Dear All,
Robert Arne asked me to post this message sent to him...so here
it is.
Mike
Good point Robert....however I believe the best position the
Church can take to improve their influence in the world is to get the
state completely out of the marriage business. The only proper role of
the state is to file the contracts, not to make moral judgments about
them. Marriage is an act of G_d that doesn't need the approval of the
state for any kind of loving union. That's why this big deal about gay
marriage is nothing more than local government just trying to make
themselves look more important than they really....as usual. And the
other side of the government position is going to do exactly the same
thing....in reverse. I just read this headline "Bush to Save
Marriage"...give me a break.
Conservatives who believe the state can strengthen the status of
marriage or any other kind of moral behavior should really wake up and
smell the coffee. Catholic Charities gets 80% of their funding from
government now. So when the Archbishop complains that we must improve
separation of Church and state because the state insists that Catholic
Charities provide contraception benefits to all employees who get
prescription drug benefits, I say, show them you are serious and stop
taking government money. And stop allowing political groups to lobby for
more public funding in Churches under the guise of "social justice".
Until Conservatives wake up and see that the state is dragging us all
into the gutter, and they stop pleading to the state to save them and
us, the sooner we will move towards real freedom and a more moral world.
The problem is not that gay people are binding together in civil
contracts or even spiritual union, marriage if one prefers. The problem
is that the state is representing this relationship as the equivalent of
Holy Matrimony with all it can mean for a man and woman and our society.
It is not. Far be it from me to hold myself up as a better person than
any of my LGBT brothers and sisters just because I am heterosexual,
married and with children. I most certainly have plenty of other flaws
as G_d knows only too well. However, I would never contend that my
shortcomings entitle me to equivalency with those who are more in tune
with G_d's will in other areas of life. Without making moral judgments
about people, something we are instructed to avoid, we can make
judgments about behaviors. And not all behaviors are equivalent even if
treated equally under the law.
The trend to blur the difference will continue until people of
faith join together with those with whom they disagree on other subjects
and renounce the state and all its injustice, something we can agree on.
The state is the biggest lie in history that continues to perpetuate
itself to the detriment of us all. Appealing to the state to uphold
morality is like asking the devil to do the same. G_d's kingdom is not
of this earth. There are few things more earthly than government and
taxes. It's time to reject the state as it has nothing to do with the
Kingdom of G_d...and certainly nothing to do with marriage.
Best regards,
Mike