Monday, October 12, 2009

Obama and Gay Marriage

President Obama attended the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group. He promised those in attendance that he would end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy currently in effect in the U.S. military. The President also called on the Congress to repeal DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress in September of 1996.

The DOMA law has 2 purposes. One is to define marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman. The second purpose allows a state to refuse to recognize the "marriage" of same sex individuals from another state. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine currently allow "same sex marriage," with New Hampshire's "gay marriage" laws going into effect in January, 2010. California has also just joined with New York State and Washington DC in recognizing such "marriages" from other jurisdictions.

In September, 2009, the Respect for Marriage Act bill was submitted with 91 sponsors into the House of Representatives. This bill would repeal DOMA law. Some on the left claim that it would not force states to accept "same sex marriages" from other states, but if you read the bill, that is exactly what it will do. It strikes down the portion of the DOMA law that gives states the right to refuse to recognize "same sex marriage" from other states. Twenty-nine states have Constitutional amendments that define marriage as between a man and a woman. I believe that if DOMA is repealed then the federal government will eventually force all states to recognize "same sex marriages."

Now many in the homosexual community declare that Jesus never has anything to say about homosexuality, but in Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus defined marriage by quoting from the Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24: "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." It seems to me that by defining marriage has between a man and a woman, there is no room left for "same sex marriages."

Who is this Creator? John 1:1-18 declares who the creator is, Christ Jesus. John 1:1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:17 - For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

President Obama has stated that he reads the Bible every day. I wonder why he would dismiss these verses and others that speak about homosexuality. Is he, like so many others, deciding what is true in the Bible and what is not true? Do we have the right to make a distinction about which parts of the Bible we will follow and which parts we will dismiss? The answer is no, we do not have the right to judge the Bible. Jesus is the Word, therefore the Creator and He has declared that marriage is between a man and a woman. I pray that President Obama will heed the words of our Creator, Christ Jesus, and stop promoting a life style that goes against the laws of nature, as defined by God.