Please allow me to respond to Jay Nauss’ comment (Southern Free Times 21/7/11) with regard to the same sex marriage debate: I applaud you for your comments and questions.
You are right to ask the two questions, “Where is the national leadership when it comes to moral issues?” and “Where is the ‘religious’ community on the same issue’?”
On the first question, I don’t think there needs to be any comment made and I am not really qualified to do so although I have my personal opinion on it.
On the second question, I will make comment.
At this point, I am speaking only on my own behalf but I believe I represent a proportion of the Christian community on this issue (I am a ‘card-carrying’ member of a vibrant, local Christian church) although there will be those who will take me to task over my stance.
That notwithstanding, I state up front that I am opposed to same sex marriage and am against the sin of homosexuality.
I am also against the sin of heterosexual adultery.
Of course, I will be immediately condemned for being old fashioned and out of touch with modern life on both counts and therefore have no right to comment, ‘so, keep your religious propaganda to yourself’ is what I’ll hear.
I feel that that is the main reason most people won’t comment on the issue. There is also the fear of being seen as being different, going against the flow.
A lot of Christians may also be confused because of the ‘science’ being trotted out regarding homosexuality and same sex attraction and I am, again, not qualified to comment. Again, I do have my personal views on that side of the debate.
As a ‘religious’ person, I can point to a number of Bible passages that tell us how God feels about the practice of homosexuality but I will firstly point to the most widely known verse in the Bible that tells me that God loves each and every one of us, no matter what we have done or how we live, John 3:16.
With that in mind, if we look at the first chapter in the Bible, it tells us that God created two people in the first instance, a man and a woman, and thus He set in place a universal principle for marriage.
In Leviticus 20:13, the reference to the abomination of homosexuality is in amongst a long list of other sexual sins, which are considered abominations in His sight as well.
God originally created us in purity. When we deviate from that we bring all sorts of consequences on ourselves.
You see, God does not condemn us for what we do. If He did, why did He send Jesus to die for us.
No, He knew the plight we would be in once sin came into the world and He did something about it.
He offers forgiveness to all practising homosexuals, adulterers, liars, thieves, all of us because we cannot do anything to get ourselves out of the mess we are in.
Homosexuality wasn’t the first sin in the world but it seems to have been elevated to some special category of its own. It is no worse than the other sins I have mentioned earlier and God has already provided the remedy for all of them.
Ray Woodrow, Warwick
