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Kathleen Taylor's avatar

No reason for gays to marry. They cannot produce children and already had the option of legalizing their financial and social contract via civil unions.

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Karmy's avatar

Yes. Marriage is a sacrament. The union of a man and woman to procreate and bring children into the world. Gay “marriage” mocks the sacrament which was the entire point. I was for civil unions which was the way to handle it but no they had to go all the way.

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AngelaK's avatar

And it happened just like that, I remember.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

Many heterosexual couples never have children.

Marriage is a legal contract between two people.

It has everything to do with the state, and nothing to do with religion.

There are many legal and property rights reasons for people to want

to be married.

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Susanna Bythesea's avatar

I disagree. Marriage is a spiritual union designed by God and it is the inseparable joining of two souls so that the man and wife become one. This spiritual union actually has nothing to do with government or law other than that the governing authority should be respectful of God’s design and recognize marriage as such. Marriage between a man and a woman is, however, so profitable to a nation/culture/society that many nations protect and promote it through legal incentives/moral disincentives.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

Where have you seen this god's design for marriage outlined?

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Fla Mom's avatar

Bryan, Genesis 2:20-24

20The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. 22And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. 23And the man said:

“This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

for out of man she was taken.”

24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

How is marriage defined in that passage?

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Fla Mom's avatar

"For this reason...."

"Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:9

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Bryan Dair's avatar

Jesus never commented on same sex marriages,

and he was certainly not on the planet during Genesis.

And Genesis 1 doesn't mention any marriage.

Genesis 1:24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

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Susanna Bythesea's avatar

Bryan,

I’m glad you asked! Note, if one does not believe that the Bible is the Word of God, in written, infallible, and perfectly preserved form, then any arguments from it are perhaps not particularly convincing. Likewise, if one is happy to consume some modern paraphrases that claim to be “The Bible” but are simply muddy waters, one may not even be able to find these following verses or word studies.

But in the King James Bible,

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Genesis 2:20-25 (Fla mom kindly shared); vv. 23-24 being particularly salient to this conversation: “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

If you go to a Bible app and enter marriage” (I use the KJB so I can’t vouch for how this shows up in modern translations) into the search bar, you can see a host of verses that describe or prescribe the pattern of marriage that God has set forth. Levitical law describes in detail what is acceptable and not acceptable related to marriage - adultery was a crime worthy of death. (For anyone balking at this, to be fair, ALL sin is crime worthy of death: Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” God assigned a heavy earthly price to pay for adultery, due, I believe, to its extreme detriment to the health of families, religious communities and nations. We can see clearly today what happens when you accept a little immorality…then you are expected to celebrate it…then it consumes you and your children…)

For our dispensation in particular, I see God’s instruction through Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7:2 “…to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”

I Timothy 5:9 describes a widow worthy of being supported by the church as “having been the wife of one man”, I Timothy 3:2-5, 8-12 says bishops and deacons should be “husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.” It seems a simple inference to see that marriage has a hierarchy and a purpose - husbands leading in their homes, and wives loving their husbands and children and obeying their husbands (Titus 2:4-5; “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”)

For women chafing under the instruction to obey your husband - our culture will put you under obedience to any random dude at the workplace but you chafe at the idea of ONLY having to obey your own husband? I think it is an incredible delight to have ONLY one earthly boss and he is the man who sacrificially loves, serves and provides for his family. Best boss ever.

But I digress, a bit. I hope this helped answer your question, or offer a starting place for your research, Bryan. I have to chase down dinner for my kids (thankfully not literally!) so I may not see future responses but thanks for the question, I appreciate your engagement.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

No, I am sorry, but all of that verbiage does not address my question.

Firstly, it starts with an inconsistency. In Genesis 1, a man and a woman are created at once. In Genesis 2, we get the crazy story of Eve being created from Adam's stolen rib.

In any case, husbands and wives are mentioned but it is not defined how they were married.

Lastly, how does your god feel about polygamy?

'King David had at least eight wives. His first two wives were Ahinoam and Abigail, whom he married before he became king of Judah. His next four wives were Maakah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah, whom he married while he reigned in Hebron for seven and a half years. His most famous wife was Bathsheba, whom he married after he moved his capital to Jerusalem. Each of his wives bore him sons, except for Bathsheba who bore him four sons.'

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Kathleen Taylor's avatar

And those same property property rights are protected by civil unions. Marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

By what authority?

Can you cite a definition of 'marriage' from your bible.

From my reading, a marriage in the bible amounts to a suitor

and the girl's father negotiating a purchase price.

This would obviously be considered misogynistic by modern values.

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Kathleen Taylor's avatar

A man will never be the "husband " of another man. No matter what SCOTUS (incorrectly) states in Obergefell. It should be overturned on the same basis as Roe.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

Why?

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Kathleen Taylor's avatar

Dear Bryan, I sincerely pray you find the peace of mind you seek.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

I am not seeking peace of mind.

I am all good.

But I will write a letter to Santa Claus on your behalf.

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Kathleen Taylor's avatar

Thank you! He knows what I want but I do appreciate your putting in a good word for me. : )

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c Anderson's avatar

Corruption of marriage is found throughout the Holy Bible which is a historical document. The original couple Adam and Eve were the ideal, but over time, natural man/woman became enemies to God. They were tempted to leave the presence of God and live on their own. Just like today, many feel they don’t need spirituality, faith, or an understanding of the purpose of life to be happy. Or is it they are prideful? Seeking truth through God is not easy, but worthwhile because it is strengthening and ennobling. How unfortunate that we have lost dignity in our society.

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Bryan Dair's avatar

It is almost like this god is not omnipotent, omnipresent, and all knowing if puny insignificant humans can just live blissful lives doing as they please pretending this great deity is nonexistent.

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