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Originally Posted by Evangelical
So marriage according to God and marriage according to the government is different. They cannot be both marriage, they must be two different things.
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Yes and no. Go to any dictionary and look at how many rather simple words have more than one meaning. And in some cases, if you do not know the context in which the word is used, you could not determine what was being intended by the word. Sometimes almost contradictory meanings.
The same goes here. Neither forces the other to conform to its definition. There is the definition as we understand it from the Bible. That is not forced out of existence by the government's desire to allow for a similar-looking thing that does not actually compare in full. Neither does the Bible's meaning force the government's definition to be non-existent.
Sometimes it feels like I am talking to Rain Man.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
Anyone who marries according to the government must not be truly married in God's eyes.
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You would be correct in this to the extent that the ones marrying do not otherwise qualify to do so according to God. But what about ones who are of opposite sex who don't really think they will likely remain married to the same person for more than a few years? Are they married? They probably don't even think about God. Does it make them not married?
There is nothing in the laws of the land that forces you to marry another person of the same gender. So you are free from obligation to obey the government over God.
And the use of the same word for two things that sort of look alike but are not truly so is linguistically acceptable. Same word. Two definitions for two different, even if similar-looking things.
Worry more about loving your neighbor. The Bible will survive this. As will the Christian faith. Will some fall away? Surely. But most didn't need gay marriage to cause that.