Asher's and Same Sex Marriage

It's been a sad week for Christians, first the owners of Asher's bakery lost their case in Northern Ireland and then the Irish Republic voted by a large majority to pass legislation to enable same sex marriage. Both demonstrate the movement away from being a Christian Society; I believe that if we had a referendum here, there would be a similar result.

I grew up in South East London and knew nothing of homosexuality until I was about 21 despite having an effeminate boy in my class. It was no big deal and some copied his feminine ways. Since my early 20's I have met and worked with homosexuals, it was no big deal. Prior to the 1967 act legalising homosexuality, there was never any suggestion of shopping them; certainly my circle of friends did not  and do not agree with imprisonment or any other sort of punishment. I never saw or heard of any bullying of the boy at school or those I worked with or knew socially. So why am I now protesting  against the homosexual agenda? The answer is that it is the agenda I object to and not the individuals. There is no tolerance in the LGBT community and respect for others' positions how ever well-founded, yet they want tolerance & respect from the rest of society.

In the Asher case, the judge recognised the sincerity of the defendants' beliefs, I would go further: the defendants based their beliefs on The Holy Bible which were therefore therefore well-founded. Queen Victoria suggested that the Holy Bible put the GREAT in Britain and our history is a testament to the wisdom of basing our society on it. Asher's decision is backed by centuries of these islands "punching well above their weight". So not unreasonable, even if, these days, an unlawful position to take. The media failed to report that a Yougov pole of Britain found that 65% thought that no legal action should be taken and 56% thought that Asher's stance was acceptable.

The Irish referendum means that at least their society had a say in the result. But the media and politicians weighed in heavily on for the " yes" campaign. All the Irish parties backed it. The media reported funding by so called far-right Christians for the NO vote but failed to mention the 25 million dollar donation by an American charity for the YES vote.

Whatever I feel about these two events, we are where we are. However, does that mean that we should deprive  Christians of their income purely because they are running a business? In reports of the Asher case, Mr Lee was described as a "gay activist": he could have gone to other bakers but chose Asher's who are known locally for their Christian beliefs. As with other similar cases, there is a suspicion that these cases are occurring because of the provocative actions of the LGBT community.

The problem with any human rights law is that in legislating for one person, you reduce or remove the rights of another person, recent laws have attacked freedom of speech and thought. Fundamental to a working democracy. The sexuality equality laws have led to the LGBT community trying to force Christians to abandon the Holy Bible as reliable evidence of God's intention for the world. For many Christians, the Holy Bible is Spirit breathed and infallible, therefore although the Holy Bible tells us to obey the law of the land, where there is a conflict between secular law and God's law, the Christian has to obey God's higher law. My search of the web found no discrimination cases against Moslems despite their more intolerant views and draconian punishments in connection with homosexuality. 

The Holy Bible is clear on marriage. In  Genesis 2: 21-24 it says:

"21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;  22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh".

Jesus then confirms this when speaking on divorce in St. Mark 10: 6 - 8:

"6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.  7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;  8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh".

Note that marriage is about two people, male & female; its effect is to recreate one person, God's creation and God's plan. If you listen to the remaining member of a marriage that has lasted many years the effect of this is obvious, different to any other pain felt after a loss. Heterosexual marriage has been the building block of all major societies throughout history. Therefore, Christians cannot compromise on this subject. God's ways and laws are not there to impede us but are for everyone's benefit and to create a better society for our children to grow up in.

I grew up in a Christian society where humility and respect was the natural order. The LGBT community could do with some of that and respect Christians following their religion, providing it is consistent with the Holy Bible's teaching. I believe this and other things going on are designed to weaken Christianity, and if it does not return to being a force in our society, it will leave a vacuum when Islam is forecasting it will have Sharia law in this country by 2050. Will the LGBT community be comfortable with that?

BUT

We Christians have to take responsibility for the fact that we are not getting the message across to the LGBT and other communities. We are perceived as hypocritical, narrow-minded, backward-thinking people who just want to spoil anything that has to do with enjoyment. This is not as I know my fellow Christians, so we need to counter this by making it very plain that our role is to point people to Jesus and his written Word. Christianity is about freedom to choose to follow Jesus. I admire the people of Islam's protection of their holy books (but not their actions), Christians should remember that the Holy Bible is Spirit breathed and therefore  infallible and there is plenty of scientific evidence on websites like Answers in Genesis, Creation Ministries International and others to back this up. We must also bring the Holy Spirit and The Holy Bible together, then I believe our actions and when necessary, our words will make the rest of our community sit up and take notice.