Same sex marriage is not a church issue.

[Christianity in crisis?]

I believe same sex marriage is not a church issue when it comes to the law. Christians who try to ban same sex marriage are wrong, and should be consistent with the separation of church and state. BTW... I am an evangelical Christian against forms of legalized discrimination.

[Bust Nak]

"Gay marriage is no different than a black person marrying a white person."

As IF the overwhelming mental desire to have anal or oral sex with a person of the same gender is comparable to being kidnapped and forced into slavery were one and the same thing.

Strawman. The desire to marry someone of the same gender isn't being compared to slavery, it is being compared to the desire to marry someone of a different race.

[connermt]

I believe same sex marriage is not a church issue when it comes to the law. Christians who try to ban same sex marriage are wrong, and should be consistent with the separation of church and state. BTW... I am an evangelical Christian against forms of legalized discrimination.

Gay marriage is an independent, personal, legal decision between individuals. The church should have no say in that at all what-so-ever.
Likewise, no one (gay or straight) should be able to sue a church because the church doesn't want to carry on with the wedding ceremony (has that ever successfully happened anyway?).

If it hasn't happened yet, it is most certainly on the way.

That is why Satan has produced the anti-Christian position that gay sex is the same as being born genetically from the Negroid race.

"Gay marriage is no different than a black person marrying a white person."

As IF the overwhelming mental desire to have anal or oral sex with a person of the same gender is comparable to being kidnapped and forced into slavery were one and the same thing.

You can almost smell the demonic tactic in the anti-Christian position of celebrating homosexual acts.

If it hasn't happened yet, with years of marriages, thinking it would happen simply because gay people are allowed to legally get married seems very paranoid IMO.
Can you prove that satan has done anything without using biblical verses?
Since when does anyone in their right mind equate a black and white person getting married with slavery? Did I miss something here?
Paranoia....

[connermt]

I believe same sex marriage is not a church issue when it comes to the law. Christians who try to ban same sex marriage are wrong, and should be consistent with the separation of church and state. BTW... I am an evangelical Christian against forms of legalized discrimination.

Gay marriage is an independent, personal, legal decision between individuals. The church should have no say in that at all what-so-ever.
Likewise, no one (gay or straight) should be able to sue a church because the church doesn't want to carry on with the wedding ceremony (has that ever successfully happened anyway?).

No.

Then it appears some people are paranoid.
I've always wondered how believers can honestly think making something legal or illegal would save souls?

Paranoid? Really? Now any opposition to our children being indoctrinated into celebrating gay sex of their classmates and ADULTS . . . and of course being offered the homosexual experience as a "questioning youth . . . is now plied in just about every school in the western world.

Pederasty packaged as a civil rights action.

Paranoia? How about just being able to understand past history being repeated.

Looks like the Christians are the most sane among us.

Yes really. Very similar issues were raised when inter-racial marriages started to become popular. And society still stands; christains can still worship their god; gay people aren't eating children....all the paranoia was fleeting.
The fact that you seem to think children are being "indoctrinated" into celebrating anything sexual in nature speaks ten fold to paranoia.

[His Name Is John]

The formula for changing a constitution is usually significantly different than making other laws. A simple majority is not enough.

But the majority can change how we change constitutions. We are only safe while the majoirty look kindly upon us.

[connermt]

The formula for changing a constitution is usually significantly different than making other laws. A simple majority is not enough.

We are only safe while the majoirty look kindly upon us.

I wonder if you'd say that if you were in the minority?

[The Coach]

Church and State are SUPPOSED to be seperate. Yet the Queensland government has overturned a law that allowed civil union of same sex couples. They are allowed to register their relationship, but thanks to the pressure of christian groups, may not have a state recognised ceremony, equivalent of marriage. This was presented to the public as an suitable compromise. What an absolute disgrace.

Politics is about laws for the city, state and nation, not about what some holier than thou, bigoted christian pricks want. Why the christian church gets a say in politics is a joke, especially in Australia where less than 2/3 of people identify as christian (including those not so christian catholics) and probably less than 50% even practice.

Once again, same sex couples are pushed down and treated like shit, while tossers who hide their tendencies shout down from the pulpit.

SHAME QUEENSLAND SHAME

[KCKID]

Amended civil union laws retained in Queensland
ABC NEWS - Updated June 13, 2012 08:45:36

The Queensland Government says it will not repeal same-sex civil union laws in the state, but the legislation will be amended. Premier Campbell Newman and his Attorney-General have decided civil partnerships will still be formally registered, but there will be no state-sanctioned ceremonies.

The original bill was rushed through Parliament by the then Labor government before the March state election, prompting the LNP to promise it would look into repealing them. Mr Newman is pro gay marriage and declared as much during the election campaign, even though his party's official position is against it.

He has come under heavy lobbying from Christian groups to repeal civil partnerships. He says changes to the Civil Partnerships Act are a sensible compromise and will preserve couples' rights. "[They are] minimal amendments that will keep, if you like, the legal rights of people who have already registered civil partnerships," he said. "The thing that has, if you like, offended Christian groups is that the current provisions in the Act, particularly section 11, seek to emulate marriage.

