Greetings to all of you. I rarely post in threads on this site, but I feel genuinely disheartened by numerous postings of many Christians here who either are indifferent to the growing acceptance of homosexuality or are outright supportive of the movement.
So I would like to put forward a very brief and simple challenge (hopefully in good honor and genuine respect) to those Christians who agree with the homosexual movement when they specifically demand "equal" marriage rights with heterosexuals. My challenge is actually taken from the book "Straight and Narrow? - Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexual Debate" by Thomas E. Schmidt who is a Greek and New Testament professor at Westmont College. His book is one of the best (and most sensitive) that I've read critiquing the logic used by the homosexual movement. Schmidt's point regarding this challenge is that when you actually examine in detail the marriage rights of heterosexuals and homosexuals, you realize that they have already been perfectly equal since the founding of Canada and the U.S. I will summarize his point as follows:
What "specific" marriage right(s) do I have as a heterosexual male in Canada or the U.S.?
1. Do I have the right to marry my sister? No, the Canadian and American governments will not allow me to have that right.
2. Do I have the right to marry a young under-aged girl? No, the Canadian and American governments will not allow me to have that right.
3. Do I have the right to marry my pet dog? No, the Canadian and American governments will not allow me to have that right.
4. Do I have (or ever had in North American history) the right to marry another man? No, the Canadian and American governments never allowed any heterosexual the right to marry within the same sex.
What marriage right(s) do I have then as an adult heterosexual? I have (and only ever had) one single marriage right, and that is to marry an adult female who is not in my immediate family. I have absolutely no other right(s) than that one. Now here the most important and essential question arises: do homosexual men in North America (both now and in its entire history) have that exact same right? Absolutely! Every single male homosexual that has ever lived in North America has always had, and continues to have, the right to marry an adult female not in his immediate family.
So if it is agreed that I as a heterosexual male have only one marriage right, and every homosexual male always possessed that exact same right, then in what way is there inequality between heterosexuals and homosexuals regarding marriage? There is no inequality at all, and there never has been. This "equality" argument used by the homosexual movement (and now used by many sympathetic Christians) fails at the most basic logical level. If fails logically in this way; if a homosexual gains a marriage right that I do not have (marrying within the same sex) how would that make us equal? Not only does that not make us equal, that actually makes homosexuals superior in rights to every other social group, because they would be attaining a brand new right no one else ever had. And that would be just as irrational as me saying "I want the right to marry a three-year old girl, that way I will have equal marriage rights with homosexuals." But homosexual men don't have the right to marry three-year old girls. Do you see how irrational that kind of statement is? The only way the "equality" argument could actually work is if in reality heterosexual men were allowed to marry other heterosexual men, but homosexual men were not allowed to marry other homosexual men. That would then be blatant inequality. But we all know that hypothesis does not exist in reality.
I have not yet heard a proper definitive response to this logical challenge against the foundational argument employed by the homosexual movement. If there is an acceptable response to this challenge than I would graciously listen to it.
I would kindly ask in advance that you all understand what I am "not" asking for in this thread. This thread is not about how we should interpret the Bible's verses on homosexuality, nor is it about whether gay marriage will affect Christians positively or negatively in society. These are of course highly important, but irrelevant to the point of this particular thread.
For clarity sake, I will repeat my one single question for this thread - What "specific" marriage right(s) do heterosexuals have that homosexuals do not have themselves?
I look forward to reading the thoughts any of you might have (whether in agreement or disagreement) concerning the important subject of gay marriage equality and its relation to the basic laws of logic and rationality.
Your brother in Christ, Matthew
So I would like to put forward a very brief and simple challenge (hopefully in good honor and genuine respect) to those Christians who agree with the homosexual movement when they specifically demand "equal" marriage rights with heterosexuals. My challenge is actually taken from the book "Straight and Narrow? - Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexual Debate" by Thomas E. Schmidt who is a Greek and New Testament professor at Westmont College. His book is one of the best (and most sensitive) that I've read critiquing the logic used by the homosexual movement. Schmidt's point regarding this challenge is that when you actually examine in detail the marriage rights of heterosexuals and homosexuals, you realize that they have already been perfectly equal since the founding of Canada and the U.S. I will summarize his point as follows:
What "specific" marriage right(s) do I have as a heterosexual male in Canada or the U.S.?
1. Do I have the right to marry my sister? No, the Canadian and American governments will not allow me to have that right.
2. Do I have the right to marry a young under-aged girl? No, the Canadian and American governments will not allow me to have that right.
3. Do I have the right to marry my pet dog? No, the Canadian and American governments will not allow me to have that right.
4. Do I have (or ever had in North American history) the right to marry another man? No, the Canadian and American governments never allowed any heterosexual the right to marry within the same sex.
What marriage right(s) do I have then as an adult heterosexual? I have (and only ever had) one single marriage right, and that is to marry an adult female who is not in my immediate family. I have absolutely no other right(s) than that one. Now here the most important and essential question arises: do homosexual men in North America (both now and in its entire history) have that exact same right? Absolutely! Every single male homosexual that has ever lived in North America has always had, and continues to have, the right to marry an adult female not in his immediate family.
So if it is agreed that I as a heterosexual male have only one marriage right, and every homosexual male always possessed that exact same right, then in what way is there inequality between heterosexuals and homosexuals regarding marriage? There is no inequality at all, and there never has been. This "equality" argument used by the homosexual movement (and now used by many sympathetic Christians) fails at the most basic logical level. If fails logically in this way; if a homosexual gains a marriage right that I do not have (marrying within the same sex) how would that make us equal? Not only does that not make us equal, that actually makes homosexuals superior in rights to every other social group, because they would be attaining a brand new right no one else ever had. And that would be just as irrational as me saying "I want the right to marry a three-year old girl, that way I will have equal marriage rights with homosexuals." But homosexual men don't have the right to marry three-year old girls. Do you see how irrational that kind of statement is? The only way the "equality" argument could actually work is if in reality heterosexual men were allowed to marry other heterosexual men, but homosexual men were not allowed to marry other homosexual men. That would then be blatant inequality. But we all know that hypothesis does not exist in reality.
I have not yet heard a proper definitive response to this logical challenge against the foundational argument employed by the homosexual movement. If there is an acceptable response to this challenge than I would graciously listen to it.
I would kindly ask in advance that you all understand what I am "not" asking for in this thread. This thread is not about how we should interpret the Bible's verses on homosexuality, nor is it about whether gay marriage will affect Christians positively or negatively in society. These are of course highly important, but irrelevant to the point of this particular thread.
For clarity sake, I will repeat my one single question for this thread - What "specific" marriage right(s) do heterosexuals have that homosexuals do not have themselves?
I look forward to reading the thoughts any of you might have (whether in agreement or disagreement) concerning the important subject of gay marriage equality and its relation to the basic laws of logic and rationality.
Your brother in Christ, Matthew