The debate has become front and center in our culture, and it seems everyone has an opinion. This blog post by Geoff Surratt is the best article I've yet seen on the topic, and comes very, very close to articulating my position on it. Check it out and let me know what you think.
P. S. I don't have time to enter a complete discourse on my feelings on the topic, but I did enter a discussion on Facebook with a friend from NC who was frustrated with her opposition to gay marriage being labeled as "hate". Here was my response. This should illustrate fairly well how I feel about this debate:
The sad truth is that there
IS a lot of hate spewed towards homosexuals, oftentimes from Christians.
Obviously, those with an agenda have exaggerated that and leveraged it
so that anyone who opposes the agenda is associated with that hate, but
the hate definitely exists. I'll never forget talking to a guy I worked
with who was gay and he told me I was the first Christian who ever
treated him with any respect.
Homosexuality is a sin, and as
the salt and light of the world we must be willing to stand up and say
that. However, Scripture compels us to speak the truth IN love, and
while many conservative Christians get the truth part right (and many
liberal Christians get the love part right), the amount of God's people
who walk in both (particularly on this issue) is sadly low.
I'm
not saying you aren't walking in truth in love. I'm just saying there's
a reason we are being branded as haters, and it's not just because in
the last days men will call good evil and evil good. A lot of it has to
do with the unChristlike way the church has responded to homosexuality.
Gay marriage is going to be legalized in our generation, I think that's basically a given. I do continue to have hope that the
church will rise up and not just proclaim truth, but show Christ's love.
We tend to be better at hating the sin than loving the sinner. I
believe we can and will do better.
