[meme] same-sex marriage.

[wisdomeagle]

A meme was born in Icarus's journal. I don't usually participate this kind of meme, but this one has a "why" clause and that makes it automatically better. Meme origin.

If you're religious and support gay marriage, then paste this meme in your LJ.

I am [insert religion here] and I support gay marriage.

Why? Because... [answer].

I am Christian,

Comments

[yesj]

From one queer Christian to another, all I have to say is thank you ♥

[scrollgirl]

What you said. When I first got online and realised you and Elizabeth and others were Christian but queer, I couldn't quite reconcile it in my head. Cognitive dissonance, you know? But hey, we learn new things each day, and we grow in our understanding of the world and our beliefs.

Hey, you should link this over in Icarus' journal so people can find it. Definitely words that should be shared!

[kindkit]

I believe in marriage because I believe in making promises before God

While I respect your point of view (without, as an atheist, sharing it) I also think this is not the same issue as the fight for legal equality in marriage. That's about marriage as a secular institution that confers certain rights and responsibilities, and it has nothing to do with religious belief. On the other hand, religious marriage as a spiritual commitment is available to same-sex couples in a few denominations, regardless of what the state may or may not recognize as legally binding. And in any case, there's nothing to stop a couple from privately making a promise before god even if their church/mosque/synagogue/temple doesn't itself recognize same-sex unions

[wisdomeagle]

I had hoped to make that clear in the paragraph break between what I want as a US citizen and what I want as a Christian. I'm fully in favor of a distinction between civil and religious marriage. Absolutely, totally. But the question was about why I as a Christian believe in same-sex marriage, and that includes religious reasons as well as civil ones.

There are really three sets of arguments here: the argument about civil marriage, the internal religious argument about marriage, and the internal queer/glbt argument about marriage.

[wisdomeagle]

And that's why I get so steamed when people say "oh, get rid of civil marriage all together, and give everyone civil unions. That will satisfy them."

I am actually in favor of this (though I feel it's highly unlikely) -- I don't think there should be a connection between the tangible benefits that accrue to civilly married couples and the spiritual commitment that is a spiritual wedding. Straight couples can get married in either civil or religious ceremonies; in Massachusetts so can gay or lesbian couples, and in places, like, oh, say, Kansas, a lesbian couple could get married in a religious ceremony (if they could find a rabbi, priest, minister etc. who was willing), but not in a civil ceremony.

[quirkytaverna]

This is lovely. It's funny - I grew up so staunchly Catholic. In my late teens I veered away quite stunningly, but there are so many points where I've thought - I want to go back.

But I'm too afraid to step back in a church. I'm too afraid because I'm gay and I don't like that I could be turned away from a beautiful place of faith and strength and hope because of one thing.

So because of that, I shy away from religion and faith and I miss it. Your post makes me want to go back. It makes me feel like I could, one day.