Gay Marriage

 Homosexuality has spread throughout the world and has infiltrated the minds of many people. A sin that was once considered detestable is now accepted all around the world. The gay pride flag is held high by many people and businesses. There are even many influential gay people that promote the homosexual lifestyle. Christians that are strong in their faith are even afraid to speak out because they are afraid they will be judged for being against gay marriage. There are even gay Christians in the world who know that what they are doing is wrong. The world was once founded on Christian principles and now most of those morals have wasted away.

I always thought that homosexuality and gay marriage was something that had recently arisen. I just assumed that it was a newer thing that had come up. The truth is, one of the first evidences of homosexuality was in the Bible in Genesis 19 when the men in Sodom went to Lot's house and asked to have sex with the men that were hiding in his house. "They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." (New International Version, Gen. 19:5). The first country to legalize gay marriage was The Netherlands in 2001, with the first same-sex marriage taking place in Amsterdam in 2001. More and more countries as well as religions are starting to accept homosexual marriage.

In 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that gay marriage way okay and acceptable. Gay marriage is now legal in all fifty states. Gay festivals are held all over the country and the month of June was even dubbed "Pride Month". Some American citizens may think that this will not affect them, but it definitely will. Both small and large businesses that refuse to serve homosexuals will receive persecution, private or public. People that own restaurants and bakeries are forced to go against their conscience and compromise their morals in order to avoid public shame because they did not make a wedding cake for a homosexual couple. On an episode of the popular cooking show called Cake Boss, a lesbian couple walked into the bakery and requested that a cake be made for their wedding. The owner refused and received persecution from the couple as well as his own sister and ended up going his own conscience to make a cake for a gay wedding. Another case involved two men named David Mullins and Charlie Craig, who had planned to have their wedding in Massachusetts. They traveled to a place called Masterpiece Cakeshop to request a cake to be made for their wedding. The owner of the bakery, Jack Phillips, had to turn down the order because he said it would go against his morals and beliefs if he made a cake to celebrate a homosexual wedding. Mullins said, "Being denied service by Masterpiece Cakeshop was offensive and dehumanizing especially in the midst of arranging what should be a joyful family celebration." Phillips did say that he made a cake for the "marriage" of two dogs, but he admitted that he had refused to make cakes for other homosexual couples and that he would not make a cake for pedophiles. The only reason I believe that the homosexual has the right to be angry is that if Phillips rejected their order because he believed that gay marriage is a distortion of true marriage, then he needs to reject all orders that distort the true version of marriage; however, I do not believe that the homosexual couple should feel "dehumanized" due to the fact that Phillips did not make a cake for their wedding.

In 2008, California decided that having a ban on homosexual marriage was wrong. The city with the highest percentage of homosexuals in San Francisco, with 6.2 % of the entire gay population in the United States. Coming in second is Los Angeles, which has 4.6 % of the United States' gay population. California takes fifth place on the "Top 10 Most Liberal States" list, with about 27.5 % of California's population being liberal. California has passed the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which states that there is not a business in California that is legally able to refuse service to anyone based on what they are wearing or their sexual orientation. I do agree that homosexuals should not be openly judged, but it is not fair to force business owners to go against their morals. In California, it is illegal for any kind of business to reject a customer because of that customer's sexual orientation. Early in the year 2014, there was a catering business in California that claimed they would refuse to cater a gay wedding. Because of this, there are states like Arizona and Texas that are backing up the business' decision to not serve homosexuals. It is so sad to see that people from all over are being put down simply for following their morals.