On Tuesday, Mr Newman said there was a lengthy discussion in cabinet which considered a paper from Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie, who also considered the laws which operate in New South Wales and Tasmania. "If you look at the legal reasons for relationship registration, for instance the Succession Act where one wants to leave items in a will to their partner, it authorises that to take place," Mr Bleijie said.

"There was a strong argument in the community that people, for next-of-kin reasons and for hospital reasons, they needed to prove that relationship. So it wasn't that the relationship didn't exist prior to that or under the de facto relationship; the difference is under the de facto you have to prove the relationship. "By having the registration enables the people to prove that relationship with a lot less bureaucracy and red tape."

There is one significant change; Section 11 of the Act allowed people to go through a state-sanctioned service, much like a wedding ceremony. As a concession to Christian groups it will be scrapped. "That of course does not preclude people from having their own ceremony, a matter for them privately to do whatever they want," he said.

Wendy Francis, from the Australian Christian Lobby, is happy with the outcome.
"What Campbell Newman has done, I think, has pulled us into line with the other states," she said. "We now have what is equal to a relationship register. So the paths of this legislation that have been mimicking marriage have been removed and for that I'm very grateful."

LGBTI Legal Service president Merran Lawler was expecting the worst and says the decision not to repeal the laws entirely was a surprise. But she says she is disappointed that Section 11 will be repealed. "What the Premier has today announced is effectively that couples who enter into a civil partnership are entitled to the barest of entitlements, which is a right to register their relationships or their union," she said.

More than 600 couples have registered their partnership since the laws were enacted. Only 21 have opted for the state-sanctioned service. But Ms Lawler says that could be misleading. "Civil partnerships has only been able to be entered into for something like four months, even though the legislation has been in effect for a longer period of time," she said.

"Anybody who might be planning a ceremony potentially wants a bit of time to make that actually happen." Shelley Argent, the founder of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays), says she hopes the announcement pushes the case for a change to federal marriage laws. "This did seem to be the one state that would have gone back on equality and rights," she said. "So I think now we can move forward with marriage equality in Canberra and I think that we will have more success with that now. I would say thank you to Campbell Newman for seeing sense."

[Haven]

It's sad to see this homophobic hatred spread beyond the United States to (what I thought was) a more progressive and equal country. I agree with The Coach, shame, Queensland, shame. Regardless of what Christians believe, they do not have the right to impose their religious code of conduct upon others through force of law. Australia and the United States are not theocracies; separation of church and state still apply.

[KCKID]

I believe same sex marriage is not a church issue when it comes to the law. Christians who try to ban same sex marriage are wrong, and should be consistent with the separation of church and state. BTW... I am an evangelical Christian against forms of legalized discrimination.

I am a Christian and believe that Biblical standards should be upheld, not diluted according to the whims of society and the fickle standards set by one generation of unbelievers or another.

I am a Christian and believe that common sense should be upheld, not diluted according to religious zealots and their hypocritical take on cherry picked scriptures that are intended to demean and demonize those whose beliefs differ from their own. I don't wany any part of your Christianity and your pious and arrogant standards, thank you very much.

Gay -anything- is wrong and should be forbidden in law,

Keep the scriptures away from the law of the land!

in practice

Mind your own business!

and in preaching the gospel.

The gospel has nothing to do with this issue. And, unless you are preaching the love of Jesus then keep your gospel away from me!

God demands adherence to His righteousness and nothing less.

Is this the same God whose righteousness includes the stoning to death of anyone who does not adhere to the Sabbath command? That's the 4th-command of the Big Ten, by the way. Do YOU adhere to the command to keep the Sabbath - Friday sundown thru' Saturday sundown ...each week, every week? If not, then you are in violation of God's demands and are to be executed. There are many more examples I could give ...shall I go on?

If men and women behave any other way they are in rebellion against the will of God as revealed in the Bible.]

As long as you violate any of the numerous wills of God as revealed in the Bible then you are in rebellion. Step up to the plate ...are you as unrighteous and as unworthy as Paul says that you are? Have you first removed the log from your own eye before you even attempt to remove the splinter from the eye of your brother?

That being said it should be noted that those who hold themselves apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ can be expected to do nothing less than to follow the dictates of their passions. It falls to those of us who know Christ to point the way to God's forgiveness and healing ways.

Again, do you follow - and have you followed - the dictates of your passions during your lifetime? Are you aware that within the Gospel of Jesus Christ the issue of 'gay' marriage is not even hinted at? Would you be willing to forego all of the religious crud that you appear to have been indoctrinated with and partake in a study of the Gospel through fresh eyes?

Those who call themselves Christians, deny the precepts of the Holy Bible, and yield their integrity to the call of the hedonistic society have fallen away.

Fancy, but rather meaningless, rhetoric.

They are backslid and their lot is worse than if they had never believed at all. They are traitors to the gospel and unless they repent they too shall risk God's wrath.

You mean everlasting torment in hell? Same old fundamentalist fear tactics.

