Unemployment has a way of opening up more opportunities for reflection.
Listening to Tony Campolo’s podcast inspired the next few posts.
Gay marriage in the United States is really important every two years so I’ve been thinking about it again. Campolo expressed a point of view that I have been struggling with for a few years. It became more evident when I performed my first marriage ceremony about a month ago. When I finished the ceremony that was obviously a religious ceremony I then had to say “now by the power given to me by the state of Ohio.” What the hell did that ceremony have to do with the state of Ohio? It seems to me that marriage is an institution established by God, and affirmed by Jesus. It also seems clear that the rights and privileges associated with marriage have been established by the state. To the best of my knowledge legalized marriages are a pretty recent phenomenon in history. Campolo said that in some European countries couples go through the process of establishing a legal civil union before they then go to a church to be wed. It makes sense to me but I am sure there are difficulties and problems that come to the mind of many. Everyone would receive the same rights and privileges that civil unions afford but it would be up to the church to make decisions on the moral issues involved. I guess I just don’t understand how Christians can continue to fight to withhold rights from certain people when we have a long history of showing how disastrous that can be.
hearing: Van Occupanther, Midlake (thanks to Jared)
reading: That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis
smelling and tasting: coffee (Caribou Mocha Java)
Some get angry, some of them laugh
Posted by David at 2:30 PM
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2 comments:
dave-
I hope you catch this because I just read the post but this "power vested in me..." thing is, I think, a severe call to rethink the theology of marriage. we tend to think that Gen. 2 is the crux of marriage, and I will say that it is the key text in my wedding program, but legitimately "that" is not "this", with "this" being our conception of marriage today.
despite whether or not you side with those who believe Adam/Eve are symbolic (Jesus himself tends to contradict that) or if they are literal (difficulty being proximity to written record)I think ultimately the union we see is less like today's marriage and more of a partnership beyond legalities. is this the impact of sin, that a civil agency has to maintain the relationship? well, from the law of Moses to our current legislation on divorce there is a sense that "maintain" is a loose and porous term.
when Jesus challenges the idea of divorce, context in consideration, perhaps there is some insight into what a marriage really should be...perhaps we should not include the "power vested..." because in reality the only power you and I have in the ceremony is to sign and mail the license, which allows for socio-cultural benefits and movements to be done.
big question, thanks for asking it...
Dave,
Last sunday my pastor, during the service, said we should be praying for the next election. He said there are a lot of issues to be concerned about but he couldnt "get past gay marriage and abortion".
I wanted to ask him what his republican friends had actually done to stem the number of abortions.
And I wanted to ask him if in our homophobic clark county, the 8 out of 10 new marriages ending in divorce were because of the zero gay marriages here.
Also, just heads up. All of you who are eating crab, lobster, shrimp, etc. are going to hell. Shellfish are also listed as an abomination in the old testament.
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