Prop 8 class 9-23-08

So my Bible study went into the analysis of Proposition 8 (voting on amending the state constitution to include the definition of marriage) and I took some notes on it. I will be posting the handout up here tomorrow morning or so.

1) Reasons against gay marriage

a) Genesis 1 and 2

i) Sets foundation for all Christian teaching on marriage, family and sexuality.

(1) Sex act is good by God.

(a) Has purpose

(b) Not bad at all

(2) Dual purpose to sex

(a) Procreative

(b) Unitive

b) Marriage in both Genesis (first book) and Revelation (last book)

c) Meanings in Genesis

i) Woman made from side of man.

(1) Symbolic as “side-by-side”

(2) Not made from head or foot

ii) When presented to man, brought to Adam as his wife.

(1) Unitive aspect shown

d) Man+Female=image of God.

i) We share in God’s own love

ii) We are unique persons with own intellect

iii) By virtue of being human, we are in two worlds at once… heaven and earth.

(1) Being of God’s image yet still mortal and having a soul.

e) Gender compliments

i) Each gender draws out of the opposing gender the qualities that God wants revealed.

ii) Gays can’t have complementary relationships

(1) Ultimately frustrating

(2) There is a dysfunction at the sexual level and even more dysfunction at the social level

(a) Can’t procreate so kids are adopted, etc.

(3) Always an attempt to mimic the heterosexual relationship

(4) Cannot (purposefully) fulfill any of the marriage aspects to fruition.

f) Types of marriage

i) Celibates

(1) One of two instances

(a) Has not found partner yet

(b) Chosen the greater good (priesthood, etc) in place of marriage.

ii) Childless

(1) Sometimes, couples cant have kids

(2) Even without kids, the unitive aspect is stull fulfilled.

(3) Even without sexual relations, the complementary levels still exist.

iii) Marriage union reflects what God is like.

g) Characteristics of Homosexual relationships

i) Largely selfish

(1) Simple attraction and pleasure

(2) Complementary traits, social well-being and responsibility lacking.

h) Sinful nature

i) Only 1 of 5 sins in Bible listed as abominable

i) Biblical examples

i) Sodom

(1) Foundation story for Scripture.

(2) Shows how grave a sin that homosexuality encompasses

(3) Lot’s wife analysis

(a) Referenced in NT

(b) Example of how quickly God’s judgment comes.

(c) One can’t have eyes on heaven and look back at the world.

(4) Analysis of physical blindness experienced by attackers trying to sodomize Lot.

(a) Physical blindness=manifestation of moral blindness

(b) The act of the attackers to trying and find the door of the house shows the compulsory nature of sin.

(c) Not like Paul’s blindness on Damascus road, for Paul repented and changed.

ii) Deuteronomy 23:18-19

(1) Canaanite religious reference

(a) Ritualistic sex practices

(2) “dog” refers to “Dogs of Ishtar’

(a) Castrated males dressed as women and made priest(esses?) in Canaanite temples.

(3) “Dog” is no neutral term, it is specific term for a specific sin.

(a) “Doggie style,” anyone?

(4) Lasting effect of the name

(a) By 100AD, Canaanites no longer existed and therefore the use of the term in Matthew 7 had no religious connotation.

iii) Judges 19:15-26

(1) Only time in Bible where all the tribes in Israel got together and beat up another tribe of Israel

(2) Nearly wiped out entire tribe of Benjamin.

(3) All done over the fact that the Benjamites wanted to have relations with men and instead viciously attacked a man’s wife.

(4) This story is like Lot’s story but it is entirely in the context of the Israelites.