Elton John does not want to hurt your family!

Over the past several weeks I have heard of several rallies both local and around the country masquerading as pro-family gatherings when they seem to have one specific MO – to oppose same-sex unions. As a Christian, I am pro-family, but my homophobic brothers and sisters have yet to convince me that same-sex unions are the enormous crisis the Family Research Council would have us believe they are.

“But homosexuality is a sin,” they say, “so we should oppose it, right?” OK, well, greed is a sin, but I don’t see many American Christians rallying against capitalism or attempting to force the government to institute a cap on how much money a person can make.

Why are we attacking homosexuality and not greed? Perhaps because it’s easier to take on a handful of poets, musicians, and actors than the structure that governs our country and allows us to participate in the sins we like. Condemning the immorality of the minority while condoning (and often participating in) the immorality of the majority is hypocrisy, which Christ condemned vehemently even though he did not say word one about homosexuality.

And even if it is immoral, is the purpose of government really to prevent people from sinning? I get the impression from the Bible that that is the job of the Holy Spirit who works through the church. Has the church become so ineffective that it needs to pawn off its responsibilities on another institution?

I have read articles, listened to ads, and read Tony Perkins’ Washington Updates that appear in my e-mail on an almost daily basis (why did I sign up and how do I turn it off?), and nowhere have I seen any compelling evidence that same-sex unions would be bad for society. I have heard people say that if we don’t define marriage, then eventually anything goes: polygamy, bestiality, incest. This “slippery slope” argument seems utterly groundless. If I am shown that a significant number of Swedish men are now lobbying for the right to marry several male Göinge goat siblings, I will retract that statement.

“But what if I end up living next door to a homosexual couple?” Then you may have to be neighborly to someone you don’t like. If the Samaritan could do it, certainly people empowered by the Holy Spirit should be able to.

“But I don’t want to raise my children in a society that supports homosexuality.” If your household is run in such a way that society has more influence on your children’s morality than you and your spouse, then you are the one who should not be allowed to marry and have a family.

The worst rhetoric I have heard is the comparison to Sodom and Gomorrah. I have a hard time making a connection between the guy who wrote “Hakuna Matata” and an angry group of gang rapists. Are they saying that same sex unions will lead to homosexual rape? In that case we’d better outlaw heterosexual unions in order to stop heterosexual rape.

I also struggle to comprehend why college students are so involved in these rallies (at least those who attend conservative Christian universities). How are single heterosexuals promoting the family better than “married” homosexuals?

Most of the homophobic rhetoric from Christians includes a call to love homosexuals but offers no practical ways to love. Might giving tax benefits to same-sex couples be a way of showing love?

If Christians were truly concerned about immorality, then they would be so busy removing specks from their own eyes that same-sex unions would not even be an issue.