Sounds absurd, right?  After President Obama’s announcement  concerning gay rights, many in the church world went into a frenzy. This is understandable considering the only dialogue we’ve had on gay rights has been absolute opposition.

Nevertheless, here are the reasons Christians should support gay rights: (at the bottom of this page is a link to a free copy of the chapter on Gay Rights.)

1. God blesses marriages; the government gives the legal rights (1138 rights to be exact).

If marriage is a religious institution then the government should not be involved in defining marriage in the first place: therefore, all of the rights they grant to marriage unions must be granted on another basis and not based on the religious definition of marriage.

2. If we believe homosexuals should not get these rights because the Bible says it is a sin, then all of our rights are threatened because all of us are in the same exact category. Read Proverbs 6:16-19.

3. No one group has the right to determine what is “traditional” for the entire nation

This means that, just as no one should be able to determine what is normal in the church, the church should not be able to determine what is normal for the whole of society—not through legal means that is. We always have the right to influence society by the lives we live and the gospel we preach.

Chapter 4: Christianity and Gay Rights

4. Protecting our Religious Freedoms requires that we protect Gay Rights (and vice versa)

Societal norms are shifting. Anyone who teaches that homosexuality is a sin will eventually be labeled bigoted, just like someone who teaches their children to be racists. And that’s okay. If our faith causes us to be labeled bigots, then so be it.

Keep in mind that the Constitution guarantees us the right to always be able to preach the Gospel no matter how unpopular it is in American society.  However, the Constitution does not protect our rights by restricting the rights of those with whom we disagree; it protects our rights by protecting theirs as well.

5. This is both the cost and the protector of our freedoms. This is best illuminated by a quote from a classic movie:

“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.”… Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the “land of the free”. (The American President, 1995)

 6. Our freedom has a price. It isn’t always the blood of soldiers. Sometimes the price of freedom is the discomfort of sharing  those same freedoms with  those whom we vehemently disagree.

Click to download your free chapter on Gay Rights and Christianity

One Response

1. Edward Martin III says:

   May 15, 2012 at 6:18 pm

   Ha! Indeed.

   When I see the “freedom isn’t free” bumper stickers, I’m struck by the dichotomy you mention.

   I am not fond of the idea that freedom costs in a unit called “soldier’s lives” for which we must feel grateful. I am much more fond of the idea that freedom costs in a unit called “Willingness to stand by my neighbor even if I disagree with him.”

   That’s the kind of freedom that builds a nation!