The topic of so-called homosexual “marriage” and “rights” frequently makes headlines. President Obama, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have recently announced that they will push for such “rights” internationally as part of the policy of Obama’s administration. Since the passage of the Defense of Marriage act in 1996, the homosexual lobby has pushed more and more for the acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle and for individual states and the federal government to recognize and legalize homosexual marriage in the United States. They seem to be gaining ground because in a 2011 Gallup Poll, the organization claimed that for the first time in their polling this issue, fifty-two percent of those surveyed said that they favored homosexual marriage.
On November 10th, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the “Respect for Marriage Act” by a vote of 10 to 8 primarily along party lines (Democrats were in favor; Republicans were against). This Act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which establishes that the federal government will only recognize marriages between one man and one woman. This is the first step in getting homosexual marriage recognized in the entirety of the United States. If this passes the main body of the Senate, the House, and ends up on the desk of President Obama, he will sign it. Subsequently, it will not be too long before each state will be required by the federal government to recognize homosexual marriages.
The Bible is clear on this topic. Homosexuality is a sin against God, and those who practice it will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. The apostle Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: “Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (ASV). The ESV translates these verses as follows: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
There are two Greek words in this passage that have to do with homosexuality. The first is the word malakos. The literal meaning of this word is “soft, or soft to the touch.” As Koine Greek developed, the word came to refer to a catamite, that is, a young man that is employed for sexual purposes, a male prostitute. The second Greek word is arsenokoites. It is a compound word literally meaning he who beds a male, or man of the bed. This word simply means “homosexual.”
Lesbianism does not escape the condemnation of scripture. Such behavior is condemned in Romans 1:26- 27 “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (ESV). Note that the text says that God has given them up to commit dishonorable, unnatural, and shameless acts.
Marriage would normalize such relationships in our society. It would give license to those who practice homosexuality to commit homosexual acts under sponsorship of the government. To a certain degree, the government would then be liable for those marriages and the consequences of them, whatever they might be. The financial, moral, and political implications of normalizing homosexuality would take a costly toll on our society. We have already seen the amount of money that has been spent on AIDS—billions upon billions of dollars. This is a disease that is mostly spread through homosexual behavior. We also witness the appalling behavior of homosexuals in public such as the scandal surrounding Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State athletics program. Such behavior would only increase as a result of normalizing homosexuality through marriage.