Paradigm shifts happen

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My mind has been changed. I can even point you to the nearly exact time it happened. Late Friday evening as I walked into my bedroom. I was not thinking about this subject. I was only concentrating on getting to the recliner, sorting out everything in my hands and reading for an hour or so.

Wham. It hit me.

So yeah, it was an epiphany.

To explain: Christians are called to love, not to condemn. I am trying to be a Christian, but I have a long way to go.

Christians certainly do not hold a monopoly on being hypocrites, despite being slammed it for regularly.

The Bible describes two kinds, types or levels of sin.There is the unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and all the rest. That's it. Any other divisions are creations of man.

So, in an effort to trim a little more hypocrisy out of my personal life, I give you the following announcement which is going to further ostracize me in my small deeply conservative South Georgia community. So be it. I’m used to standing on the outside and looking in.

If a same gender couple comes to me and asks me to officiate their marriage, I will.

Christian ministers around the world officiate unions between two people who are just as sinful as the same gender couple and nothing is said. Fat people are married. People who smoke are married. Non believers are married to believers. Adulterers get divorced and remarried. I could go on but you get the idea.

Why do we accept, nay, embrace!, some sin and reject others?

Someone here is going to point to the Bible and claim it says marriage is a union of man and woman.

I shan't argue that point.

Rather, I point to many and repeated studies of the animal kingdom which shows homosexuality is common. It is common even among higher order animals.

If these animals are capable of reason, then they have made a choice - free will in other words.

If these animals are not capable of choice, then they do not have free will. They exist as the Creator made them and that includes their same-gender attractions.

Pick one.

So, I point you to the whiptail lizard, a species of lizard which has no males. While it’s up for discussion, some research shows the lizards must engage in sexual acts to reproduce. One female mounts another female.

I see nothing in the Bible which condemns animals for their sexual behavior. 

Pick your direction.

Of course I could have it wrong. There could be a third option, for animals, which I do not see. They could have a separate set of rules set down by the Creator. Could be. I do not claim to know the mind of God. I've gotta go with what He said and has done as best I understand it.

To shift gears, someone is also going to point out Georgia does not recognize same-gender unions. This does not bother me in the slightest. I continue to see marriage as a religious matter, which puts it beyond the reach of man's law. The Constitution agrees with me on that.

I don't need man's law to do God's business.

At one time “mixed race” marriages were illegal. The arguments used against same gender marriage were trotted out then and are still used by idiots on “mixed race” marriage.

Beyond that, I also point to the many of restrictions which the Bible puts on marriage (see above for a few), restrictions which are ignored or excused away by the great majority of Christian clergy.

I also point to the most overriding commandment of the Bible - To Love. I point to another - We are not meant to condemn each other, rather we are to encourage each other and help each other and be there for each other. Sounds like marriage, the Biblical definition of marriage, to me.

So yes, I will officiate a same gender marriage.

I realize that by making this announcement, many “Christians” are going to find yet another excuse to excoriate me. It’s cool. Jesus hung out with people just like me.