Separating secular from the sacred
While AgapePress has headlined this article as "Connecticut Lawmakers Want Same-Sex 'Marriage' Legalized" they aren't being very truthful. All the legislators want to do is change some definitions. The proposal wouldremove the words "bride and groom" from the current statute governing marriage, and replace them with "both persons." Further, it would require that statutes using such terms as "husband," "wife," "groom," "bride," "widow," or "widower" be deemed to include one partner to a marriage between two persons of the same sex.
Now this is important because in America (and many Western European states) we have a mix of the secular and the sacred. Marriage, as defined in the Bible, is by its very nature sacred. Jesus sets an incredibly difficult bar when He says, "What God has joined let man not separate." Clearly God has a plan for marriage.
However, nowhere in the Bible does it say that the state should be involved in marriage. The idea that the state should be involved in marriage is based not on the Bible, but on the Enlightenment ideals of a social contract. That people should be allowed to enter into contracts for their own fulfillment if they want. That is the legal state of marriage in America. It is simply a contract between two people. Since, as far as the state is concerned, marriage is a contract, the Connecticut lawmakers are simply re-writing who can be involved in this contract.
Unfortunately, culturally-conservative Christians haven't studied enough history to recognize that marriage, as it involves the state, is simply about Enlightenment ideals rather than Biblical mandates. It is time that America and Christians unravel the sacred and secular.
posted by Anonymous @ 12:37 PM
