Homophobia?

The prejudice and homophobia for the union of Gay marriages are firmly rooted within the Church. People are hard pressed to come up with one valid non -religious reason to oppose Gay marriages. Whether Gay marriages will be a part of the future remains to be seen, but the objection to such marriages are hard to nail down outside of religious bigotry.

As an example: If it is true that procreation is really the sole purpose of marriage as the church insist, then of course Gay marriages are not on. So it goes without saying if procreation is really the only reason for marriage, then the following people should never be allowed to marry.

This would include men who have had vasectomies, women who have had hysterectomies, post -menopausal women, men and women who are sterile, for whatever reason, whether from illness, injury or unknown causes. Also fertility tests should be carried out before a marriage license is issued. If one party is infertile then no marriage should be allowed. Marriages that don’t produce children after a certain period of time should be declared null and void.

These radical suggestions are merely to show the result of ‘ marriages must produce a baby ‘ hinted at by the church, For example condoms and other forms of birth control are forbidden. If such measures seem outlandish, then the objection to Gay marriages is outlandish also. If we agree that forcing people to have babies is out of the question, then what is wrong with Gays getting married? Consensual, adult, gay sexual activity hurts no one, so why all the fuss?

Church groups say that homosexual activity is "unnatural" The bible say’s it’s an "abomination," but who is going to define what is natural sexual practice. Many "normal" Heterosexual marriages include many supposed "unnatural" sexual activities, oral, anal, or otherwise. Ask any marriage councilor, or psychologist.

People’s bedrooms are their own business and are not the business of the government or the Church.

This bedroom issue serves to highlight the stupidity of the religious attitude with expressions of horror regarding homosexual activity. Conservative Christians think that homosexual activity can be overcome with Christian therapy (brain washing by doctrine) and prayer.

The centuries old Christian bible not only opposes homosexuality but it demands the death sentence. This is bigotry at its most evilness. This is the ultimate of intolerance, and it pretty much defines homophobia. If two Gays love each other and want to formalise their commitment with marriage, so what. The world can always use more love and commitment.

It’s about time we outgrew our bigoted, discriminatory, divisive way of religiosity that seems to dominate our lives.

In closing there are some Protestant denominational churches that have seen fit to ordain homosexual men into the ministry? Does this mean that some within the institution of the church choose not to take the bible literally? Is the bible valid in today’s society? How can a centuries old bible contain the 19^th century word homosexual? Who replaced the word sodomy with homosexual? How can the 14^th century word "marry" be part of an ancient biblical book of folklore and mythology?

Jim Lee.