thoughts on gay marriage, part 3

(Again, please bear in mind the context of this post.)

Let marriage be an institution of the church. Let civil unions be an institution of the government.

Ideologically, I think that's the viewpoint most consistent with the laws of this country, and the constitutional right to freedom of religion. It's not that easy, though. The thing about government is that while it may not legislate religion, it exists to uphold justice. And justice is itself ideological. So the morality of things gets all mixed up with the legality of things. And there's no way to really untangle those ideas.

Take, for example, adoption. Should a gay couple be allowed to adopt? Some states say yes, others say no (for a quick overview, check this out). Most studies show that gay and lesbian parents are no worse for children than heterosexual parents, overall. Surely having homosexual parents isn't a cakewalk for the kids, but it's less difficult as societal mores change and no worse than the other family issues that kids have to deal with. Is one parent better than no parent at all? Of course! Is two better than one? I think so.

So from my perspective, gay and lesbian couples can be awesome parents. The thing is, I think homosexuality is wrong in God's eyes. I think and hope that practicing homosexuals come to know God's love for them, and accept forgiveness for all of their sins, and choose to love God back, and show it by obeying what He asks them to do. And I think that ultimately this will mean ending their homosexual relationship. So what then? Just another broken home, children who were in foster care or adopted left no better off than the millions of other kids in broken families, dealing with all the crap that comes along with it.

So can I support adoption for homosexual couples? Gah. Legally it seems fine, but ethically it seems completely wrong. I have no idea what the right answer is. The thing about the separation of church and state is that no matter how hard you try to separate it, when you get down to a very personal level, there's no telling them apart. Law. Righteousness. God. Grace. Love. Family. I just don't know. (This, by the way, is why I find voting so difficult.)

A few closing thoughts, next.