Are Christians/Catholics FORCING people to live according to their laws?

Question

Ex. Gay couples. Don't allow them to get married?! The bible says marriage is between a man and a woman. Okay well how about if the couples in question were Atheists or Muslims? We still have to live according to Christian law in this country, and a book that some of us think is silly at best? How would you feel living under Islamic law? Before you just say the remarks that make everyone thinks you will say, try thinking about it. i don't see how forcing a group of people to live by religious laws that they may or may not subscribe to is any better than some crazy Islamic laws in the middle east. (notice I said some, i have no problem with Islam before you people label me, the VAST majority of Islam preaches peace and love) And please don't give us the stupid excuse of well they can get married, they jsut can't call it that. Self identification is a part of rights. No? Ex. Oh okay, lets say an ethnic group is part of this country just not "citizens" then? Of course not!

Answer 1

Great hope for you and me
1 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ;
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God;
5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake;
6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost;
7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia;
8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing;
9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Answer 2

I think you're mistaken, the laws are local, state and federal laws, not Christian / Catholic -

I believe that Vermont and Mass allow gay marriages - and Canada also accepts those - as well as common law marriages (allowed in some southern states).

Since you seem to take exception to the laws of marriage, how about the age limits - why can't 12 year olds get married, or why can't children marry their parents, or their brothers or sisters? The problem with finding a single law you don't like is that there are often parts of it that you agree with. I think Alabama just recently got rid of their law against mixed marriages - go figure.

I think that most laws were created with a sense of the morality of the people creating them - thus, the laws are actually more Puritan than Catholic (remember, Catholics were ostracized in the early US - it was Protestants who built the country - Catholics didn't start streaming in until the Irish started coming to Boston after the great potato famine in Ireland).

Since you mentioned Islam, I'm highly doubtful that gay marriages would be allowed in an Islamic country.

And "who" decided that murder should be a crime, or euthenasia? Once you start down the slippery slope of what is or isn't allowed, it becomes difficult to put a stake in the sand. Isn't it the ten commandments, a religious tenet, that purports that murder is illegal? In England, you cannot get a transplant if you are over the age of 50, because you are no longer valuable enough to waste an organ on -

Become aware of all of the laws, and see that lawful, even if uncomfortable, is preferable to lawlessness.

Answer 3

Dear Ordin,

First of all we live in a demoncracy where marriage has been defined as being between a man and a woman. This is not Christians and Catholics forcing society to live according to their laws- this is the law of the land that Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Mormons, atheists, non-religious people, have voted and agreed to.

Yes the Bible does indeed teach that marriage is between a man and a woman. i will not aplogize for God's standards. Our laws happen to agree with God's standards in some parts and not in others.

So i think to blame Chrisitians and Catholics is to draw an unfair conclusion. Not everyone who voted against gay marriages is necessarily Christian or Catholic.

No one is forcing anyone there are states where homosexual marriages are allowed.

Your theory is like saying why should people listen to the law and not get drunk (because the Bible says don't get drunk). It's not the Bible's fault that people get drunk- but yet as a society people recognize that laws are necessary. Apparently enough people feel that they gay marriages would redefine the family structure in society and aren't comfortable with that. Yes Christians/Catholics often have a Biblical basis for their convictions but these are not the only factors involved. i have many non-Christian friends who voted against gay marriages (they weren't forced- they are actually some of the most outspoken opinionated people i know).

Hope that helps. Kindly,

Nickster

Answer 4

This still happens in may ways in the US, despite its much-vaunted "separation of church and state" - a principle we are not living up to.

Another example: Federal tax dollars (hunderds of millions per year) going to abstinence programs that teach teenagers that sex between anyone who isn't legally married is "damaging, both psychologically and physiologically."

This is not science, nor even common sense. This is a conclusion that could only be drawn from extreme religious belief (I would call it fanaticism). No other source would support it.

