Why I think Conservative Christians Shouldn't Care About Gay Marriage

When Xns talk about gay marriage and homosexuality they could talk until the cows come home about whether homosexuality is a sin or not. In this post I'd like to address those sisters and brothers who do think it's a sin and have assumed this means that they should be against making gay marriage legal. Below is why i think that even if you think homosexuality is a sin gay marriage shouldn't bother you...

There are two types of sin 1. Sins that affect just the sinner (envy would be an example) 2. Sins that affect the sinner and other (innocent) people around them. (murder and gossip would be examples).

You'll notice that almost all of the sins in group 1 legal and most of the sins in group 2 are illegal. Even something like gossip can morph into slander and public deformation. My contention is if you are going to call homosexuality and gay marriage a sin then you'd have to put in the first group as the only people affected by it are two consenting adults.

I know that some conservative Xns will say that gay marriage will affect the "institution of marriage". I cannot see how it will affect the institution of marriage any more than divorce or taxes spent poorly on an corrupt organizations would affect the "Christian" institution of charity.

So if you're a "gay is not ok" kind of Xn don't worry about gay marriage, there are plenty of other things to write to your local MP about. If you want to make sins illegal maybe just concentrate on those that will affect non consenting people around the sinner. Or, you could curl up with a copy of the King James Bible comforted in the fact that you will not come across the word homosexual (that word doesn't appear in Bible translations until 1958).

Slumdog Millionaire Review

In the 10 months I had off from blogging I finally got around to joining the rest of the world and watching Slumdog Millionaire. I didn't like it. All fiction happens in a universe that the story teller creates and it's the job of the story teller to draw us in to the world of the story so everything that happens becomes believable. Dan Brown's the Davinci code does a great job of this, so much so that I was disappointed when I came across the gaps in the story’s theological and historical explanation. Slumdog is built on these premises: If someone just gets lucky enough then they too can get out of their situation. The implication is we're all in control of how are life turns out regardless of the where we are born.

It's classic American dream mythology. The evils that the characters face were not inequality, poverty and disease resulting from the systemic injustice that created the slum (which is really the great evil that slum dwellers face). Instead, the evil was a handful of gangsters. To me it felt like the slum setting was not necessary almost like an elephant in the room. Maybe for me feel good movies are a time to forget about systemic injustice for a while and I just couldn't do it in this one. Not when that injustice isn't being confronted in some way. I can hear my mum saying "for goodness sake, It's just a story!".

In my opinion Kevin Mcloud's documentary Slumming It did a much better job of capturing the beauty and horror of the slum. He walked away wanting to make the slum more sanitary and the work practices safer, but there was a joy and community amongst the people that the first could learn a lot from.

Back!

After doing a "final" post almost a year ago I've decided to start blogging again. I have been tempted to start blogging again...

Temptation 1. I was asked a serious of questions by a reader. These were questions she'd asked ministers and the public centre for Xy. Although she received praise for her questions she didn’t get without a decent answer. I was both disturbed that she couldn't find a decent answer to her a questions through these channels and that she asked me, author of an obscure blog with no official endorsement.

Thought 1. I could have all the answers some one's theological questions. Mmm I'd like to be a Guru.

Temptation 2. There have been a slow drip of expressions of disappointment, that I've stopped blogging.

Thought 2. I could be a really important part of people's lives. Mmm I'd like to be important.

Temptation 3. I've actually had more people visiting the blog since I've stopped writing. Primarily due to being high up on the AOL search for Tommie Zitto.

Thought 3. I could be famous. Mmm famous.

Fortunately for everyone I have resisted all of these temptations. As much as I tempted by all of these things I don't want to be a guru, I don't want to be important and I don't want to be famous. But I do have ideas, lots of them and the blog has always been a great way to wrestle with, flesh out and clarify those ideas.

Since I've stopped blogging those ideas have just blocked up like a big pile of theological snot. I need to blow my nose bad and this blog will be my handkerchief.

So, if you're reading this thanks for coming back and I hope you find my ramblings somewhat useful.