Gay Marriage in Memphis?
Examiner.com
by George White
June 8, 2009

As of this writing New Hampshire has become the sixth state in the union to legalize same sex marriage. This growing phenomenon has people of many different faiths concerned about the future of marriage as an institution is this country. The New Hampshire bill was signed on June 4th by the Governor, John Lynch (D), only after insuring that measures were in place to provide protections to religious groups and churches against legal or civil actions should they chose to exercise their rights to refuse to perform same sex marriages or to acknowledge the legitimacy of them.

This issue has indeed taken the nation in a direction that fifty or so years ago we would have never dreamed of. For those of us old enough to have lived through the late 1950's and 1960's, straight sex within the confines of marriage was not discussed in public and only vaguely alluded to in sitcoms. Rob and Laura Petrie and Lucy and Desi slept in separate beds with pajamas on. We were pushing the societal envelope to even show a pregnant woman on the screen.

Figures vary slightly but most polls cited indicate that the homosexuals comprise approximately 1% of our total population. Locally according to a poll conducted by the Williams Institute out of UCLA Law school in 2006 the homosexual population has increased by approximately 33% in Tennessee. It seems that a small but vocal minority has influenced our society in such a way as to make same sex marriage an issue of much discussion no matter how distasteful it may be to some.

In November of 2006 Tennessee voters had the opportunity to vote on a referendum to ban same sex marriage. Those of us who live here assumed that the ban would be passed but much to the surprise of many the final figures were astounding even for the buckle of the "Bible Belt". According to a CNN exit poll the ban on same sex marriage was passed by a whopping 81% of Tennessee voters compared to 19% in favor with 100% of the precincts vote tallied.

Closer to home the poll when broken down by county shows that Shelby county, Tennessee's largest county, carried the ban when 80% of those who cast their ballots approved of the legislation. The local coverage on the Memphis/Shelby county news stations attributed this overwhelming majority to African-Americans who identified themselves as religious or very religious. The CNN poll seems to support the African-American angle. According to the poll of the voters queried 86% of the African-Americans who voted did so in favor of the ban compared to 80% of the white voters.

Politically speaking this is an interesting result in that the Democrat Party is largely in favor of legalizing same sex marriages and affording same sex couples all the benefits of being married while at the same time it would seem that most African-American voters are against the legitimizing of same sex marriage. This presents the Democrats a problem due to the fact that a large percentage of African-Americans identify themselves as Democrats. To further complicate the matter the Democrat-in-Chief, President Obama, has come out publicly against same sex marriages.

This issue has profoundly affected the people of faith in this country. We are torn between accepting homosexuals as our brothers and sisters in the Divine, yet for most, we cannot accept their lifestyle. Most people of faith see same sex relationships as deviant and sinful or evil. They are not welcome to teach in our schools and public displays of affection are frowned upon. Ultra religious Americans rally around the flag waving their Bibles and screaming scripture at passing homosexual couples in many of the town squares in our nation. The scripture most often quoted comes from the book of Leviticus- "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, this is detestable". (Lev 18-22, NIV). To further justify the isolation of same sex couples- "Everyone who does any of these detestable things- such persons must be cut off from their people". (Lev 18-29, NIV).

This volatile issue has spawned a flurry of legislation in the nation at the state level as people of faith try to come to grips with the ever rising tide of an aggressive agenda being advocated by gay rights groups and their supporters. State legislatures are passing laws either supporting gay marriage or against it, while at the same time passing laws to at least protect the rights of same sex couples in some quarters while passing laws to outright prohibit same sex couples from adopting children or holding certain jobs that put them in close proximity to children, in others. Some states have even gone so far as to amend their state constitutions either in favor of or against same sex marriage in an effort to define the issue for their citizens so that employers and public servants know how to behave toward same sex couples.

The most often heard argument against same sex marriage among people of faith is that if it becomes the law of the land we will be opening the door to all types of deviant behavior. "God created marriage to be between one man and one woman" is the quote we are most familiar with. Unfortunately, the Bible does not actually support this. " And Lamech took onto to him two wives'' ( Gen 4:19 KJV) "Then Jacob rose up and set his sons and his wives upon camels." (Gen 31:17 KJV). Dare we talk about the concubines mentioned through out the scriptures of the Old Testament? When this is pointed out most people of faith respond with, " Well yes, but that was then and this is now. It is a different time". Well, fellow Memphians, it seems that a different time may well be upon us.