Quote:
I have a hard time reconciling these two statements.
I see how you would feel that way, so let me try to explain. Before I do, however, let me say that I appreciate you engaging me in this, as I know it is a very personal subject for you. Please let me know if I cross the line here into being disrespectful toward you, if I haven't already.

I regard homosexual acts as sin, as I also do drunkenness, lust, materialism, and a host of other things that are found in our society, some of which I am very guilty. My beliefs come from earnestly seeking to follow the God as He is presented in the bible. I believe that it teaches all of the things I listed above (plus many others) are not what God wants from us and therefore are sin. Ultimately I believe the most important effect of sin is to separate us from God, and that separation can't help but have effects on society around us. If we were all in perfect harmony with God, then we'd have peace, understanding, and perfect love for one another. Alas, this is not the case, as I believe each of us has fallen away from God and chosen sin over Him.

That is why I believe homosexual marriages are detrimental to our national well-being, alongside many other sins that aren't such hot topics of debate. The reason I say I don't think of a homosexual as less than I is because I am just as guilty of committing sin as any homosexual. I sin daily, and ultimately, just like homosexual sin, the sin I commit is detrimental to our national well-being. How can I think myself better than another if we are each just as guilty? In fact, in a very real since I am MORE guilty because I agree with God about what is sin and I do it anyway.

But I stress that I am not against legal homosexual marriage because I think it is detrimental to our national well-being. If I were, I'd also have to be against a host of other things that would put me on the wrong side of the law as well.

And I'd absolutely be willing to talk face to face about all of this if we had occasion to meet, though I wouldn’t allow you to pay for the plane ticket.
_________________________
-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.