Bloemfontein - A lesbian couple's appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal to have their marriage legally recognised and registered succeeded on Tuesday.This is brilliant - and South Africa is officially cooler than the state of Utah (apologies to Heather :-)
The court, in a majority decision, declared that under the Constitution the common law concept of marriage was to be developed to embrace same-sex partners.
My blood boils when i read things like this - "The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference said the ruling contradicted the law of God". Wrong, wrong, wrong! Time to check your scripture, Mr Bishop. Not all churches and Christians believe same-sex marriage is wrong - my church included.
As you can imagine this is all over the South African media. I listened to someone from "Doctors International" (i think that's what the organisation was, i'll have to check that) this morning making the tired old "same sex marriage threatens the sanctity of traditional marriage" statement. After all, we all know how sacred traditional marriage between a man and a woman is. If you understand how legalising same-sex marriages threatens my marriage to my lovely wife, please let me know - i just don't get it.
Let the controversy begin!
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Hi Ewan.
I have read your blog on Lesbian marriages with great interest. My only regret that I couldn't you wrote so little on the topic. I am a lesbian women and mother of 3, my partner is a mother of 4, so between us we are happily raising a family of 7. What interests me the most is your stance that you are a Christain, married heterosexual and still give gay marriages the thumbs up. I would love to know your basis for saying this. My father is a pastor and is totally 100% against anything gay.
Hi Liz,
Thanks for the comment - the only reason I don't write a lot more is a lack of time, my family keeps me busy (I can only imagine how you manage with 7 :-)
I have been meaning to write an entry on this subject specifically - my problem is that sometimes i'm a bit of a perfectionist. This topic is so important to me and close to my heart that i don't feel a quick posting does it justice, and i never get the time to sit down and organise what I know and believe into something legible and hopefully useful to others.
I'll go ahead and create a new posting, even if it is incomplete - in the meantime some reading I point people to here:
http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-gay-christian (What the Bible Says - And Doesn't Say - About Homosexuality)
and here:
http://www.deogloriakzn.co.za/ (Deo Gloria Family Church, my previous church).
But in summary, I believe that if you *study* the Bible with an open heart and mind, you will clearly see that homosexuality is neither a sin nor a sickness, and is *not* condemned by the Bible.
HiEwan,
Well done on your article on same sex marriages and for standing up for what you believe in.
The Lord has taken the mantle of inivisibility off our church and all the other affirming and inclusive churches globally and the new move of God has begun. There is about to be a spiritual explosion!
I believe God is going to use the Eunuch nation (inclusive churches) as the forerunners of this century to build bridges with other churches and show that the love of Christ incorporates all people. This is the face of Christ that the world needs to see.
Blessings and love
Rev. Deborah Bell
Deo Gloria Family Church