Should Same-Sex Marriage be Legalized?  Yes!
by Rev. Stephen R. Parelli, MCC Clergy

It isn't a religious issue. It is a civil right. It is not for the church nor
the state to say what is morally right or wrong for you before God in
this matter of same-sex relationships and marriage. Marriage is a civil
contract between two people. Gays do not have the right to enter into
that civil contract without denying their own sexual orientation.

The evangelical church has sadly aborted their own heritage of soul
liberty and separation of church and state (they legalize their
interpretation of scripture by passing anti-gay state amendments).
They have exchanged their soul for a cultural warfare while overlooking,
in this case, justice issues. A time will come when young evangelicals
will see the error of the anti-gay religious sentiment of their forefathers
and will apologize for them. Sadly, the church has often fought on the
wrong side of history to her own detriment.

The Old Testament prophets I read cry out for a justice that addresses
the poor, the widow and the orphans; a just balance and a fair
economy; falsehood and the shedding of blood. Old Testament
prophets weren't hung-up on sex like the American protestant
evangelicals I know.  Sex was Paul's hang-up, obviously, who said "It is
better for a man not to marry, etc, etc., etc." No American male I know
would want to live by Paul's imperatives.

The Bible really isn't a book on the topic of human sexuality. Sexuality
is addressed there more in terms of culture and rights (more often, if
not exclusively, the man's right). We need to stop treating the Bible as
an exhaustive study on human sexuality. It just isn't so. Genesis 1
and 2 may be the story of beginnings and normatives, but that does
not rule out exceptions not addressed there. We make Genesis 1 and
2 carry more weight than was ever intended. We make Genesis 1 and 2
argue from silence, not from declaratives, when we say Genesis 1 and
2 -- male and female -- proves God would not allow for homosexuality.
A Short
Essay by
Rev. Steve
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