Giving Up on Marriage?

Because of my lack of interest in the vote on the marriage amendment (I know, that was way back in May! Sorry. I’ve been busy.) several commenters, both on my Facebook page and in the post comments, suggested that I was “giving up”.  I’m not sure what it is I’m supposed to have given up on, though, so now I get to try and figure that out for myself. Let’s see… What could I be giving up on?

I’m not giving up on my marriage. I messed up my first one, but I can’t fix that. God redeemed me in this marriage, so here I’ll stay, and assume he has redeemed the marriage, also. I love my family, so that’s definitely not what I’m giving up on.

I’m not giving up on the idea of marriage, either. Marriage has a spiritual, personal, and social purpose that precludes homosexuality. I’m all for marriage! I did say in my last post that:

“Modern marriage is about being allowed to live in a long-term sexual relationship with whomever you please, for as long as you wish, as long as you both love each other.”

But I didn’t mean that I’m OK with that. That’s just where we are right now. I can see how a reader unfamiliar with this blog might have misunderstood that, so maybe that’s where the idea that I’ve “given up” came from.

Or maybe those readers were thinking I’ve given up on finding political solutions to spiritual problems. That would be true, except that I never believed in those anyway. The political atmosphere is a reflection of the culture. Reflections are useful for figuring out what’s going on, but they can’t actually change anything. If we can vote something up, we can vote it right back down.

I’m not the one who gave up on marriage. America, our supposedly Christian nation, did that before I was even born!

This amendment seems to me to be nothing more than a far-too-late moral panic, with very little thinking behind it at all. Our culture is in a state of sexual anarchy, and most of us—I’ll wager even most of those who voted yes on Amendment One—kinda like it that way! But gay marriage is where we draw our arbitrary line, because the majority of people don’t like that sin the way we like our own.

If Americans are really so gung-ho about protecting marriage, answer me this: Why strengthen this law by enshrining it in the state constitution? Why is recognizing gay marriage a bridge too far, after we’ve altered the landscape of our culture in so many other detrimental ways? Are Christian photographers also refusing to photograph the second marriages of unrepentant adulterers?

Any time in history that a culture has devolved to the point where homosexual behavior was accepted as normal, or at least morally acceptable, that culture has been well on its way to the ash heap of history. While sins committed are ultimately laid to the individual’s account, it is the entire culture that is being judged, and not just the homosexuals in it. God has handed them (us) over to their (our) sin. I believe that that is where we are in America, and we can’t vote our way out of the consequences.

We can repent, though, and I suggest we start doing that.

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Comments are open, but I’m on maternity leave and my sister is home for a short stay after two years in India, so I can’t respond. Please know that I value your opinion! Also, read the rules. You can call me puddin’ head if you like, but be nice to one another.

I’m linking up at To Love, Honor, and Vacuum’s Wifey Wednesday.