It is written that on the day a righteous man sins, all his righteousness will be forgotten.

So, you ARE saying that you are righteous, i.e. sinless? Hmmm . . .as a wretched sinner myself I am humbled to be in your presence.

We now come to matters of political importance. Those who pant after their passions like so many wild dogs want to be allowed to participate in their abominations.

Isn't that pretty well why most heterosexuals are attracted to the opposite gender? I would hazzard a guess that most men are not interested in females for their brains ...no offense intended. So, why are 'gays' assumed to hold the monopoly on 'panting after their passions like so many wild dogs'? In fact, I remember years ago, before I had even heard the term 'homosexual', that the average teen boy was described in pretty much the same way as you describe above.

Even more, the Bible says they will denounce those who try to prevent it. Worse yet, the Bible says that because they have repeatedly and consistently refused the call to mercy, God has abandoned them to their self-deceptions and lusts. They are worse than animals, for God's kindness has been withdrawn for as long as they do perpetually indulge themselves.

Who are you referring to here ...heterosexuals? The most 'randy' and promiscuous human beings that I've come across in my lifetime are of the heterosexual persuasion. In fact, I don't know anyone in real life who is 'gay' and also fits your description above.

It is being demanded of Christians to certify wickedness as good.

Tell that to those thousands and thousands of Christians who, every week, rub shoulders with former divorcees (now remarried) who are committing the wicked act of scriptural adultery. It might do you well to leave the 'gays' alone and concentrate on the REAL sinners! SUCH HYPOCRISY!

Even more, it is being demanded that Christians shut up and retreat to dark corners AS IF WE WERE SOMEHOW TO BLAME for the filth in the world.

Clean up your own backyard if you want to avoid being referred to in such a way.

Ultimately, there are those who call for the murder of Christians who declare the mercy and love of God. Is this really the kind of attitude that will benefit society? It is not. It is destroying society and it will destroy society because in truth there IS right and wrong. The gay life style is wrong.

Adultery is wrong and even condemned by Jesus. Heterosexual marriages that don't go the distance that result in fractured families; heterosexual divorces and remarriages that do the same but are accepted by the Church are what is helping to destroy society. Whatever it is that 'gays' are supposed to be doing would be a mere blip on the Moral Richter Scale.

Let us who are Christians not abandon the definitions of what is good and wicked. Let us not fall into the traps of the hedonists among us who merrily cry that wickedness is good and righteousness is evil. That way is foolishness and death.

If you are absolutely sincere about doing the 'Godly thing' then start by getting rid of all the scriptural adulterers who sit in the pews of numerous Christian Churches every week - some of whom even hold positions of authority. Get them out of your church because they are poluting the Gospel of Jesus Christ! There is no place in Christianity for adulterers!

Come out from the herd that follows its own nose into perdition. Come out and receive mercy and grace from the God of Heaven who has amply provided for salvation to those who come humbly to Him.

Preach on, brother! Should those wicked adulterers who violate not only the 7th commandment but also the very words of Jesus wish to repent and stay as members of the Church family ...great! However, a rather depressing fact is that repentence means that they have to annul their marriages and remain celibate for the rest of their lives.

Whoever said that following the word of God was easy . . .?

PS
Now here is a news flash for everyone whose feathers are ruffled, especially the gay crowd. You may hate and denounce Christians all day long if you choose. Because many Christians are not willing to stand up for their religion, you will get away with it for a while.

Now hear this, God is not willing that this abomination continue.

Preach on, brother! Um ...we ARE talking about heterosexual adultery, aren't we?

Islam is on the rise in America. The religion is on the rise in a mighty way. Nature abhors a vacuum, especially a spiritual one, and the Muslim is coming to fill the place Christianity has abdicated.

Islam is not as forgiving of the gay life style as the church has become.

Isn't adultery still punishable by stoning within the Islam faith?

Preachers today are more concerned about their pitiful little jobs than in disseminating the truth.

Tell me about it. Within my Church only ONE preacher stood his ground and refused to marry divorcees. Others, however, didn't seem to have a problem marrying them ...the cowards!

Therefore the Imam shall replace them, and the message of the Imam is not tolerant of the gay life style.

Nor adultery from what I've heard.

Enjoy your wickedness while you may oh ye of fleshy perversion. Enjoy bashing Christians and enjoy using your twisted logic to justify your twisted ways.

Islam is coming, and your abominations are about to come to a screeching halt.

Yes, I can almost hear them hollering, "Stone those adulterers and also those who embrace them!"

but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...

And I hear ya, brother ...hallelujah!

Sarcasm aside, rp, have I said anything in my above remarks that are not true or scriptural?

[Hubert Humphrey]

Those who say that homosexual marriage threatens the state of so-called biblical marriage clearly do not understand that we already do not have biblical marriages in the U.S.
Common practices such as sexual equality, 50/50 estate division, and women divorcing men were unknown in scripture. Oh, yes- and marriage is universally defined by secular law, not biblical precepts.

We have already redefined heterosexual marriage: why not amend it to include homosexual unions?