in worldviews among Americans and as Americans we have rights that are provided to us by the U.S. Constitution and the various state constitutions. As far as I'm aware, these fundamental laws do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation except when it comes to marriage. I think you should take solace in this fact--that it's still largely illegal in this country.
That being said, you should probably be aware that people have the freedom to agitate on behalf of their belief system or worldview. While you disagree and believe that Christians are devoid of power in this country, I'd suggest that you wake up and take a look around you. For the most part, to obtain political office in the United States (and certainly Mississippi) one must be a Christian or else they would receive few votes. In addition, any candidate for office usually has to do a good deal of politicking at churches and it's no coincidence that during the GOP Primary Season, each of the major candidates spoke at various mega-churches. And while were on the subject of churches, if you'd look around I'd bet you'd find a great number of Christian churches in your community. Take Memphis alone--I believe there's one church for every three-quarters of a mile in that city. Jackson, moreover, has an abundance of churches. If the U.S.A. truly had Christianity on the run, then I doubt you'd find so many churches in our society.
School prayer is another issue in which you claim Christians have no power and that could be hardly the case. At just about every public school sporting event I've ever attended, the games are generally preceded by a prayer over a loudspeaker--and I've heard this take place at many a high school football game in Mississippi. While I'm thinking about it, you're assertions that school prayer is outlawed in public schools is incorrect. Most public schools offer bible clubs and meet-you-round-the-flagpole-to-pray groups. These groups do their thing usually with the approval of the administration, especially in Mississippi schools. Moreover, I'd bet that just about every public school teacher (with a few exceptions) are active members at a Christian church. Not only that, but I doubt you'd find any school district in America that could enforce a ban on prayer when all one needs to do it is to pray silently to themselves.
But that's not what you advocate at all. You want school prayer to be a public spectacle so that the administration, or other students, could separate the believers from the non-believers and then discriminate against them.
This is what happened to Lisa Herdahl's children at a school in Pontotoc County some 18 years ago. A Lutheran, Herdahl disagreed with the Baptist influence on school curriculum--particularly a bible class mandatory for students to take and complete, and a Baptist-led prayer before each class period. She sued the school district because the school administrators separated her children from the rest of the students during bible class and prayer time--opening them up to ostracism and marginalization in addition to acts of violence directed against them. This is why school districts cannot determine what children will pray and whom they'll pray to during school; this is why group prayer is banned. Yet individual prayer is allowed and you know it is. I bet you prayed once or twice while at school. I know I have--back when I was religious. I generally prayed for help so that certain bullies wouldn't kick my butt, but that's another story.
I guess to sum up on the school prayer thing--there are more religious traditions in each community than just the Christian one (and various denominations among Christians) and therefore school districts cannot be allowed to set up a Christian-influenced program and basically tell students that they have to conform to it or else. And besides, there's enough religion in schools that student-led and this is perfectly consistent with the laws.
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