Amendment One supporters and opposition have spilt much ink (or used many pixels whichever you prefer) on the issue of same-sex marriage. I am not really a hot-button-feeding-frenzy kind of guy, so I don’t plan on publishing my own thoughts about the issue. Instead, I will let my friend, Ben Marsh, voice some thoughtful words on my own blog. And by that I mean, I’m going to rip some quotes out of his blog post and post them here. You really ought to read the whole thing here. Here are some of the thoughts I liked:
Here is the problem with utilizing a political solution to a cultural debate: the political solution will not change the definition in the minds of those on the losing side. In other words, no matter what the outcome of this debate from a legal perspective, the cultural debate will remain and may become more heated after the law passes or fails. The example of Roe v. Wade has taught us that no cultural questions are ever finally answered in legal venues. In other words, I believe that we are only glimpsing the beginning of a larger and, eventually, more vitriolic debate over the meaning of marriage and domestic legal union in North Carolina.
I have read numerous times from numerous choices that a vote for amendment one is a vote against love. This is a silly statement. If I am convinced that homosexual relationships are damaging to self and society, then protecting homosexual marriage is a very unloving thing to do, indeed. If I am convinced than public transportation poses a grave threat to man’s ability to walk and society’s overall well-being, then the most loving this is to deprive my bus-loving grandmother of her weekly ride to the grocery store, even if the short-term effects seems unloving. Godly men and women in the Bible and the God of the Bible commit many deeds that seem quite unloving but are in fact very, very loving. The most loving act in history was an incredibly cruel and unusual punishment followed swiftly by a vicious death. Just because something seems or feels unloving, does not necessarily mean that an act is truly unloving. This is why we must be people who love truth, as our convictions determine what is truly loving. The most loving thing to do is to pursue the truth, to act on it, with a willingness to change one’s convictions when presented with authentic evidence and biblical reasons to the contrary.
Ask this rather complex question: have your actions surrounding this amendment lead others to Jesus? This question is complex because the gospel is quite complex and Jesus was and remains infinitely complex. Sometimes, leading someone to the gospel or to an encounter with Jesus is a guilt-inducing, painful encounter with one’s moral failings. Jesus did not pull punches. He called people away from sin and ordered repentance. He was also incredibly tender, though, even with the most incorrigible sinners and the lowest of the low.
Hope that the Spirit can change hearts and minds. Hope that God calls sinners of all stripes to repent and believe and be baptized. Hope that one day we will sit at the feet of the King and listen as he sorts all of this out for us. Hope that one day political enemies will stand side by side and worship the King who made us and calls us and will bring us home. Hope that there will be an end to these disagreements. Hope for love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and gentleness and faithfulness and…
Thank you Ben. Your words were encouraging, enlightening, and appropriate for this important issue.
nathanielcooley 
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