The world is full of approximately 4,300 different religions, with Christianity as the largest religion with around 2.2 billion believers and Islam came in as the second largest with about 1.6 billion believers. A few other major religions are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Nazarene, and Episcopal. In the year 610, a man named Muhammad created the Islam religion. The Islam religion has very harsh beliefs towards gay marriage. It teaches that, if you are homosexual, you should be put to death. The Roman Catholic Church acts very loving towards the homosexual community. Although they are opposed to gay marriage, traditional Roman Catholics believe that everyone should show love towards gays and that they should be respected just like any normal person. The Nazarene Church instructs that homosexuality is a sin. Nazarenes believe that homosexual relationships are perverted. Acceptance of homosexuality in the church is believed to be in the works. The Episcopal Church is very welcoming of all members of the LGBTQ community, and there was even an openly gay bishop in 2003. In 2015, the Episcopal church made it legal for anyone to marry whoever they wanted no matter what gender they are. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not condone same-sex marriage. They will not kick anyone out of the church if they are struggling with the sin of homosexuality, but they refuse to perform homosexual weddings. Quite a few of the churches that are anti-gay will still accept homosexuals into their community while some still remain hostile.

The Christian Church believes that homosexuality is a sin. Some churches believe that homosexuality is one of the worst sins known to man while other churches believe homosexuality is a sin just like lying or cheating. There are some churches that will accept everyone along with all of their sin if they are truly seeking the Lord. On the other hand, some churches will refuse to allow people into the congregation if they are in a homosexual relationship. Romans 5:8 says, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". God does not love sin, but he loves us. There are people that will definitely try to twist that verse in an attempt to rationalize homosexuality. I have often heard the phrase, "Homosexuality is just another form of love". People could even pull out the verse 1 John 4:8, which says, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." The Bible is very clear about homosexuality. "If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense. (New International Version, Lev. 20:13)" There are some people that may ask, "Why do we overlook other sins such as premarital sex, but we do not overlook homosexuality?" Sin is sin and there is not a sin that is above another. Morals have been weakened over the years and sin has been becoming more and more acceptable. A man named Sam Allberry is the pastor of an Anglican church in a town in England called Maidenhead. The high school that Allberry attended was %100 male. He had a great relationship with both of his parents as well as the rest of his family. Over the course of his time in high school, Allberry began to notice that he was starting to have certain strong feelings that were directed towards his friends. He did not realize that he was having homosexual feelings due to the fact that being gay was not as accepted back the as it is today. Allberry began to get deep into the word of God at about the same time he realized he was having homosexual tendencies. Allberry said, "I am same-sex attracted and have been my entire life. I have sexual, romantic, and deep emotional attractions to people of the same sex." He also went on to say, "I was bullied at school for being gay. I now feel I'm being bullied at Synod for being same-sex attracted and faithful to the teaching of Jesus on marriage." I believe that Sam Allberry is living proof that people are not born gay. He just happened to be around all males when he was a teenager, which is the time in a person's life when hormones are raging. This led Allberry to think that he was attracted to people of the same sex. He believes that people are able to resist homosexual temptations. "You've got to learn to say no to yourself," he said.

I, personally, am against gay marriage; however, I know people who are gay and lesbian and yet I still remain friends with them. Some people even have family members that are gay; however, if I had a gay family member, I would not attend their wedding. I try my best to treat everyone with respect, regardless of their lifestyle and views. I am not someone who would openly confront a homosexual person and say, "What you are doing is wrong and you are going to burn in hell." I definitely do not think that marriage for homosexual couples should be legal; however, I do not believe that just being homosexual should be illegal like the Islam religion believes. What people do in their private time is their business and no one has the right to judge. I know most Christians will try and remain peaceful towards those who identify as part of the LGBTQ community, but not everyone is perfect and there are some people out there who will act hostile towards homosexuals. It is possible to love someone without loving his or her lifestyle. "He doesn't love evil or sin, but He does love His created beings." (Robertson 314) God's love is for all of His children and he welcomes everyone. I believe that those who believe they are homosexual, and have made Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior, will go to Heaven. Proverbs 8:17 says, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me." If they believe that what they are doing is wrong and accept God into their hearts, but they think they are born homosexual and can't stop living in sin, I think they can go to Heaven. I used to think that God only loved the people that walked with Him, but He loves each and every one of us, heterosexual or homosexual, and He wants all of us to go to Heaven.

