I thought I would continue with the "good news Friday" theme that seems to be going on here...

I dont know why, I saw the title and instantly a Hans and Frans SNL skit popped into my head.

Good for them.

70% is a nice solid majority, which makes the news even better.

Yay!

I don't have a problem with gay people. But strangely, I don't know what I think about them getting married. I would never vote when it came to that.

But for a lot of people *Martini* this is good news for them once again.

AAWW! I think I'll go out and tip toe through the tulips.

This is, sadly, the direction most modern Christianity is going. Recently on an outing with some Presbyeterians from a different church, although otherwise delightful, I was surprised how much they had departed from Biblical teachings. Many are very secular today.

Recognizing loving relationships is hardly secular.

Agreed, Steph. Whatever happened to "judge not lest you be judged" and "love thy neighbor as thyself"??

hear hear!

This is simply wonderful news.

Must disagree that it is wonderful news. Marriage is defined as between a man and a woman.

By you.

A lot of organizations/churches and etc... will always consider marriage as between a man and a women. They will not back down because people want to change what they feel shouldn't be.

As for the Bible, plenty of people throughout history have been known to change the words around in order to make their situation fit what is moral.

Simply put, they want to convince people that God is accepting what immoral acts that they're committing.

If God says straight out "Marriage is between a man and a woman - no if, and, or buts." .... People would still find a way to say that God did NOT mean what he just said.

I believe that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman BUT thats my belief and who am i to say who can marry and who cannot? Gods the ultimate judge.

A person can bend the rule of God but it is still God's rule. Judgement is by Him so each of us will account. So it is my law or written by ME Steph. I didn't make the rules. Don't shoot the messenger. Thanks.

And boy does God have some SERIOUS judging to do when the time finally comes. Oh dear!

Rushing -- correction (typo) It is still God's law and not my law or written by me Steph.

That's what you choose to believe. I know that Jesus didn't say anything about gay marriage - he had more important issues on his mind.

God says, not Jesus.

And I'm sure Jesus said it somewhere. These days Jesus would have to repeat God A LOT because so many people want to play deaf so they can continue what they're doing with a good conscious.

Not everyone believes in God. Those who do not should not have to live by his law. We should not be basing laws on religion.

I'm not big on religion myself. But if you go by what their Bible says then gay marriage is not right to do.

but we also have to realize that the bible everyone has now? has been filtered through alot of people, and King James made it what HE wanted. Lord knows,.....literally, what the original text says!

I dont have any problems with gays receiving all the rights of a married couple. But it goes against biblical teaching to marry homosexuals in the church. So therefore that would meet the definition of secular.

Excellent point CG.

Yeap, exactly what I said in #15 *CG*

"plenty of people throughout history have been known to change the words around in order to make their situation fit what is moral."

And that also goes for the people TODAY that cannot literally rewrite the words, but they will try to convince others that the words in the Bible mean something else. Therefore making what they do as moral in todays world.

can someone explain this to me, I was thinking about this the other day. I have a friend who goes to a newer style church, more hip/secular per se. They believe in gay Marriage, right. So they also preach that it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven then to pass a camel through the eye of the needle. Ok so Im pretty sure the previous statement and homosexuality being an abomination are both in the old testament. So we can pick and choose which passages we want to follow as long as it suits your purpose?

and it doesn't hurt anyone.

Hainan, I dont go to church for that reason, its the picking a choosing and twisting that gets to me. I would rather gather friends and have a fellowship that way then listen to some dude telling me his version of events.

Thats why I dont go to church either, my relationship with God is just that, mine.

*Elllla* is making some good points here. Immoral people change the Bible all the time to suit them, yet, the have the nerve to complain if they feel someone else is trying to do it just to get over on them...when most likely they may not be.

yeah i do agree with everyone on that thought too, pink. so many religions pick and choose what parts are applicable and which are not.

I try to understand both sides of the situation but when you have people that are so radical about the event, it also makes you want to back off from it.

I can think of at least two other orifices that the male "part" fits into besides the famale "part" you're speaking of.

*female

When it comes to State or Federal institutions allowing gay marriage I'm not to surprised because when it comes down to it they're secular institutions. However, when it comes to Churches going against their own mandates from the bible although the end result in this particular case is beneficial to me it still does not excuse the Church for it's defiance if that happens to be your particular religion. It's like what's the point of being a church if you're not going to stay true to your belief.

Like I said this is great news for me but I can certainly understand why church members would be pissed off.

well said Hypno

Steph perhaps you missed this verse in your New Testament of the Bible:

Matthew 19:4-6 (New King James Version)
4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made[a]them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’[b] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?[c] 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Furthermore I would site the overall danger to an empire such as ours when when a nation turns it back on God:

http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=224.

comment number 22, this is an article about a church, not the state.

according to KJames of course!

As has been said, the bible's been re-written many times and where does that say anything about being gay? If you're going to take that line and say it absolutely defines marriage as being between man and a woman only, because the parts fit , and that homosexuality is out, then this:

"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 evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you."

...shoots your beloved defense and anti-immigration policies right to hell.

Again Steph you are always shooting the messenger. Another good reason for upholding the 2nd ammendment.

and of course whoever winds up "right to hell" is not our job to decide.

and make that amendment with one m =)

What is this 'shooting the messenger' crap?
If anyone disagrees with you, you're martyred?

told you I didn't write the Laws of God. (and btw, it's not crap)

You claiming that anyone who disagrees with you is shooting the messenger IS crap - that's about you, not God.
I can't help but notice that you're not so insistent that turning your cheek and sharing with others are equally important Laws of God.

This entire issue does not concern a correction of what the Bible says, but simply ignores and revises what God says in the Bible in order to support what man finds convenient and, in this case, socially congruent. Ellla has provided a few concrete examples which seem to make her point. Adding others would be of little consequence. Belittling her personally does nothing to add to the correctness, but merely states that you are glad that the Swedish Church has made the decision in accordance with what you already believe.

There are those of us who remain convinced of the incorrectness of this issue according to the Bible, an issue which goes beyond translation issues and interpretation issues. What this is about is simply ignoring that which is convenient in order to make a point. I maintain that the Swedish church is simply unrighteously extending the Biblical view of marriage and sexual relations into an area with which it, in this age, finds itself in agreement. While I think that there is nothing which condones homosexuality in the Bible, there is a great deal against it.

The ability to celebrate the Bible as long as it agrees with one's ideology is quite apparent, although I regard it as pointless and simply without any authentic spiritual value. Arguing the Bible's truth may have many facets, but I doubt that one can truly argue that a great wrong, as God sees things, has been corrected. This argument merely suggests that changing from past interpretations to that which one believes is a better way of understanding God. It is, of course, nothing of the sort.
While those who maintain that Christianity is about love are correct, they are only correct in part. While God first extended His love to us, he makes it clear that we are to obey his commands. Ignoring what he has shown us in deference to the way we think things should be is simply a mode of the created being demonstrating contempt for its creator.

Any translation stresses love and tolerance, not homophobia.

The problem is, not everyone follows your God. There are many different religions in this world. Those people should not be forced to follow Christian Law. They aren't Christians. So how about you guys let the gays worry about where they're going to go when they die. It's none of your business. It's between them and their creator.

P.S. This honestly is not directed at one person.