year eleven religious studies-christian ethical issues-PLEASE HLP!?

Question

hey, im writing an essay about the content of an ethical issue based on the ethical principles of chrisitianity.

the issues incude-
abortion
homosexual marriage.

what are some of the christian ethical principles that relae to these issues?

thanks

Answer 1

In my experiece I would say that homosexual marriage does not exist. In all examples of marriage, the bible shows one man and one woman. The first married couple in the Bible was Adam and Eve.

I do not find anywhere in the bible where God ordained multiple concurrent marriages. It happened as a matter of human workings, but not by divine decree or inspiration.

Also, the Bible decrees that men who lie with men as with women are committing an abomination. It does not give any exception or exemption for those who may be married.

God had other things on the list of sexual sins, and for the most part, our society does not seem to have too many issues with them. God said no sex with close relatives (Mothers, sisters, etc.) We call this incest, and generally agree that it is not a good thing.

God said no sex with animals. We call this beastiality, and again, we seem to agree that it is not a good thing.

We begin to differ with God's opinion, though, with any sexual activity happening outside of a marriage. God says it is a sin, but it is so darned fun that we disregard God's word and make all sorts of excuses. "God is too restrictive." "It isn't hurting anyone." etc. And we really get going when we get to the homosexuals. "It isn't fair." "Homosexuals deserve love, too!" etc.... While these complaints may have an amount of truth to them, the acts are, nevertheless, still sins.

As for abortion, we see countless examples of God's love for people, including those who are unborn. He did ask us to go forth and multiply. Babies were cherished. They were considered gifts from God.

If you go back to when Mary was expecting Jesus, and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was expecting John (The Baptist), the two unborn babies recognized one another. Elizabeth's pregnancy was about three months farther along than Mary's according to the story. This example shows us that even the unborn have human qualities. Three months is significant time in a pregnancy, so we are getting down close to life and humanity beginning at conception.

Given this, and the well documented decree of God that murder is a sin, leads me to the belief that abortion is indeed the murder of a human being and is thus a sin.

The only exemption of note I see in the examples of the Bible have to do with war relating to the fulfillment of one of God's promises. Other killing, even if done in the Name of the Lord, was still sin. I suspect that "The Crusades" were all sin. They were not God Ordained, but man made.

In the New Testament, we are instructed to Love our Enemies, and to turn the proverbial cheek, not kill them.
We are told to share the Good Word, not shove it down someone's throat.

Answer 2

First of all, christian ethics should only carry weight within the christian community, however ridiculous they may seem, as applying them to the global human population would be presumptious, self centered, and down right rude and ignorant.

Secondly, on those issues, it may be worth considering that our finite global resources are already overstretched by the sheer number of the 6 billion people consuming them, and that this number has historically doubled every 40 years since around the time of the industrial revolution.
Also, all problematic issues, can be attributed either directly or indirectly to the human overpopulation of this planet, and that "going forth and multiplying" is not sustainable, and is indeed very irresponsible.

Therefore there were much less than 1 billion people on earth around 120 years ago, and even then the habitat destruction/deforestation, pollution and ecological and enviromental damage was horrendous.
You do the math..

Some relevant information for your essay I'd say..