The question being put to eligible Australian voters in the plebiscite on same sex marriage is this, “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”
The question seems to be innocuous enough. But there are some difficulties with it. For example, what is meant by “the law?” Do those voting know what the present law is? In what ways will a change in the law (allowing same-sex couples to marry) affect other aspects of the legal system for all Australians? None of these topics seem to have been addressed at the moment and yet people could be voting on this matter in a matter of days, if not hours.
It’s a bit like signing a blank cheque and hoping that those to whom we give it will not abuse the opportunity we are giving them to do the right thing. Signing blank cheques is a sure recipe for people to take from us more than we were expecting to give them. What freedoms might people take with our vote if we voted for a change in the law?
What is “the law” that could be changed as a result of our voting in the plebiscite?
Well it is certainly not the law of God our Creator. His word is eternal and He has already informed us what He intended marriage to be and should continue to be. Gen 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”
When Jesus came to earth as the Son of God He was asked about divorce. However He went back to the beginning and quoted these words from Genesis chapter 1 as He replied, Mat 19:4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Not only are these words the teaching of the greatest teacher who ever lived, and God’s anointed, the Christ, but He was also God’s agent in creation as the New Testament declares in many places. (NOTE 1) The One who created the world and the people in it might know a thing or two about His creation! And about marriage! And about who qualifies for marriage! And who doesn’t!
Well is it the law of the land (which may or may not submit to God’s created order?)
It appears that what is being referred to, is this section from the Marriage Act of 1961, “Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.” That definition seems to be in accord with God’s created order and certainly marriage has been seen as that relationship over millennia. So why should it be changed?
Here again there is confusion. Does a change in the law mean that the definition is changed to something like this, “Marriage means the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.” However, many same sex couples (by their own admission) don’t want their relationship to be monogamous. So, will the definition become, “Marriage is the union of two people?” Or something more insipid? We haven’t been told, to my knowledge.
It seems to be a big fat cheque we are being asked to sign with no indication of what will follow a “Yes” vote. Will freedom of speech be guaranteed if same sex marriage is approved. Not just for religious celebrants and groups but for every Australian. Will the victimhood cease with a Yes vote and will accusations of bigotry and homophobia cease against those opposed to same sex marriage.
Unless these factors are addressed immediately, like in the next day or so, especially the issues of religious freedom and free speech, one would be a fool to vote “yes” when all these issued have not been addressed. Signing a blank cheque is bad enough. Signing a death warrant for personal and religious freedoms would be infinitely worse.
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(NOTE 1. John wrote of Jesus, Joh 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” And Joh 1:10 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Paul wrote of Jesus, Col 1:16 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
The writer to the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, Heb 1:1 “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”
Blog 239. Jim Holbeck. Posted Monday 11th September 2017
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About Jim Holbeck
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.
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239. What is involved in Voting Yes or No for same-sex marriage?
The question being put to eligible Australian voters in the plebiscite on same sex marriage is this, “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”
The question seems to be innocuous enough. But there are some difficulties with it. For example, what is meant by “the law?” Do those voting know what the present law is? In what ways will a change in the law (allowing same-sex couples to marry) affect other aspects of the legal system for all Australians? None of these topics seem to have been addressed at the moment and yet people could be voting on this matter in a matter of days, if not hours.
It’s a bit like signing a blank cheque and hoping that those to whom we give it will not abuse the opportunity we are giving them to do the right thing. Signing blank cheques is a sure recipe for people to take from us more than we were expecting to give them. What freedoms might people take with our vote if we voted for a change in the law?
What is “the law” that could be changed as a result of our voting in the plebiscite?
Well it is certainly not the law of God our Creator. His word is eternal and He has already informed us what He intended marriage to be and should continue to be. Gen 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”
When Jesus came to earth as the Son of God He was asked about divorce. However He went back to the beginning and quoted these words from Genesis chapter 1 as He replied, Mat 19:4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Not only are these words the teaching of the greatest teacher who ever lived, and God’s anointed, the Christ, but He was also God’s agent in creation as the New Testament declares in many places. (NOTE 1) The One who created the world and the people in it might know a thing or two about His creation! And about marriage! And about who qualifies for marriage! And who doesn’t!
Well is it the law of the land (which may or may not submit to God’s created order?)
It appears that what is being referred to, is this section from the Marriage Act of 1961, “Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.” That definition seems to be in accord with God’s created order and certainly marriage has been seen as that relationship over millennia. So why should it be changed?
Here again there is confusion. Does a change in the law mean that the definition is changed to something like this, “Marriage means the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.” However, many same sex couples (by their own admission) don’t want their relationship to be monogamous. So, will the definition become, “Marriage is the union of two people?” Or something more insipid? We haven’t been told, to my knowledge.
It seems to be a big fat cheque we are being asked to sign with no indication of what will follow a “Yes” vote. Will freedom of speech be guaranteed if same sex marriage is approved. Not just for religious celebrants and groups but for every Australian. Will the victimhood cease with a Yes vote and will accusations of bigotry and homophobia cease against those opposed to same sex marriage.
Unless these factors are addressed immediately, like in the next day or so, especially the issues of religious freedom and free speech, one would be a fool to vote “yes” when all these issued have not been addressed. Signing a blank cheque is bad enough. Signing a death warrant for personal and religious freedoms would be infinitely worse.
================================================================
(NOTE 1. John wrote of Jesus, Joh 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” And Joh 1:10 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Paul wrote of Jesus, Col 1:16 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
The writer to the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, Heb 1:1 “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”
Blog 239. Jim Holbeck. Posted Monday 11th September 2017
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About Jim Holbeck
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.