Gay Marriage Suggestion

As a Christian who believes in what the Bible clearly teaches, I believe that gay marriage is wrong. For that matter so is gay sex. Not to mention any sexual relations outside of one man-one woman marriage, whether hetero- or homosexual.

The current trend in this country is toward acceptance of gay marriage. As the percentage of born-again Christians decreases, I think it may be inevitable that one day gay marriage will be legalized across the country. We can sign petitions, elect the right people, and vote on ballot initiatives, but without a true revival that sweeps the nation, I think we are only delaying it.

Interestingly, at the same time that homosexuals are fighting for the right to legally marry, heterosexual couples are living together without being married at increasing rates. It is ironic that the only people who want to get married anymore are conservative Christians and homosexuals.

I would love to hear how others react to this idea. How does it make you feel? Let me know.

So here is my two-pronged radical solution: (1) Allow gays to legally marry. (2) Have churches get out of the marriage business. When a Christian couple decides to get married, they go down to the courthouse like everyone else and get it done simply--that gets the legalities covered. At some later point, the church can solemnize the relationship in a much simpler manner than we do now. It could be done after service or even as part of the Sunday service as many of us do baby dedications.

In this way, we would truly separate the civil and religious aspects of marriage rather than mixing them as we do now. Gays could get legally married with all the legal, property, and taxation rights that go with it. Since they are already living in their sinful state, why do we care which legal rights are attached? However, only heterosexual Christians could have this legal union made holy by their Bible-believing church.

Think about it. Our traditional church weddings did not come down to us through the Bible or apostolic tradition. They are more indebted to high society and liturgical churches. I personally think that way too much money and time are invested in wedding ceremonies anyway. That kind of money could be better spent as a down payment on a house or something.

I realize I am dreaming. Wedding traditions are so ingrained in our culture (especially American church culture--notice I didn't say it was Christian) that the vast majority of churches would never accept a proposal like this. On the other hand, maybe I'm just ahead of my time. If the day comes that gay marriage is not only allowed, but clergy are required to not discriminate against them, perhaps we would want to consider such a step.

Understand that I am not denigrating Biblical marriage at all. Rather, my proposal separates the civil from the religious and solves a host of problems that are coming upon us, whether we like it or not. I know I have not considered all the ramifications of this, so I invite comments. We're going to have to something different someday, so why not discuss it now?