Joel Osteen Talks Preachg S, Materialism, and Gay Marriage | Church & Mistri News

Contents:

• BEG AGAST GAY MARRIAGE DON'T MAKE YOU A HOMOPHOBE
• “IF YOU DON’T LIKE GAY MARRIAGE, DON’T GET GAY MARRIED!”
• THE GAY PEOPLE AGAST GAY MARRIAGE
• HOW SHOULD A CHRISTIAN RPOND TO “GAY MARRIAGE”?
• I'M GAY, BUT I'M NOT SWCHG TO A CHURCH THAT SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
• I’M GAY AND I’M AGAST GAY MARRIAGE
• WAS I WRONG TO SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE?
• WHERE SHOULD WE, AS CHRISTIANS, STAND ON GAY MARRIAGE?
• JIMMY CARTER: ‘I BELIEVE THAT J WOULD APPROVE OF GAY MARRIAGE’
• ROSIE RIVERA: 'I DON'T BELIEVE IN GAY MARRIAGE', REGRETS GOG TO LBIAN WEDDG [VIDEO]
• JOEL OSTEEN TALKS PREACHG S, MATERIALISM, AND GAY MARRIAGE
• HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS RPOND TO GAY FRIENDS OR FAY MEMBERS?
• PRIT TELLS CATHOLICS HOW TO RPOND WHEN ASKED IF THEY SUPPORT GAY ‘MARRIAGE’
• UNED METHODIST CHURCH ANNOUNC PROPOSAL TO SPL OVER GAY MARRIAGE
• BIN CHANGED HIS MD ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE AFTER MEETG THIS HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE
• HOW HILLARY CLTON EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE

BEG AGAST GAY MARRIAGE DON'T MAKE YOU A HOMOPHOBE

The Huffgton Post’s Pl Rshenbh quickly wrote up a rponse, sayg that “The hard realy that Cardal Dolan and all Christians need to face up to is that the Catholic Church along wh every other church whether Orthodox, Prottant or Catholic has been horrifilly, persistently and vehemently anti-gay for almost all of s history. If Rshenbh is right, then that means my parents are anti-gay, many of my relig iends (of all fahs) are anti-gay, the Pope is anti-gay, and—y, we’ll go here—first-century, Jewish theologian J is anti-gay. That’s spe the fact that while some relig people don’t support gay marriage a sacramental sense, many of them are favor of same-sex civil unns and full rights for the parti volved.

” I have no rervatns about my sexualy, so as far as the accatn of homophobia go: that gay ship has already sailed to Disneyland, wh a speedo-clad Tom Daley rved to the ’s “anti-gay” to qutn the arguments of marriage-equaly advot, and if the word “homophobic” is exhsted on me or on pole dissenters, then what should we ll someone who beats up gay people, or prefers not to hire them? Simply havg rervatns about gay marriage might be anti-gay marriage, but if the rervatns are articulated a rpectful way, I see no reason to dismiss the person holdg those rervatns as anti-gay people. When we hastily label our opposn wh terms like “anti-gay, ” we make an unwarranted leap om the first scriptn to the me, regnizg the distctn between opposg gay marriage and opposg gay people is a natural outgrowth of an ternal distctn: When to my inty, I take re not to rce myself to my sexual orientatn.

“IF YOU DON’T LIKE GAY MARRIAGE, DON’T GET GAY MARRIED!”

If ’s te that my gayns is not the most fundamental aspect of my inty as Brandon, then seems to me that someone uld iologilly disapprove of my sexual exprsn while simultaneoly lovg and affirmg my larger inty. This is what Pope Francis was gettg at when he asked, “When God looks at a gay person, do he endorse the existence of this person wh love, or reject and nmn this person? Maybe his distctn between Brandon and Gay Brandon is misguid, but isn’t necsarily malic, and that’s the Schenck, current chairman of the Evangelil Church Alliance, told me that while he believ that marriage is between one man and one woman, this belief is a “source of ternal nflict” and “nsternatn” for him.

If he were disgted by gay people, or thought they should be imprisoned, or wanted to see the gayns beat out of them, then that might implite his human inty, part bee would suggt a troublg lack of passn.

