08-08-08 At 8 P.M.: My Cousin's Wedding

Rain And Amanda's Ceremony

So my cousin, Rain, is a lesbian, so many have falsely believed that my views on the same sex marriage issue are because of that fact---but nothing can be further from the truth. Before I get to that, I have to say that their ceremony was short and sweet and performed by a Unitarian Universalist minister. Though I've known about Unitarian Universalism---that was my first experience with something like that, so it was interesting. I must say I can respect Unitarian Universalists, even if our beliefs differ.

(I gotta rep Bill, my aunt's boyfriend here, since I haven't mentioned him yet---he took most of the photos of the ceremony). Much to the chagrin of my homophobic minded friends, I gave Rain and Amanda these books as gifts: a New Testament geared to gays and a Bible study for gays. Oh, and they chose 08-08-08 at 8 P.M. as the date to be joined, because they've been together for 8 years.

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Anyways to get to my views: I have always believed that Baptist churches had the right to decide for themselves how to view things, so when I was pressed to defend my brother's beliefs (who is even more liberal than me on most things)---I reread all of the Baptists distinctives: soul liberty, liberty of conscience, freedom and church autonomy, etc. The Baptist distinctives then are where my views fit into the Baptist Tradition.

Other than that: issues of Biblical translation, historical issues and scientific findings are also part of my understanding of the issue. Although, I can agree with Conservatives that homosexuality was not God's original intent, but the traditional answers do not do the issue justice as it doesn't explain: intersexuality, Mermaid Syndrome, human cloacae, aphallia, which "is considered a substantially more troublesome problem in a male, and has in the past sometimes been considered justification for assigning and rearing a genetically male infant as a girl" and a number of other congenital malformations.

Also, my mom believes that homosexuality is God's answer to the problem of overpopulation. Either way, it is neither right nor just to deny love to God-fearing adults as true love never is a sin. The same-sex issue is unlikely to go away anytime soon, but it is the new civil rights movement. Facebook users can view my friend (who went to Campbell with me) Micah's note or you (everyone) can view the church he pastors for further relevant information.