And if you are surprised to hear that I oppose "gay marriage", you have not read my posts with enough care.
I'm not surprised to hear that you oppose gay marriage. It is against your Christian faith, and you've explained that very clearly. Your reasons are only valid for Christians, though, and there's no reason why someone who isn't a Christian should have the same views.
What I don't see is how gay marriage affects the personal freedom of Christians.
I read the article you posted and I agree with you that in many of those examples freedom of belief is in danger. A church should be free to preach its own views on morality, and to set the rules of behaviour for its own schools and universities. No church should, however, attempt to control the lives of people who are not its members. In the case of the bishop of Calgary, I see the bishop as the one who wanted to deny other people their freedom, and I'm disturbed by the fact that the writer of the article sees the homosexuals who "denounced" him as the villains of the story.
While I do agree that some homosexual activists are trying to restrict the Christians' freedom of belief and speech, I don't think it logically follows from that that the legalisation of gay marriage is going to affect anyone's freedom. A marriage is a private act between two people.
In an ideal society as I see it, homosexuals should be allowed to get married, and churches should be allowed to forbid homosexuality to their members and to speak against it. No one has to be a homosexual if he doesn't want to and, likewise, no one has to be a member of a chucrh if he doesn't agree with its ideas.
no subject
I'm not surprised to hear that you oppose gay marriage. It is against your Christian faith, and you've explained that very clearly. Your reasons are only valid for Christians, though, and there's no reason why someone who isn't a Christian should have the same views.
What I don't see is how gay marriage affects the personal freedom of Christians.
I read the article you posted and I agree with you that in many of those examples freedom of belief is in danger. A church should be free to preach its own views on morality, and to set the rules of behaviour for its own schools and universities. No church should, however, attempt to control the lives of people who are not its members. In the case of the bishop of Calgary, I see the bishop as the one who wanted to deny other people their freedom, and I'm disturbed by the fact that the writer of the article sees the homosexuals who "denounced" him as the villains of the story.
While I do agree that some homosexual activists are trying to restrict the Christians' freedom of belief and speech, I don't think it logically follows from that that the legalisation of gay marriage is going to affect anyone's freedom. A marriage is a private act between two people.
In an ideal society as I see it, homosexuals should be allowed to get married, and churches should be allowed to forbid homosexuality to their members and to speak against it. No one has to be a homosexual if he doesn't want to and, likewise, no one has to be a member of a chucrh if he doesn't agree with its ideas.