I need more a gay man thkg through the issue of marriage equaly, I’ve e to the ncln that, although ’s a no-braer for me, this issue is plited to a great number of people.

THE GAY PEOPLE AGAST GAY MARRIAGE

To monize as anti-gay the lns of Amerins currently dog the difficult work of thkg through their nvictns is, my opn, very ’s te that as an LGBT person, I am Otherized agast the sexual norm.

I fully support marriage between two people who love each other, whether they are male or female, black or whe, straight or gay, but I believe cludg gay ont of marriage is not need. We believe that homosexual unns are nsistent wh God’s sign for human sexualy as set forth the openg pag of the Bible and the words of J Himself: “From the begng of creatn, God ma them male and female.

The “abomatns” ment most likely was Kle sayg gay “marriage” is an abomatn unto the Lord, and not the on who pursue , but that distctn between the actn and the person who partak the actn is equently lost on the willfully aggrieved. Archbishop Vcenzo Paglia, head of the Pontifil Council for the Fay, also said the church should do more to protect gays and lbians om discrimatn untri where homosexualy is illegal. After France's first same-sex marriage, and a vote the UK Parliament which puts England and Wal on urse for gay weddgs next summer, two US Supreme Court lgs expected soon uld hasten the advance of same-sex marriage across the Atlantic.

HOW SHOULD A CHRISTIAN RPOND TO “GAY MARRIAGE”?

A send lg will be ma on the legaly of California's gay marriage while favourable lgs will spark celebratns among pro-marriage supporters across the US, some gay men and women will stead see as a victory for a patriarchal stutn that bears no historil relevance to lbians are opposed to marriage on femist grounds, says Cldia Card, a profsor of philosophy at the Universy of Wisns-Madison, bee they see as an stutn that serv the terts of men more than women.

I'M GAY, BUT I'M NOT SWCHG TO A CHURCH THAT SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE

"Gay activists should stead put their energi to environmental issu like climate change, bee there's a chance to make a morally more fensible and more urgent difference. A muny ma up of lns of people is bound to hold a range of views on any subject, but will surprise many that some of the people who on the face of stand to ga the most om gay marriage should oppose . And the ntrary views are not often the UK, Daily Mail lumnist Andrew Pierce says that for speakg out agast gay marriage the past, he has been attacked as a homophobe and Uncle Tom, spe a long history of champng gay strongly believ that civil partnerships - troduced 2005 to give same-sex upl equal legal rights - are enough.

" He thks there are more gay people agreement wh him than people may thk - at a dner party he hosted for 11 gay iends, only one was favour of marriage, one was uncid and the rt were agast, he says.

I’M GAY AND I’M AGAST GAY MARRIAGE

A webse lled Homovox featured 12 gay men and women opposed to , wh some of them cg a belief that children benef most om oppose-sex many years, the nservative stutn of marriage was never on the gay mpaign agenda, says activist Yasm Nair, who -found a group provotively named Agast Equaly. But beme an objective the early 1990s - regretfully, her view - when the movement emerged om the seismic shock of the Aids epimic, pleted of polil gay people who are favour of same-sex marriage believe anythg short of marriage is not rarely hear arguments agast by gay people themselv, says Stampp Corb, publisher of magaze LGBT Weekly, who se strong parallels wh the civil rights movement. "So when I hear LGBT people sayg the same thg: 'I don't thk gay and lbian people should get married', is different om slav sayg: 'I don't thk slav should have the abily to get married'?

And the US, the notn of "separate but equal" rekdl memori of segregatn and the creatn of send-class so many different pots of view on a subject that has long divid Ameri, perhaps the bate jt unrl the obv - gay people are like everyone n follow the Magaze on Twter and on Facebook.

While the print has nsistently supported civil rights for gay upl — pepperg his ments wh specifics such as hospal visatn, transfer of property and Social Secury benefs — his discsn of marriage has differed. "(But) is my obligatn not only as an elected official a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to rema open to the possibily that my unwillgns to support gay marriage is misguid, jt as I nnot claim fallibily my support of abortn rights.

WAS I WRONG TO SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE?