This active promotion of superstition among our young people – using “logic” of a brand similar to that which produced the Salem witch hunts - is an egregious violation of the constitution, an insult to the intelligence of the American people -especially the students- and an indictment of the current Administration. It should be immediately struck down, an apology should be issued to students and to the American people, and those in government responsible should answer to charges of willfully violating the constitution before the courts. This would be simple justice.

There is far more support among rigorous scientific study to suggest that an antithetical hypothesis is probably true: that extended periods without sex among average adults can be mildly harmful, psychologically or physiologically or both.

But I do not propose that we use federal dollars to disseminate the full truth about sex

In deference to the religious diversity in our nation, I simply propose that the schools maintain a *neutral stance*, rather than to promote the beliefs of one religious group in direct violation of the constitutional separation of church and state, attempting to impose those beliefs by masquerading them as science, funded by the tax dollars of all, as is presently the case.

Answer 5

As a Christian even I don't believe that Christian theology should be a part of American policy making. But if the majority of Americans do not support gay marriage, then it will be shown through the democratic process. So it really is not forcing anyone.

Answer 6

There is no control of the energy that stems from within.

That being said, man is merely playing the stage on a slow Monday night at best. Sometimes it's exciting, sometimes it's horrifying, but the show never goes on forever.

You cannot identify with your bodily mass, or even your mind. None of these are the reality of "who" and "what" you truly are. So, labels are insignificant. Experience is what counts.

You are to have compassion for those who choose to play within the illusion of self and personal gain. Their awareness of truth is weak. They believe they are binding you with chains when in reality they are binding themselves. They cannot see.

You are to walk the path less traveled. You are to find the middle way. You are to balance your Chi. You are to focus on your higher chakras, or whatever it is you do to keep yourself in the awareness that you are truly boundless by your own design and not by the design of others.

If you have equanimity within your awareness. Nothing can harm you.

Answer 7

Setting moral opinions aside for a moment.

Democracy dictates that the laws of the land reflect the morality of a majority of its citizens.

If the majority of its citizens think that marriage should be only between one man and one women then a democracy should reflect that opinion.

This is how a democracy works.

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

i'll assert as continually that my opposition to gay Marriage and the redifining of the be conscious is against my faith. What I understand the Bible to teach. Does it tell me to be mean and hateful? No, does it say to hate the sin not the sinner, sure. if we even got here on the factor of residing the way God meant then we does not have the matters we've at present, yet, the worldwide will deny the fact, and wager what, it does. My opposition to gay marriage is via the gay schedule, and likely, there is one, that's to tension everybody to settle for his or her existence-type and not have the flexibility to assert a be conscious against it. you will in all probability say not genuine, nicely that's, there are maximum of circumstances in litigation top now the place homosexuals tried to get centers from companies or church homes they knew does not be granted in order that as that they might sue. sure there are. take a 2nd to look it up. I have not have been given any issue with them having the comparable rights yet this complete marriage ingredient isn't approximately that, Civil unions provide that to them as nicely as many state regulations yet those at the instant are not reliable adequate because of the fact it does not validate them to society that they are ideal. that's what they want.

Answer 9

The marriage laws are not based solely on Christian or religious beliefs. If that were the case, then civil unions could easily be done...but as you know in most places in this country even civil unions are prohibited. The reason that our government has seen fit to maintain the idea of one man and one woman to make a "couple" has more to do with maintaining a stable society based on family connections.

Answer 10

Abortion (infanticide) goes directly against God's laws, and it's legal in America. Therefore you have no basis for your claim.

Christians are not the ones who are currently in control of the laws in America, or Christians would not have to fight against some of the laws to get them changed.
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Answer 11

A lot of Christians are definitely trying their very best, but it's not fair to accuse all Christians of it. I'm an Episcopalian and my church and I are extremely accepting of gays and there is nothing in the bible that says god hates homosexuality. It does say that god loves everyone.