How Christian views of homosexuality have changed through the 21 century
I. Introducing the Thesis: Homosexuality, and gay relationships, are more often called, relationships and sexual acts between people of the same sex. There are many different views about homosexuality but one remains: Religious misinterpretation can lead to discrimination and hated. Equality is a possibility but it takes, tolerance, respect, and understanding. This paper examines multiple components of homosexuality and how it is viewed through the last 12 years. This paper will discuses : facts, how views and population rates differ from place to place, church opposition, problems, and solutions. This paper argues that while hatred, mistreatment, and misunderstanding
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Against
1. Christians Quote the bible stating that it encourages hatred and persecution of gays. Although the degree of which is up to interpretation.
2. Montoya, Alex D. 2008. "The church's response to homosexuality."
b. The public view of Christianity in America
i. Gibson, David. "Fewer Americans view homosexuality as a sin."
III. homosexuality in the Early 2012s
a. Prop 8 and the Supreme Court
i. The Supreme Court ruled in against gay marriage after the California state elections of prop 8. This is the baseline for the views of society towards acceptance of gay marriage.
b. The evolving political view
i. Politically gay rights movements have been gaining political power. Their acceptance in the general public has accelerated there political agenda and their “complete” acceptance in the community. ii. The governmental side of the equation, many political leaders have begun to openly accept gay marriage and push for national law reform iii. These political changes have recently manifested in the change in the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy of the US military, the military now accepts openly gay members willing to sacrifice for their country
c. Christians v government
i. Christianity in
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However even though the constitution has laid out a separation through church and state the church ideals that many politicians and government officials follow tend to steer political and government agendas.
IV. the current view
a. the new pope
i. The new pope has openly begun fighting the negative views of gay marriage, in a recent statement he condemned attacking the gay movement and refocus on the catholic image and message. ii. Cadge, Wendy, et al. "Uncertainty in clergy's perspectives on homosexuality." iii. Tillman, William M, Jr. "The church's response to homosexuality: biblical models for the 21st century."
b. Supreme Court
i. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage in the after the resent state elections ended in its favor. This shows a change in society towards acceptance of gay marriage.
c. States of equality
i. Recently individual state elections have ended in favor of gay marriage and the new Supreme Court rulings have allowed those states to keep those new laws.
d. And ELCA step forward
i. Recently The ELCA has declared that gay ministers can serve openly at Lutheran churches. They have stated that they deserve no persecution and have the right to serve. ii. Nessan, Craig L. "Three theses on the theological discussion of homosexuality in the global Lutheran
The way people ultimately view homosexuality, whether in religion, politics or modern popular culture, is all determined by traditional or changing points of view. This essay will discuss mainly liberal and conservative Christian interpretations of the Bible, including many verses that may support or condemn homosexuality. It will also discuss the political views and laws against same-sex marriage and the social activism in the homosexual community. This is all about view points and it has many conflicting views and arguments.
It was not until the twelfth century that homosexuality started to be condemned. This condemnation proved to live through then until now. Due to the fact that America incorporated these early views into its early laws, even the most bland of today's sex acts were seen as unlawful (“Homosexuality and Mental Health”). Since then, these laws have changed, however, there is still a primarily negative connotation on homosexuals when coming from a church or legal standpoint concerning the masses of America.
Homosexuality is one of the most debated issues among Christians today, regardless of the denomination of their church. Some churches view homosexuality as a sin and have no tolerance for it, while other denominations are more accepting and consider it a non-sin. Even though some denominations have taken a stand on homosexuality, there seems to much discord within the governing bodies of the churches regarding this issue. It has moved from a topic rarely discussed and considered very personal and private, to a mainstream topic of conversation.
In the past ten years, the nonstop discussion and stress has been over the question of homosexuality. Are homosexuals to be excluded from the community of faith? Article writers, Richard B. Hays and Walter Wink explain their perspective and answer the ongoing talk.
It’s been a while since same-sex marriage was legalized in California, but before it was legal they had to go thru a lot to make it happen. In 2000, same sex marriage was denied in California; Bay Area was the only area that the majority was supporting gay marriage all the other regions were against it. Republican state Sen. William Knight said that California wasn’t ready for same-sex marriage, he also believed that gay marriage would “violate the natural law”. In 2005, The state Assembly, in a stunning victory for the gay rights movement, approved a landmark bill allowing same-sex marriage Tuesday night and sent to Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 2008, there was a petition asking the California Supreme to order all 58 county clerks throughout California to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Throughout the ages, our society has documented homosexuality. Within our culture, homosexuality has been largely condemned. In looking at the historical perspective of homosexuality, the responses were different with each society that was dealing with it. The Greeks were okay with it due to their belief that some of their mythical gods were engaging in homosexual behavior. Christianity denounced those sexual associations and made their belief and intentions clear that this behavior was not to continue. The legal system became intertwined with the Christian belief that homosexuality was sinful and would punish inappropriate sex acts as criminal offenses (Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus, 2005).