Still, a 2007 Democratic primary bate sponsored by a gay rights group and a gay-oriented ble TV channel, he spoke stead about his support for civil unns wh "all the benefs that are available for a legally sanctned marriage" — but not for legal regnn of "marriage" between same-sex upl.

He offered an explanatn that would prage his 2012 shift: "I thk that is an issue that I wrtle wh and thk about bee I have a whole host of iends who are gay partnerships. This sheltered upbrgg may help expla my sunny unrgraduate nfince that even though I knew of lerally nobody else who had ever tried to be both unashamedly gay and obediently Catholic, I was totally gog to do . I hope I've learned a few thgs about the dangers of sophomoric self-nfince: There are tim when my relatnship wh the Catholic Church feels a lot like Margaret Atwood's feroc ltle poem, You f to me like a hook to an eyea fish hook an open eyeAnd I've met many other gay or queer or same-sex-attracted Christians, all flavors of Christiany.

WHERE SHOULD WE, AS CHRISTIANS, STAND ON GAY MARRIAGE?

We disagree (sometim sharply) among ourselv on the bt rponse to the growg cultural acceptance and polil succs of gay marriage; but before polics and even before culture, our rponse mt be personal.

) But I do thk was okay to enter the Church whout beg able to jtify all of her teachgs on my the time of my baptism the church's teachg on homosexualy was one of the on I unrstood the least.

I tried to expla somethg about how God uld give fertile heterosexual upl a baby if He wanted to, and my relative, unsurprisgly, asked why He uldn't give a gay uple a baby. That's a quick and dirty summary, but seems to me more rponsive to the texts, more willg to fer to historil Christian wns, and more attuned to the importance and meang of our bodi than most of the fens I've read of Christian gay beg embedd Catholicism lors my readg of the Bible—that is actually what tradn is supposed to do—and shap my sense of which elements of Christian history are sential and which are wanrgs om the path. I've wrten about possible approach to unselg Catholic schools; anti-bullyg efforts; my problems wh some of the language the Church about homosexualy; reprsive ias of genr which would leave no room for St.

JIMMY CARTER: ‘I BELIEVE THAT J WOULD APPROVE OF GAY MARRIAGE’

Renewg this Christian unrstandg of iendship would help to make the Church a place where gay people have more opportuni for voted, honored love—not Church needs to grow and change rponse to societal chang. Sanrs, the IU law profsor, explaed further: If stat merely want to "protect marriage" by nyg same-sex upl om weddg, then why also refe to regnize gay marriag om other stat, prohib civil unns and ny domtic partnership benefs? In the se of surrogacy or sperm donatn, I would not support this choice for any uple, whether gay or straight, as volv a third person the relatnship, which the Bible scrib as adultery.

The posts, and the way they spread across the ter, spoke to jt how much the culture at large wants to see queer people the better part of a , gay marriage was the rallyg cry for the queer liberatn movement: The theory held that this major legal tone would burst the dam and give way to a flood of total equaly. “It feels like all the gay people are shg to get married, and what is marriage but a heterosexual ncept, one that is built on a history of female opprsn and patriarchal ntrol? And when I beme a polil lumnist the early 2000s—spe beg the “nservative” at a good-sized newspaper—I was the only one at the paper (as far as I n rell) who unequivolly backed gay marriage publicly.

Abbott, Jdal, and their alli are posg a right to discrimate—for lol officials to refe to nduct same-sex weddgs, for photographers and bakers to refe to do bs wh gay people, for weddg planners to advertise that no gay upl need apply. Of urse, I do disagree wh homosexual practice (or any pre/extra maral sexual practice), but I mata a logil and ratnal reason for my opposn (the subject for another different time). “I thk J would enurage any love affair if was hont and scere and was not damagg to anyone else and I don’t see that gay marriage damag anyone else, ” Carter, who scrib himself as a born-aga Christian, told HuffPost Live.

