Uh-oh, It's the Prop. 8 Post !!!

Hello all,
I've not updated my blog for some time. A lot has gone on since my last apology for not keeping this up-to-date. I have tons of stories and thoughts, both humorous and a bit more serious, that will probably find their way onto this blog.

Right now, however, I'd like to address something more current. I'd like to talk a little bit about Proposition 8.

I am sure you all know by now that on November 4th, California passed, by state referendum, a ban on same-sex marriages. The vote was roughly 47 to 52% in favor of the ban. The vote was cast. It's over. And, that's all I'm going to say about that.

The most visible response (certainly not a universal one), especially here in New York, has been one of vehement outrage. Already, there have been at least two massive protests. Celebrities and news anchors have used the media as a vehicle to, perhaps inappropriate, disdain for the vote. People talk about having moved one step forward (with the election of Obama) and one step backwards (by banning same-sex marriage). Another talking point that I am hearing a lot of is, "All these people want to do is add permanence to their relationships. Why are they denied this right when heterosexual couples can get married just for the heck of it, get divorced within months, even weeks, and enter into another loveless marriage?" This frustrates me on two levels.

First of all, I would point out that same-sex couples are comprised of people too. This means that they are just as capable of being selfish, lustful, compulsive, adulterous and violence as heterosexuals. I will note that many of the same-sex couples seeking to get married are committed, and have been together for quite some time. Still, this fact of "commitment" does not raise these couples to a level beyond human.

Secondly, and much more importantly, I would like to bring up the subject of divorce. Divorce is awful. Divorce is painful. Divorce takes two things which God has knit together, and rends them apart in the most brutal way, inflicting serious emotional wounds on anyone even marginally involved. Our culture tells us that it should be easy and simple. "If a relationship isn't working out, you can just sign a paper, and all your troubles will be over. Simple as that." The Church has bought into this lie, and has even propagated it. In the United States today, over 40% of marriages will end in divorce. And, studies have shown that if you're divorced, you are more likely than not, to get divorced again. The problem is even bigger IN the Church. There is a much greater percentage of Christians who get divorced, than those outside of the Church. Some may argue that this is because unchurched (what a word!) people don't even bother to get married in the first place. I say, the Church has turned a blind eye to this very serious problem. While so many Evangelicals are wringing their hands about same-sex marriage, they have whole-heartedly endorsed a much greater threat to God's perfect idea of the uniting of a man and woman! Here is the problem. If anything has allowed for same-sex marriage to occur, look no further than inside the Church. It's only natural for this train of thought to follow in this way. To echo those celebrities and news commentators, if heterosexual couples can marry and divorce at will, then why not committed same-sex couples?

I feel like the Church has taken the easy road. It's easy to hold signs, and march in protest against an issue that has not, by in large, infiltrated the pews. It is much harder to address the fact that many of those in a given church have been divorced unreasonably, and are not repentant about that fact.

Does this make the Church's voice in the issue null and void? Certainly not. But, it does make weaken their argument considerably.

May we pull the log our of our own eye before reaching out to those who are hurting in ways most of us cannot even imagine. And, may God give is wisdom.