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July 13, 2015 Marriage! Who created it? God did! Genesis 2:24 says, after the description of how God created Eve (woman), “...a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” God created marriage and families to strengthen relationships and societies. Obviously, with same-sex partnerships one of God’s primary purposes – to have children – isn’t possible. We’re just not made that way! So, if God created marriage, then how and why is the government involved? It used to be that couples were required to have a blood test prior to being granted a license to get married. That was done away with around 1990. So why is there still a licensing requirement? Galveston County issues about 2,000 (@$81) licenses a year generating $162,000 in revenue. But all the needs for licensing could be dealt with through “partnership agreements” eliminating Government from the process entirely. Our “Progressives” friends tell us we need to keep church and state separate. OK, so if marriage was created by God, shouldn’t it be restricted to religious institutions? The logical conclusion is if two people wanted to get “married” they would go to their local church, synagogue, or mosque and have such a ceremony conducted where a covenant is made between the two people and their God. But what if the people don’t believe in God? Simple, create a civil contract with each other leaving God out of the equation. The contract could spell out the terms of their partnership. If they ever wanted to break up the partnership they could do so in the courts based upon their contract with each other. Going a step further; what if two people of the same-sex wanted to get “married” and doing so doesn’t fit the guidelines or beliefs of a mosque, synagogue, or church? Will “progressives” try to force (or bully) their agenda upon these religious institutions as well? This has already started! At what point do we say enough is enough? Quite frankly our issue is about groups wanting to force acceptance of their belief system or their agenda upon those who have a religious objection, it’s about religious freedom! It’s one thing to want a wedding cake or flowers for same-sex union and going to a baker or florist who’s willing to provide them. It’s quite another when prospective couples – instead of going to an establishment around the corner that’ll provide these goods or services – go to a shop that has a religious objection and then attempt to force (bully) them to either provide the goods/services or face an expensive legal battle – perhaps forcing a “ma and pa” shop out of business. Oregon state government even took the extreme measure of placing a gag order on a shop’s Christian owners – a violation of their religious and free speech rights! We ask “Is this about getting a good or a service or is it about forcing a person or a business to act in opposition to their religious beliefs?” This issue isn’t about discrimination, instead it’s a blatant attack on religious freedom! Bill, Mark, and John
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