The Supreme Court did not approve same sex marriage across the country. To this day there are six states where same sex marriage is still banned which is: Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming because these states fall within the Jurisdiction, It is likely that these states will be legal soon. The Supreme Court today decided today it is unconstitutional for a state to declare that marriage is only between one man and one woman. Legal challenges could still be made even is same sex marriage was legal. Lawyers made their own vision of marriage and closed the debate.
Same sex- marriage is still the topic of many peoples conversation across the country. Citizens, divided by politic party, are very passionate about how they feel about it. The president didn’t approve of it at first, but now he finally accepts same- sex marriage, the Judicial System uses its power to dictate to the States, forcing them to accept same- sex marriage. Both houses of Congress continue to debate what marriage means.
“On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that the US Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry in al 5o US states. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy stated in the majority opinion: “The Court, in this decision, holds same-sex may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all States,” (ProCon Organization, 2016). I can only imagine the excitement and sense of equality gay people felt on this day when it became a legal right for them to marry in any state of their choosing.
In the last 3 years, the legalization of gay marriage has spiked. As of right now, according to gaymarriage.procon.org, there are currently 37 states that have legalized gay marriage. Since 2012, 31 states have legalized it. The first one to do it, though, was Massachusetts way back in 2003. I then took five more years before Connecticut would become the second state to legalize. But of the 13 states that have yet to legalize it, eight of those states legalized it, then had it overturned and now face an appeals process to sort out the matter. The other 5 states have ceased to do anything to change the law.
In 1993, Hawaii first put forward the legal possibility of same-sex marriage, but was rejected. Since then, the U.S. 30 states and the federal government have passed legislation to ban recognition of same-sex marriage. March 16, a law allowing gay’s marriage passed by House of Representatives in Vermont with 76 votes to 69 votes. After the vote, they cried
“Homosexuality hasn’t been discovered recently. It has been common in our world since ancient times and still exists today.” (K.J .Dover,n.d.). It’s in the nature of an individual to be a homosexual, something that cannot be changed no matter how much you persuade or force them. People have different attitudes towards homosexuality; some are tolerant about it while others can’t stand the mere fact to see them around. This essay is going to define and briefly discuss homosexuality and how our society reacts to it.
The legalization of gay marriage in 2015 was a huge stepping stone in the gay rights movement. During Obergefell v. Hodges, a 5-4 decision was made that banning gay marriage in states was unconstitutional, violating the Fourteenth Amendment, which allowed couples of the same sex to get married anywhere in the United States. To me, this decision was correctly made by the Supreme Court majority because of the groundwork paved by past cases and the precedents they have set, the fact that the case’s decision no longer allows discrimination against same-sex couples in respect to marriage, and it continues to add foundation for gay people to gain even more rights in the future. With the court’s decision in this specific case, it has allowed more than just same-sex couples to marry each other, it has given them privileges that opposite sex couples have, such as being on their spouse’s death certificate, adoption rights, and tax related advantages. Overall, allowing gay marriage in all states has been advantageous to the LGBT community and was a beneficial ruling on behalf of the Supreme Court. The aftermath of the case has been positive and remains consistent with constitutional rights given to American citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment. The impact of this case on modern society is very important to note, due to how widely accepted gay marriage now is as opposed to just ten years ago. Having the Supreme Court rule in favor of gay marriage opens the eyes to people who may be
According to the research of many academics in this field, the issue of same-sex marriage is still at the forefront of politics in this country today, and many state legislatures and citizens have voted or are voting on laws
On November 14, 2014, “Kansas Becomes 33rd state to legalize Gay marriage”. Will this be normal for future years to come? Although Hawaii was the first to legalize gay marriage, Vermont took the first step to introduce and create “a parallel system of civil unions for same-sex couples that went beyond existing ‘domestic partnership’ and ‘reciprocal beneficiaries.’". In contrary of over half of the states legalizing this law as of 2014 and the President of the United States support same-sex marriage, but the acceptance of same-sex union however, remains a controversial topic.