Friday, December 28, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Controversy of Same-Sex Marriages
The battle over whether or not same-sex marriages should be legal continues to rage in the west. The most recent victory for the 'yes' side is in the state of Washington where same-sex marriage was recently made legal.
In arguing their case against same-sex marriage many Christians use the Bible. Using the Bible for such arguments can be risky because those who are in favour of same-sex marriages often do not accept the Bible as an authority. They would answer that a book in which some of the writings are 4,000 years old has no relevance to modern life and law. Those who think logically also point out that since we don't claim all the laws in Leviticus must be followed in modern times, we should not pick out only the verses that talk about homosexuality.
Natural Law
I suggest that instead of using the Bible to support arguments against same-sex marriage, we simply use a biology and an anatomy textbook. This would help people discover what 'natural law' teaches. Can we deny that in the animal world (where many non-religious people are quick to place human beings) sex is only meant for propagation of the species. Also, like animals, humans are either male or female. Male and female organs are designed to produce offspring. Two males together cannot produce offspring; neither can two females produce offspring.
Marriage
For humans, marriage is meant to create a safe place for men, women and the children they will have. Human children need more direct care for a longer period of time than most animal species and a family is the ideal place for that care. We also know that a human child benefits from being raised by both a father and a mother. Unfortunately, many marriages between a man and a woman also fall short of this when the marriage breaks apart. Children are then brought up by one parent and this is not an ideal situation.
How does marriage protect the man and the woman? While women go through a pregnancy and bear the children they can be protected by the husband. Think of how lonely it is for women who have done this on their own. The exclusive relationship between the man and the woman protects both from having to find love, acceptance and sexual satisfaction outside the marriage. Although there will be disagreements in marriages, there can also be comfort in knowing that the other person is there and is committed to them. Of course, no one is saying that those with homosexual tendencies should not love others as friends. Wasn't it Aristotle who said that love between friends is the best kind of love?. There can still be acceptance between friends who are not married, whether they be homosexual or heterosexual. But sex between those of the same-sex cannot be deemed 'natural'. Think about it: is 'sex' between same-sex 'couples' the sex that is described in biology textbooks? Is it the 'sex' that our bodies were designed for? If you would like to read more on this topic here is an excellent link to Humanum. http://www.humanumreview.com/
Natural Law
I suggest that instead of using the Bible to support arguments against same-sex marriage, we simply use a biology and an anatomy textbook. This would help people discover what 'natural law' teaches. Can we deny that in the animal world (where many non-religious people are quick to place human beings) sex is only meant for propagation of the species. Also, like animals, humans are either male or female. Male and female organs are designed to produce offspring. Two males together cannot produce offspring; neither can two females produce offspring.
Marriage
For humans, marriage is meant to create a safe place for men, women and the children they will have. Human children need more direct care for a longer period of time than most animal species and a family is the ideal place for that care. We also know that a human child benefits from being raised by both a father and a mother. Unfortunately, many marriages between a man and a woman also fall short of this when the marriage breaks apart. Children are then brought up by one parent and this is not an ideal situation.
How does marriage protect the man and the woman? While women go through a pregnancy and bear the children they can be protected by the husband. Think of how lonely it is for women who have done this on their own. The exclusive relationship between the man and the woman protects both from having to find love, acceptance and sexual satisfaction outside the marriage. Although there will be disagreements in marriages, there can also be comfort in knowing that the other person is there and is committed to them. Of course, no one is saying that those with homosexual tendencies should not love others as friends. Wasn't it Aristotle who said that love between friends is the best kind of love?. There can still be acceptance between friends who are not married, whether they be homosexual or heterosexual. But sex between those of the same-sex cannot be deemed 'natural'. Think about it: is 'sex' between same-sex 'couples' the sex that is described in biology textbooks? Is it the 'sex' that our bodies were designed for? If you would like to read more on this topic here is an excellent link to Humanum. http://www.humanumreview.com/
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