Marriage between two homosexual individuals is quickly becoming legal in more and more places. The world was following Christianity at one point; however, sin kept creeping its way into the lives and minds of many people and now some people might consider it weird to not be a liberal. Hanging out with the wrong company could lead to the deterioration of our faith and our conscience. "So as we share our faith and mingle with people from every background – like Jesus did – we need to constantly watch our own hearts and make sure that we are the influence and not the other way around. Though we have friendships with non-Christians, we must choose fellow believers as our best friends." (Robertson 338) We might not think that hanging out with a certain crowd will affect our minds, but it will. Choosing the right people to be around will affect us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. "...bad habits can become bad behavior, and before long you're a slave to that behavior." (Robertson 339) I think that many Christians are against gay marriage, but they are afraid to speak out about what they believe. Being the influencer instead of the influenced will not only possibly lead more people to the Lord, but it could also help eliminate some of the sin in the world. 

Economic, Political, and Moral Flourishing

"It is especially necessary when the substantive issue at stake concerns the relationship of human flourishing to economic liberty—a relationship that was particularly well understood by Adam Smith, one of the modern world's most careful and insightful students of both public policy and political philosophy."

The above quote was taken from an essay that was written about the famous Adam Smith. Smith was the kind of person who was in favor of economic freedom, thus meaning that he believed that the people of the community of should be able to take part in actions that affect the economy directly without the interference of the government. A great example of economic freedom would be the freedom of business. Entrepreneurs, or any individual, would have the right to create their own business and close their own business without the government breathing down their neck. A person who is unable to pay for a college tuition in order to pave the way towards a business degree would most likely be in favor of a policy such as freedom of business.

One major point that Smith tried to make was economic flourishing. He was a big fan of the word "flourishing". In his book The Wealth Of Nations, Smith uses it when addressing the issue of his want for "improvement in the circumstances of the lower ranks of the people"; however, not everyone agreed with that. Smith knew that there were some that believed higher wages would constitute laziness and that trying to make things better for the lower class would be an inconvenience, but he disagreed with those beliefs. His thoughts were that "what improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconveniency to the whole" and that the people who are hard-working should "have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged". I think that his beliefs make sense in a way. On one hand, you could have one individual who works really hard, but they only earn $8 per hour. On the other hand, you could have someone who barely has to bend over to make money and they earn $60+ per hour. It seems like the hard-worker deserves more pay for their efforts, but just because the other person's job is easy does not mean that they should be paid less. 

Smith went on to say that if the poorest and most poverty-stricken people are able to obtain goods with ease, then economic flourishing in doing its job. There was a quote in the memorial room of Franklin Delano Roosevelt that said, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." Smith and FDR did not have much in common, but did agree on the belief that the state of the poor measures how much the economy is flourishing. 

Adam Smith had another book, which was titled The Theory Of Moral Sentiments. Smith also had a desire for political flourishing, meaning he wished to see society prosper as a whole and not just see selected parts flourish. This makes it sound like Smith would like to see all of the classes join together rather that have an upper class, middle class, and a lower class. He explained how he compared a world of justice to a world of beneficence and how he believed that, in order for a society to be truly happy, it must be joined into " "one common center" by ties of "love and affection"" rather than simply joined together by a need for trading and making money. While a society that is bound together by more than just wealth sounds like a utopia for some, it would come with its fair share of challenges and Smith knew it. Being a realist, Adam Smith knew that "the ideal society" would be asking too much of everyone.

Smith was also very concerned with moral flourishing, or how an individual flourishes. He said,"How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others..." He said that, naturally, mankind has, or should have, a love for the community. In addition, Smith also said that mankind wants to live in a more organized society rather than a society full of confusion, which makes sense because I do not see anyone choosing a society in a state of chaos over a society in a state of mayhem.

In the essay I read about Adam Smith, it claimed that economic freedom was helping advance economic flourishing as well as reduce the amount of destitution. After reading the essay, it seems like economic freedom could perhaps be a critical part of human flourishing. I believe that, with economic freedom, humankind has the power to continue to thrive in more ways than one. 

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