Arkansas Blog

It's too bad that whenever a Southern state makes it on to NPR (or any sort of national notoriety) that it is usually somehow tied to a fundamentalists preaching intolerance.

Gays and Lesbians have just as much capacity to love as us straights. Probably even more capacity than Mr. Holt.

Who is talking about love? Love for our neighbor doesn't enter the equation when the goal is to win elections.

First of all Gays and Lesbians have all the rights we do, what they want are a different set of rules for them. I, as a man, do not have the right to marry a man. Just like Gays and or lesbians likewise dont have the right to marry members of the same sex.
If you are going to pander to a small amount of the population then the only way this can work legally, is for the Government to get out of the marriage buisness. Marriage is a religious practice one sanctioned and ordained by God, one man and one women. Period.
And on the Gay adoption thing i wonder if the NPR piece mentioned Mike Beebes flip flopping on the issue? Isnt it funny that he feels he has to hide his position on Gay adoption? If he is truly a proud democrat then he should just let his position be known. To bad Arkansas, like the rest of the country even New York wont go for it !

I heard this today here in Tennessee. Can't decide if I was proud or embarrassed to be an Arkie.

"Marriage is a religious practice one sanctioned and ordained by God, one man and one women. Period."
-If this were the absolute truth than you wouldn't have to ask the county for a license and wouldn't have to go to court for a divorce.

Excuse me john for not reading your post automatically. I don't think many of us gays object to individual churches setting their own marriage policies. So I am with you on this, get the government out of it, get rid of the 1,000+ special rights married people get and all the legal presumptions.

*Automatically=more carefully.

Jeeze, it must be monday

First of all, lets get some facts straight, right here and now.

Marriage - It was not until the 12th Century that marriage was defined as between a man and woman. Prior to that in Greek, Roman, and many other societies, homosexuality stood right alongside concubines, sex among slaves, temple prostitution, and polygamy.

Homosexuality - This is something that has been in society and recorded almost 1500 years BEFORE CHRIST. That means this is an accepted fact of life that existed 1500 years before Christ came and it only was 2600 years later a society attempted to limit it.

Have you ever considered, what is wrong with two people in love, uniting themselves in a sacred bond?

Tell me, how is it the prevention of two men from marrying, saves lives in Iraq, lowers your taxes, or somehow improves life in general?

How is this continued and mindless assault on a class of people positive in any way for the betterment of society?

Before you quote me scripture, be aware you quote Kosher Law, so until you show me you keep kosher those passages are not relevant or germaine to this discussion.

No, John Anderson, not different set of rules, the same set of rules. Actually, marriage was not much of an issue with me. I would have been content with civil unions but because of the fundies trying to outlaw anything that could be construed as marriage, I say screw 'em .I want equality not special rights. Anything other than full marriage equality would be a 'special right'. Isn't that what they are against?

"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matthew 19:4-6

God ordained and instituted marriage as a life long union between a man and a woman. He made woman to complete and complement man,
1 Corinthians 11:9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

One man to one woman and one woman to one man. Genesis 2:24 is absolutely clear: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave (adhere/glue/ bond/ fuse himself) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

WHY DID GOD INSTITUTE MARRIAGE?

1. Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Any sexual relationship outside of marriage is SIN. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:2:
"to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife. and let every woman have her own husband."

2. Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Marriage is a Religious ceremony there can be no doubt of that, I agree that Government needs to get out of the marriage buisness altogether but that does not mean that marriage be made to include something that is regarded as sin in the Christian faith.when the very act of marriage was created by God.

Sorry that I could not use as you put it "Kosher" reasons on which to base my arguments but this is after all a religious argument. The reasons are therefore also religious.

So John, is a Muslim marriage valid? Mormon? What about straight athetists?

God instituted marriage between a man and a woman for all of mankind. However, he set some covenental requirements that all parties agree to when they are joined by him. God makes a marriage not man. That is why Jesus commanded that 'what hath God joined together, let no man put assunder.'

Get the government out of marriage. If you want to get married, go to the church of your choice and have the priest, rabbi, cleric, reverend bless the marriage for what it is. If you want government recognition of the marriage, go to the courthouse and get a civil union certificate. Gay or straight everyone is treated equally by the government by getting a civil union.

The church historically determined who could get married as "God intended". Somewhere along the way, the government took over this church function.

Civil unions for all!

Arky

Picking and Choosing
If you are against homosexuality because it is against the Bible, consider the following:
Do you support slavery?
o Slave obey your masters with fear and trembling. (Ephesians 6:5; see also Colossians 3:22-4:1)
o Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor. (1 Timothy 6:1)

Do you resist temptation with physical mutilation?
o If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30)

Have you been divorced?
o "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. (Luke 16:18)

If you are female, do you wear expensive clothes, braid your hair, wear gold jewelry or pearls to church? Or do you wear a hat to church?
o Women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes. (1 Timothy 2:9)
o Any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head. (1 Corinthians 11:1-16)

Do support violence?
o You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:38-39, 43-44).

Do you give to anyone who begs on the street?
o If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. (Matthew 5:40-41)
It is inconsistent to accuse others of picking and choosing if you also pick and choose.

I'm sorry to go on - but I just can't resist when people throw the Bible up in your face. I am a God loving Christian - but it seems too often that people claim to be, but don't act as we were taught. Here are some more points to think about when you throw scripture up in someones face...

We do not forbid touching the skin of a dead pig, which would mean no more football!
o The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you. (Leviticus 11:7-8)

? We plant fields with two different kinds of seeds, and wear garments woven from two different kinds of material. We dont think poly-cotton blends are an abomination.
o You shall not let your animals breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials. (Leviticus 19:19)

? Some of us have tattoos.
o You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:26)

? We do not assign the death penalty for cursing ones parents.
o All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed father or mother, their blood is upon them. (Leviticus 20:9)

? We dont kill adulterers.
o If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)
Christians do not follow the holiness code today.

Actually Beebe voted for it before he voted against it.

No minds will be changed on this issue, no matter what. No minds were changed on slavery during all those years of debate.

If gay people are born gay, and I believe they are, then God made them that way. So would a just God blame a mere mortal for His own actions? (Please, spare me the Dobson crap).

Our nation's tying of health care to income, and teeny things like our unjust occupation of Iraq -- those are huge collective sins -- we'd best get those beams out of our eyes before starting in on the homosexuals' splinters.

What about Lilith?

The Bible (King James Version)
Genesis 1
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 2
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

An observation, the woman that Jehovah created in Genesis 1:27 is not the one in Genesis 2:23. Furthermore, the second woman did not receive instructions about the tree of life. The bible is quite an interesting read.

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time someting like that happened in politics or religion."
Carl Sagan

Here's my solution sure to upset EVERYONE. Outlaw gay marriage only if all het marriages are performed by Elvis Impersonators. That will surely preserve the holy institution of marriage.