Note: The following video and text are a speech I delivered for a public speaking assessment on April 19, 2009. The text shows the speech, as prepared, and the video, as delivered.
Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am Kenton Chance and I am going to tell you why Christians are reasonable when they oppose same-sex marriage, based on their religious beliefs.
The Western world has come a long way since the days when the British hung people for engaging in homosexual activities.
However, notwithstanding the progress that society has made in accepting homosexuality, religion, specifically Christianity, can be used to argue against same-sex marriage.
Many people dismiss religion when it is tabled as a reason to oppose same-sex marriage. They say marriage is a civil right and not just a religious sacrament. In many instances, this is true.
But whether or not we believe in God, religion reflects human frailty and the Bible offers some principles that have been proven to lead to a happier and healthier society.
As Lisa Miller puts it is her Newsweek article “Our Mutual Joy” of December 15, 2008, “…the Bible is a living document, powerful for more than 2,000 years because its truths speak to us even as we change through history.”
In a speech titled “Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy: Understanding and Engagement with Orthodox Christianity in Russia, the Middle East & Europe”, Elizabeth Prodromou of Boston University said this month that that religion, specifically Christianity, has historically played a role in nation-building in the United States.
The assistant professor of international relations said that religious ideas informed the particularities of U.S. identity. This, she said, is seen in the conception of the rights articulated in the Declaration of Independence as divinely granted.
Dr. Patrick F. Fagan, of The Heritage Foundation in his a paper “Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability”, said that in the decade ending 2006, research documented the physical and psychological benefits of religion to individuals, families, and the society as a whole.
And while America”s founding fathers underscored the need for a strict separation between religion and state, they also understood the vital role that religion plays in a free society.
In George Washington”s farewell address to the nation, he said that religion and morality were indispensable among the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity. He cautioned against the belief that morality could be maintained without religion.
Religion then is not just about God. It is also about humanity”s quest for self improvement and social cohesion.
True, some who profess Christianity support same-sex marriage. They point to the platonic love that existed between David and Jonathan. More specifically, some mention David’s rending his clothes at Jonathan’s death and the song David wrote as he grieved for Jonathan.
However, there is no scriptural evidence that what existed between the two men was anything more than a deep-rooted platonic friendship.
The Bible, the highest source of Christian morality, does say that homosexuality and other sexual perversions, including heterosexual sexual activity with an individual to whom one is not married, is morally wrong.
In 1 Corinthians 6, the Bible says the sexually immoral will not see God.
Christians who support same-sex unions are then condoning an act that the Bible explicitly condemns.
In Romans 1, the Bible says homosexuality is practiced by the godless and the wicked who suppress the truth.
In such a situation, the Bible says, “Even … women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.”
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the unadulterated word of God. It is not religious fanaticism thwarting the scriptures for selfish end.
Christian opposition to same-marriage is not informed by the extent to which same-sex couples can be happy in a marriage. It is not about a couple’s procreative potentials. It is not about being conservative or liberal. It is not about the best environment in which to raise a child. It is not about the wisdom of tradition. It is not about setting a dangerous precedent. It is about religious principles and beliefs. And that’s why true Christians appose same-sex marriage.
Thank you very much!
