Worse Than Gay Marriage?

Opponents of same-sex marriage/gay marriage often cite the Bible as their basis and feel that it is a sin.

If you are against gay marriage do you cnsider the following less of a sin than gay marriage:

Infidelity

Divorce

Spousal abuse

Before anyone says "all sins are bad" let's remember that we don't have laws for all sins and we don't base our personal beliefs in every day life on all sins.

I am curious as to how humans rationalize.

This should be good...

No issue here with divorce. No issue here with gay marriage. The other two are unconscionable to me.

Sorry, I missed the "against gay marriage" caveat. Probably shouldn't have responded.

This should be good...

Yes, REALLY!

Spousal abuse is never ok.

I believe God has laid out a design for us when it comes to sex, and whenever I go against that design, I am committing sexual immorality. Sexual immorality can have many faces, but all forms of it are contradictory to God's design. Infidelity, unbiblical divorce, homosexual acts are among those many faces of sexual immorality, but there are many others. None are worse than the others, as I see it.

If you are against gay marriage do you consider the following less of a sin than gay marriage:

 

Infidelity

Divorce

Spousal abuse

I do not. I am one of a minority of Christians that do believe some sins are worse than others though. I do however, do not believe that the three you mentioned are "less of a sin" than Gay marriage.

In the Catholic Church (of which I am a member), sins come in two basic types: mortal sins that imperil your soul and venial sins, which are less serious breaches of God’s law. The Church believes that if you commit a mortal sin, you forfeit heaven and opt for hell by your own free will and actions.

Three conditions are necessary for mortal sin to exist:

Grave Matter: The act itself is intrinsically evil and immoral. For example, murder, rape, incest, perjury, adultery, and so on are grave matter.

Full Knowledge: The person must know that what they’re doing or planning to do is evil and immoral. For example, someone steals a postage stamp, thinking that it’s only worth 50 cents. She knows that it’s sinful, but if she’s unaware that the stamp is rare and actually worth a $1,000, she’s not guilty of mortal sin but of venial sin.

Deliberate Consent: The person must freely choose to commit the act or plan to do it. Someone forced against her will doesn’t commit a mortal sin. For example, a woman told she’s giving a minor shock to another person who in fact is administering tortuous electrical jolts is not guilty of a mortal sin (although she may feel guilty if she finds out the truth).

A mortal sin is the complete turning away from God and embracing something else in place. In regards to Gay Marriage, Infidelity, Divorce and Spousal abuse, it appears to me that all three conditions exist.

Are we to assume when you say "gay marriage" that this also includes the consummation of that marriage through homosexual acts between partners? or by asking it that way are you intentionally trying to separate homosexual activity and only ask about a covenant between two people who have emotional feelings for each other? It matters only in that one is explicitly sexual and in the other case it is only inferred.

The Bible does not speak about gay "marriage", but..... Genesis specifically outlines one man and one woman joining together...Ephesians provides instructions for marriage that include wives and husbands... several places provide instructions for the family to be fruitful and multiply - possible only through heterosexual relations. You would have to use your own judgement on whether those scriptures support only heterosexual marriage bonds or leave open some possibility for these conditions to be met through gay marriage.

Polygamy, divorce, adultery, and homosexuality are all serious violations of God's plan for marriage and sexual interactions between humans. There is some scriptural evidence to draw distinctions between those. Divorce can have circumstances that would justify it... homosexual acts are more often mentioned specifically associated with punishment or abomination status... polygamy was often practiced by some of the "great" men of the Bible, but.... in the end sexual immorality is the biggest sin warned against and it seems to include all of theses as well as issues such pornography, masturbation, beastiality, and all other forms of sexually immorality..... I don't know how one would be able to rank those in any definitive order.

In the Catholic Church (of which I am a member), sins come in two basic types: mortal sins that imperil your soul and venial sins, which are less serious breaches of God’s law. The Church believes that if you commit a mortal sin, you forfeit heaven and opt for hell by your own free will and actions.

 

Three conditions are necessary for mortal sin to exist:

 

Grave Matter: The act itself is intrinsically evil and immoral. For example, murder, rape, incest, perjury, adultery, and so on are grave matter.

 

Full Knowledge: The person must know that what they’re doing or planning to do is evil and immoral. For example, someone steals a postage stamp, thinking that it’s only worth 50 cents. She knows that it’s sinful, but if she’s unaware that the stamp is rare and actually worth a $1,000, she’s not guilty of mortal sin but of venial sin.

 

Deliberate Consent: The person must freely choose to commit the act or plan to do it. Someone forced against her will doesn’t commit a mortal sin. For example, a woman told she’s giving a minor shock to another person who in fact is administering tortuous electrical jolts is not guilty of a mortal sin (although she may feel guilty if she finds out the truth).

 

A mortal sin is the complete turning away from God and embracing something else in place. In regards to Gay Marriage, Infidelity, Divorce and Spousal abuse, it appears to me that all three conditions exist.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying that if anyone in the Catholic Church is divorced they're doomed to hell?

I have no issues with gay marriage, and don't have an issue with divorce in most cases. The other two are absolutely worse IMO.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying that if anyone in the Catholic Church is divorced they're doomed to hell?

Not at all. First, all sin can be forgiven in Reconciliation. If we die in unrepentant mortal sin we indeed do go to hell, but no individual sin is “punishable” by Hell because contrition and sacramental confession forgives any mortal sin. Second, divorce is a difficult one to fulfill all three conditions in every situation (depends on the circumstances). The Church recognizes physical separation while the bond remains as necessary to protect the spouse and children in an abusive situation. It further recognizes that to pursue and obtain legal protections sometimes civil divorce is necessary (for example, where legal separation does not secure these rights). It would not be a mortal sin to separate and protect yourself from abuse or other serious circumstances. The marriage bond remains. Where it gets tricky is when individuals seek contracts or conjugal relations with other people prior to seeking an annulment.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but are you saying that if anyone in the Catholic Church is divorced they're doomed to hell?

The Catholic Church doesn’t recognize divorce in the legal sense. Meaning you are still married in the eyes of God unless you get the marriage annulled by the church. You are doomed to hell because if you don’t get annulled by the Church you are still legally married thus committing infidelity if you start seeing or marry someone else. But as mentioned this can be changed through reconciliation.

I would rather you be in a gay marriage than have an affair or abuse your spouse that much is for sure. I don’t care what church you go to those sins are worse than whatever kind of sin you belive gay marriage to be. Divorce sucks, but I don’t necessarily think of it as a sin. The acts that cause divorce can certainly be sinful.