Gay marriage...

Here's the problem I have with the argument about marraige being a "religious rite". My husband and I are both atheists. We were married by a Unitarian minister who performed a beautiful non-sectarian ceremony. Yet, we are "married". We are not in a civil union. There is absolutely nothing religious about it. Yet we have the right be married. So should everyone else.

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Originally Posted by JohnMichael

Years ago a theologian and recently a minister have proposed that Jesus was gay and his partner was the Apostle John. One of the justifications of this study is Jesus' words on the cross. John who was the only Apostle in attendance at the cross was told by Jeaus to behold his Mother. Then Jesus told Mary to behold her son. Mary then went to live with John.

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I love that theory! Can you imagine if there were really a way to prove it? :D

I am excited for gay marriage to come to Ohio. I will finally be able to make my poor life choices legally binding.

Of course gay divorce is easy now. "Get your sh!t and get out". Once marriage is legal we will need lawyers.

If gay marriage becomes law we will need to be able to register at all stores. Not just Target and Macy's.

Of course we will not need wedding planners. We can create our own fabulous events.

Oh one day, one day.

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Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn

I love that theory! Can you imagine if there were really a way to prove it? :D

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There is another one that a lot of stuff that people saw was due to the water supply being drugged via a form of drug similar to L.S.D. causing mass hallucinations. They were seeing Lucy in the sky with diamonds or talking burning bushes. Just look at the 60s - do some drugs and everyone starts looking like they're starring in Jesus Christ Superstar.

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Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn

I love that theory! Can you imagine if there were really a way to prove it? :D

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No proof of a gay relationship, but the Gospel of John has several references to the "beloved disciple". (see Wiki). This is most often consider to be John the Apostle, one of the original twelve disciples, however the actual name of the beloved disciple is not given. It was apparently not Mary Madeline who told Peter and the beloved disciple of the empty tomb.

We may consider that it was very unusual for a Jewish man to be unmarried at at 30 when Jesus began his ministry. As I understand, marriage was then, as it is now among Orthodox Jews, considered an obligation of a righteous Jew. (FA, is this not so?) It's also true at that time among Jews that homosexuality was considered an abomination.

BTW, not a just few people suspect that the Apostle Paul was homosexual thanks to his occasional deprecating remarks about women and male-female relationships.

It may be interesting for some people to speculate on the sexual orientation or marital status of Jesus (It certainly helped make the DaVinci Code a best-seller) but I would be careful to support any views on this topic based on passages or phrases used in the Bible. The Bible that exists today has been translated from a variety of languages at least 3 times so word choices are sketchy at best for proof in this area. The text of the Bible has also gone through several editings which often reflect the biases of the editors. Throw in the fact that the source documents such as the Gospels appear to have been written 20-30 years after Jesus lived you raise additional issues.

Viewing the Bible as relegious text or philosophical treatise is one thing. Using it as a historical document or to establish the personality or traits of individuals within its narratives is something else.

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Originally Posted by thekid

It may be interesting for some people to speculate on the sexual orientation or marital status of Jesus (It certainly helped make the DaVinci Code a best-seller) but I would be carefully to support any views on this topic based on passages or phrases used in the Bible. The Bible that exists today has been translated from a variety of languages at least 3 times so word choices are sketchy at best for proof in this area. The text of the Bible has also gone through several editings which often reflect the biases of the editors. Throw in the fact that the source documents such as the Gospels appear to have been written 20-30 years after Jesus lived you raise additional issues.

Viewing the Bible as relegious text or philosophical treatise is one thing. Using it as a historical document or to establish the personality or traits of individuals within its narratives is something else.

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Not only has the Bible been translated from many languages but men decided what books went into the Bible. There were more Gospels written than the four in the Bible. Books called the apocrypha had been included in the Bible between the Old and New Testaments but are no longer included. There is also interesting information about Jesus and his life in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient writings. The Bible is limited in information some might say to influence and direct faith and thought.

How did the Bible and JC get into this?

FYI Terms used in the time of JC usually ment something very different than they do today.

Rabinical Law was a lot stricter then, too. Adultery could get you a REAL headache. But takingt a second wife? I think the story of Rachel answered this (if my memory is correct).

Homosexuality? Oh, boy.......................

The Bible and Jesus are brought into it because many fundamentalist, evangelical and middle of the road christians work hard to prevent marriage equality from happening.

I have a hard time when laws are influenced by a book written by man that not everyone follows or believes. If two adult males or females marry what is the impact on society?

It was not that long ago that people of different races could not marry. Today most people would be outraged if we tried to reverse that right. Gay marriage is going to be a reality one day. Each new generation is more accepting and even younger christians have been shown to be more tolerant.

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Originally Posted by Mash

How did the Bible and JC get into this?

FYI Terms used in the time of JC usually ment something very different than they do today.

Rabinical Law was a lot stricter then, too. Adultery could get you a REAL headache. But takingt a second wife? I think the story of Rachel answered this (if my memory is correct).

Homosexuality? Oh, boy.......................

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Well, it's not the secularists that are trying to deny people their rights.

It's not the secularists that are conveniently forgetting a longstanding tradition of same-sex marriage as Christian Rite....i.e., the holy union of the Byzantine Warrior-Emperor, Basil the First (867-886 CE) and his companion John and many, many others...

...it's not the secularists that seek to circumnavigate the Constitution in order to advance their own agenda of petty bigotry and the need to control...

That's how J.C. and the Bible got involved...

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Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn

Here's the problem I have with the argument about marriage being a "religious rite". My husband and I are both atheists. We were married by a Unitarian minister who performed a beautiful non-sectarian ceremony. Yet, we are "married". We are not in a civil union. There is absolutely nothing religious about it. Yet we have the right be married. So should everyone else.

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Us too. Neither my wife not I can honestly understand the theistic existential world view and were married in the UU church by our acupuncturist.

We never intended to have kids and 10 years later, in our mid-40's we still don't.

As for the old argument that children need to be "protected" from "the gay lifestyle", that's a load of B.S. It's my opinion that more harm is done by the frightened and ignorant people who declare such idiotic things.

I have nothing against gay marriage. I find it progressive for the society

Gay marriage is great. Especially great when gays can look for a mate without thinking about the condemnation from other people or relatives. All of us somehow sometimes look for a person online. I found reviews on best dating sites in canada and was happy to see good gay sites.