Coptic what is your religion? I ask because you say you keep your religion separate from your politics. Though I won't get into a huge debate about it, there is a vast difference between religion and faith.
How can anyone keep their beliefs out of their politics? This seems completely counterintuitive to me. How do you come to political views that are the polar opposite of your beliefs? Unless of course your political views are in actuality, your beliefs, which seems to be the case.
I'm failing to see why you are taling a silly jab at BEP, nor what Mass' divorce rate has to do with gay marriage.
I am Christian, although I associate with no particular denomination. I wasn't raised in a religious household. Although, my parents, as children, attended a Lutheran Church and the Church of Christ Science. They allowed me to study religion on my own, and to come to my own conclusion of what religion I would choose.
As a teen I had some tough times, as most kids do. I struggled with the loss of friends and loved ones, my own diseases and addictions, and feelings of helplessness and loneliness. It wasn't until I turned to the Bible for answers and put faith in God that I was finally freed from these feelings of loneliness, and found the strength to free myself from the addictions and diseases that made me the weak person that I was ashamed of being. There are still times when I feel vulnerable to the sins I habitually committed. Yet, when I feel that way I know I can turn to the Bible (or other books not included in the canon of the Old or New Testaments).
I am not a Christian fundamentalist, and if you've read my post about Revelations in this same forum you probably could have guessed that. I am very skeptical of biblical prophecies too, especially those from any apocalyptic text.
Anyways, this should be sufficient enough for you to avoid starting a debate over what the difference between "religion" and "faith" is. After all, we both know the difference and we'd just be wearing our keyboards.
So, let's get to the nitty gritty....
First, let's look at the definition of the word "politics" :
Social relations involving authority or power
Obviously, God has the ultimate power over us, and I believe that. But I also respect the freedom of others to choose NOT to believe that. Therefore, while I believe that God is the ultimate power and authority I wouldn't support any law which would remove the freedom for me to come to that conclusion.
I don't support sumptuary laws, and believe they should be repealed. I believe the answer to this country's problems is a commitment to civil liberties and personal freedom.
Everyone has such a naive faith in law. Everybody says, "There ought to be a law against it!" So they make a law against it, and it makes everything more complicated. You can hardly move today without a lawyer telling you what you may or may not do.
Forbidding sin will not make sinners stop sinning. They will only make the sinners resent those who try to force their beliefs upon them and confirm their hatred of society.
We are not a part of some theocratic monarchy or are slaves to anything besides what we allow ourselves to be a slave to. These freedoms are allowed to us by an "American ideology" which has been documented in the Constitution and its amendments.
Furthermore, I think it's interesting to point out that the majority of the amendments to the constitution have been to allow for more personal freedoms or to limit the government's powers. The few instances when the opposite has been attempted (limit personal freedoms) have resulted in the amendment being repealed or have failed ratification.
So, if you guessed that I don't support the Federal Marriage Amendment or bans on same-sex unions, you would be right!
Christian and liberal (but NOT a Democrat! I lean more towards Libertarian views). That's me, and I'm not alone.
(Maybe I should have posted all this stuff in the "Introductions" forum??? Its more of a proper introduction than anything... and probably doesnt belong in this "Gay marriage" thread.)
Also, I don't know what "I'm failing to see why you are taling a silly jab at BEP" means? What's a BEP?
... and to answer your last question about the seemingly unrelated facts I posted about divorce rates. Massachusetts it the only state that currently allows same-sex marriages (Vermont allows same-sex unions).
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