As I watched my Facebook feed explode with people on both sides of the issue last week, I found myself thinking about it a lot. After all, there is a historical and Biblical definition of marriage that gay marriage doesn't fit. (Note that with regard to Chick-fil-A my issues as a vegan are WAY more about the factory practices it takes to serve volumes of chicken on a bun than about gay marriage. <grin>)
So I asked a friend why it mattered to him and his partner.
He told me that legally, if his partner is in a coma he isn't family. So, legally he has no right to be there.
If he is disabled, he could not be on his partners insurance.
That they have to have detailed wills because there is no shared property.
As the conversation flowed, I realized I had no idea how many facets of my life marriage covered in mine and John's rights and relationships. Everything from property, to testifying in court, to simple acknowledgement that we are a family unit.
It occurs to me that many times when Christians have taken a stand that puts a group of people in a compromised position, they've found themselves on the wrong side of the issue--even though they felt those issues were cut and dried based on scripture. Everything from the Crusades to the Inquisition to the way African-Americans were treated in the south to abortion clinic bombings...there is a history of being wrong. The ultimate end of an us vs. them mentality results in human ego and faith in our own "rightness" rather than expressions of unfathomable love and grace.
What if on this issue, we stopped, stepped back and had the humility to acknowledge that we don't know everything? That there might be space to interpret the issues incorrectly? What if we allowed gay men and women the same legal rights as historic couples? After all, if we are going to argue that this is not what God intended back in the garden, then wouldn't we have to take divorce off the table as a legal option as well?
Maybe a bigger question is...what would happen if we stopped opposing gay marriage and really focused on our own? After all, statistically we Christians aren't doing that great in the marriage department. What if in God's view He is thinking we should work on our own planks before spending so much energy on the splinters in other people's eyes?
We have work to do...and it has nothing to do with buying chicken sandwiches.
He told me that legally, if his partner is in a coma he isn't family. So, legally he has no right to be there.
If he is disabled, he could not be on his partners insurance.
That they have to have detailed wills because there is no shared property.
As the conversation flowed, I realized I had no idea how many facets of my life marriage covered in mine and John's rights and relationships. Everything from property, to testifying in court, to simple acknowledgement that we are a family unit.
It occurs to me that many times when Christians have taken a stand that puts a group of people in a compromised position, they've found themselves on the wrong side of the issue--even though they felt those issues were cut and dried based on scripture. Everything from the Crusades to the Inquisition to the way African-Americans were treated in the south to abortion clinic bombings...there is a history of being wrong. The ultimate end of an us vs. them mentality results in human ego and faith in our own "rightness" rather than expressions of unfathomable love and grace.
What if on this issue, we stopped, stepped back and had the humility to acknowledge that we don't know everything? That there might be space to interpret the issues incorrectly? What if we allowed gay men and women the same legal rights as historic couples? After all, if we are going to argue that this is not what God intended back in the garden, then wouldn't we have to take divorce off the table as a legal option as well?
Maybe a bigger question is...what would happen if we stopped opposing gay marriage and really focused on our own? After all, statistically we Christians aren't doing that great in the marriage department. What if in God's view He is thinking we should work on our own planks before spending so much energy on the splinters in other people's eyes?
We have work to do...and it has nothing to do with buying chicken sandwiches.
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