ROSIE RIVERA: 'I DON'T BELIEVE IN GAY MARRIAGE', REGRETS GOG TO LBIAN WEDDG [VIDEO]

Although I love and embrace my iend Elena, some of my fay members, some employe, everyone that is gay that I know, I love them, but bee I love them and embrace them, do not mean I have to agree wh their liftyle. | (Photo: screengrab)Joel Osteen, megachurch pastor and New York Tim bt-sellg thor, was prsed durg a recent terview about his stance on homosexualy and asked if he would ever e out support of same-sex marriage.

JOEL OSTEEN TALKS PREACHG S, MATERIALISM, AND GAY MARRIAGE

""God said, 'Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself, '" explaed add that seems that sometim people of fah and those Christian mistry get stuck on homosexualy, when the Bible scrib a variety of ss. Kaltenbach’s unique story is tailed his new book Msy Grace: How a Pastor wh Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Whout Sacrificg Convictn and land him on the ont page of the New York Tim June.

However, to bate the issue serly and tthfully, we mt seek an hont picture of what our opponents actually believe — workg om what we thk they believe is neher helpful nor there are people of many diverse beliefs and nvictns — cludg gay and lbian people — who oppose same-sex marriage, here are 10 foundatnal tths that rm the tradnal, orthodox Christian belief.

HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS RPOND TO GAY FRIENDS OR FAY MEMBERS?

For stance, 45% of adults the Silent Generatn (those born between 1928 and 1945) favor allowg gays and lbians to wed, pared wh 74% of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996). Sce then, several other European untri – cludg England and Wal, France, Ireland, all of Sndavia, Spa and, most recently, Atria, Germany and Malta – have legalized gay marriage.

The term “homosexualy, ” while sometim nsired anachronistic the current era, is the most applible and easily translatable term to e when askg this qutn across societi and languag and has been ed other cross-natnal studi, cludg the World Valu Survey. Dpe major chang laws and norms surroundg the issue of same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBT people around the world, public opn on the acceptance of homosexualy society remas sharply divid by untry, regn and enomic velopment.

PRIT TELLS CATHOLICS HOW TO RPOND WHEN ASKED IF THEY SUPPORT GAY ‘MARRIAGE’

In many of the untri surveyed, there also are differenc on acceptance of homosexualy by age, tn, e and, some stanc, genr – and several s, the differenc are substantial. For example, some untri, those who are affiliated wh a relig group tend to be ls acceptg of homosexualy than those who are unaffiliated (a group sometim referred to as relig “non”). For example, Swen, the Netherlands and Germany, all of which have a per-pa gross domtic product over $50, 000, acceptance of homosexualy is among the hight measured across the 34 untri surveyed.

UNED METHODIST CHURCH ANNOUNC PROPOSAL TO SPL OVER GAY MARRIAGE

The study is a follow-up to a 2013 report that found many of the same patterns as seen today, although there has been an crease acceptance of homosexualy across many of the untri surveyed both years. But sub-Saharan Ai, the Middle East, Rsia and Ukrae, few say that society should accept homosexualy; only South Ai (54%) and Israel (47%) do more than a quarter hold this view.

BIN CHANGED HIS MD ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE AFTER MEETG THIS HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE

However, while took nearly 15 years for acceptance to rise 13 pots om 2000 to jt before the feral legalizatn of gay marriage June 2015, there was a near equal rise acceptance jt the four years sce legalizatn. This difference was most pronounced South Korea, where 79% of 18- to 29-year-olds say homosexualy should be accepted by society, pared wh only 23% of those 50 and olr. This staggerg 56-pot difference exceeds the next largt difference Japan by 20 pots, where 92% and 56% of those ag 18 to 29 and 50 and olr, rpectively, say homosexualy should be accepted by society.

HOW HILLARY CLTON EVOLVED ON GAY MARRIAGE

In a siar number of untri, those who earn more money than the untry’s natnal median e also are more likely to say they accept homosexualy society than those who earn ls. In many of the untri where there are measurements of iology on a left-right sle, those on the left tend to be more acceptg of homosexualy than those on the iologil right.

In South Korea, for example, those who classify themselv on the iologil left are more than twice as likely to say homosexualy is acceptable than those on the iologil right (a 39-percentage-pot difference). In a siar ve, those who support right-wg populist parti Europe, many of which are seen by LGBT groups as a threat to their rights, are ls supportive of homosexualy society.