Should Christians Attend Same-Sex Weddings? NO
Conservative Mark Tapscott of PJ Media asks
So imagine that you're a conservative evangelical Christian or a traditional Catholic, and a nephew invites you to attend his upcoming wedding. And oh, by the way, he will be standing at the altar with another man.
Do you go?
That question presents a huge dilemma for many followers of Jesus Christ, who said that marriage consists solely of one man and one woman, united for life, for the purpose of raising a family while cherishing one another.
Do you, by attending such a ceremony, thereby lend support to a practice that you view as fundamentally un-biblical and therefore sinful? Are you, by not attending, correctly demonstrating what Jesus meant when He said we should "love one another"?....................
My own view is that I would not attend a same-sex marriage ceremony and here is why: Jesus said we should "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." (That, by the way, is the foundational principle behind the separation of church and state).
God's Word says that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman. The state saying that marriage is also between two individuals of the same sex does not make it so for a born-again Christian.
As Peter and the other apostles said when the authorities ordered them to stop preaching that Jesus had been resurrected on the third day after His unlawful crucifixion and death, His followers should "obey God rather than men."
It is the same as it was for, to cite just one historical example, Thomas More, who, because of his faith, could not sign a document expressing public support for King Henry VIII's headship of the Church of England. If you've never seen "A Man For All Seasons," with Paul Scofield playing More, I strongly encourage you to make time to do so, as it is a phenomenally well-acted, deeply thoughtful cinematic experience that brings issues of conscience to a fine point.
Sure, More could have signed the document and lived, knowing full well that in his heart he opposed it, just as I could attend the ceremony while keeping my opposition to myself, but that would have rendered his faith and mine meaningless and irrelevant in the daily conduct of life.
True, nobody is demanding "Off with his head!" or forcing believers like me to attend ceremonies that violate our First Amendment-protected right to practice and express our faith. But it is quite reasonable to envision a time when the Left will make it a "hate crime" to decline the invitation to a same-sex wedding ceremony or otherwise denigrate the same-sex marriage law............."