Opposition is not something that should surprise Christians any more since there has been opposition from the very beginning of Christianity. But they shouldn’t have to give up their beliefs and conform to the world’s perspective on things. Christians should prepare themselves and their families both intellectually and psychologically for the challenges this world will bring. The church’s mission in life is not to defeat gay marriage, but to preach the Word of God. So while the media is set on the intention of promoting homosexuality thus moving farther and farther away from the Christian values, we shouldn’t worry so much on whether we’re accepted for our beliefs, but continue to preach them. Our goal is to preach the Word of God, not be loved by the world. Remember that Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18).
Ben Haggerty, better known as Macklemore, is a rapper from Seattle, Washington, who has recently reached stardom with his album The Heist. His album was his debut album and has some easily recognizable songs such as “ThriftShopand “Can’tHoldUs”, but one of the most known songs from the album is “SameLove”. “Same Love” was written in support of legalizing gay marriage, particularly in Washington, Macklemore’s home state, but is now considered “the gay anthem”. The music video tells the life story of a man, starting with his birth, growing up like a regular boy, struggling with his sexuality as a teenager, finally accepting his sexuality as a man, eventually getting married to his boyfriend, and then growing old with his husband.
One stanza that really stood out to me was in the second verse when Macklemore sings:
“When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that’s not important
No freedom till we’re equal, damn right I support it”
Macklemore’s got it right; we live in a world where Christians’ actions are far from what Jesus actually taught. Those lines go with how the media is portraying Christianity’s view on homosexuality. It’s sad when one of the most well known verses is Leviticus 18:22, which condemns homosexuality. Christ taught that we should repent and turn towards Him while loving one another. Matthew 7:12 teaches to treat others as you would have them treat you. I’m not saying accept homosexuality, I’m saying respect them, love them, talk to them. Homosexuality is still a sin, so love the sinner, hate the sin. Defy the media’s portrayal of hateful, bigot Christians and show them the love and acceptance of Jesus.
I came across this video a few days ago, and after watching it, it gave me a real insight on the perspective of what it would be like to live in the shoes of a homosexual. The issue I hold with this video is the scene in the church. If this is supposed to be a mirror image of what life is supposed to be like, how come the scripture readings are nothing like what the bible actually says? I get that they were changed in a sense to adapt to the film, but nowhere in the bible does it say “any such person harboring lust in their heart for the same sex WILL burn in hell”. I believe that if a person has sexually immoral thoughts, it is still a sin, but not as great as those who act upon those thoughts. Just in the way that some men have sexual immoral thoughts about a woman who is not his wife, I feel this is natural since humans are naturally sinful. It is when he acts upon these thoughts that the sin is magnified, which leads to affairs and in some cases, even rape. Now I’m not comparing two gay men to a rapist, I am comparing their sexual immoralities with premarital sex, external marital sex, and molestation as all being sinful in God’s eyes. It is society’s eyes that are changing the norm, first with premarital sex, now with homosexual marriage, and someday, other forms of sexual impurities will be accepted because society will keep drifting from God’s law.
I was recently surfing the web as any other teenager does when they’re procrastinating from doing their homework and I came across a lovely picture that disgusted me to my very core. I still can’t look at it without disgust building up in my stomach. It is a creative little diagram with the title “So You Still Think Homosexuality is Sinful? And Therefore Gays Shouldn’t be Allowed to Marry?” in giant letters at the top. From there, two lines extend off in opposite directions, one with the word “no” and the other with the word “yes”. The “no line” is short and simple, it leads to a box that’s says “Congrats on being part of civilized society”. Civilized? So you don’t agree with same sex marriage, you’re not civilized? That’s a little bit extreme in my opinion. Now the “yes line” is no better. It leads to a little box that says “why?” and it then goes off to six different reasons that are all followed with a reason that tries to disprove anything the bible says on marriage. At the end of each of these reasons, the lines all end up at my absolute favorite box of all: “Have fun living your sexist, chauvinistic, judgmental, xenophobic lifestyle choice. The rest of culture will advance forward without you.” Now that’s a mouthful, and quite extreme.
What upsets me the most is that the arguments given are taken out of context from the original intentions of the writers of scripture. I’m not saying I can call up the writers and ask what their intentions were but if the bible is read and studied in its entirety, not just taking one passage out at a time, then the intentions are easily known. Yes, there are “Christians” who walk around chanting “Leviticus 18:22” or “God hates fags” but those are theextremes. I’m sure there are just as many Christians out there who accept gays. The problem is that the mediaiscorrupt so all you see is the bad side of Christianity, and the pro-gay movement is taking advantage of that. So no matter which way you look at it, there are people who are narrowed minded on both sides of the argument.
Hello, my name is Nick Saldivia and welcome to my blog. I am an 18 year old American Christian, born and raised in California to two loving parents from Argentina. This blog was created for as a project for my college class, so I took the opportunity to write about a subject which has brought a lot of discussions to the country, from the floor of the US Senate to dinner tables in the suburbs, and that is Homosexuality. Since I am a Christian, I will be writing about how the media is being used in such a manner that it affects how people think about homosexuality and makes it seem that all Christians are homosexual bigots. I will try my hardest to write from a neutral point of view as much as possible, while still holding to my Christian values. This blog is dedicated to my cousin that even though we may never fully understand each other, we have mutual respect for our beliefs and lifestyles, but she knows that I love her no matter what and that I would take a bullet for her. And lastly I thank you for taking time to read this blog and I hope that it brings light to a subject in a manner that you may not have thought of before. God bless.
In this age of progress and advances in fields such as technology, medicine, and science, it’s only natural that we as a society want to keep moving away from our old past style of living in order to become more advanced. In the past, radical ideas such as civil rights and woman rights were thought of as crazy, but looking back on them now, they were necessary changes for the well being of everyone. These two important advances are now being tied by the media to the “homosexuality rights” for pro-homosexual marriage. Pastor Kevin DeYoung wrote that the movements are all being tied in such a way that it makes it seem like being against homosexual marriage would be like being against enlightenment and progress, to be on “the wrong side of history” in a sense. With all the ideas that ended up being good and beneficial, that there are just as many ideas that were tossed aside after they were believed to be the “next step in human progress” such as Communism and eugenics. But the media “accidentally” always leaves these movements out, and basically say “don’t be like the idiots who thought the sun revolved around the sun or that slavery was okay.”
Activism 