Shut up - or speak up?

Same-sex marriage has been legalised. We have lost the battle. So what do we do now - shut up about it? Or is it even more important that we continue to preach the truth about marriage?

I ask the question just now because I have come across an excellent blog post by Regis Nicoll on Breakpoint. He lists a number of arguments used in favour of same-sex marriage, with counter-arguments underneath. Here are a few extracts:

Marriage 'equality' follows Jesus's teaching about love and inclusion.

Love incarnate once said "If you love me, you will obey what I command." Among His commands is the prohibition of sex outside of marriage. As He gave no expressed or implied allowance for same-sex "marriage," His prohibition includes indulging homosexual desires, regardless of a committed relationship, church blessing, or legal union. . . 

As to inclusion, while it is true that Jesus extended His invitation to all, His call was not without conditions. Nicodemus was told he needed to be born again, the disciples were told to deny themselves and carry their cross daily, a rich man was told to give up all his possessions, a prostitute and a lame man were both told to stop sinning, and in a parable about the kingdom a man was turned out,of all things, for wearing the wrong clothes.

The good news of the kingdom is that "many are called," but the requirement of repentance means that "few are chosen."

Since God made people that way, He'd have no problem with them marrying.

The Creator's design of sexuality is intended to satisfy the good and essential function of reproduction. It is a function that same-sex couples are incapable of accomplishing. They can only mimic the sex act for the purpose of sensual gratification.

The suggestion that God would frustrate His expressed purpose of sex with an untoward desire is unreasoned. Whatever causes same-sex orientation, it is not God, any more than He is the cause of congenital disorders like club feet or cleft palates. The person who insists that homosexuality is "how God made me" is conflating a dysfunction with a design.

Proscriptions against gay 'marriage' neglect the personal experiences of homosexuals.

While personal experiences may be genuine, intense and heartfelt, they are not a reliable guide to truth. Depending only on our experiences we would think the earth flat in a geocentric cosmos where time and space are absolute. It is only because we have discovered laws transcending personal experience that we know that reality is sometimes radically different than what our experiences suggest.

Opposing gay 'marriage' represents a moral judgment about others, something Jesus warned against.

The same goes for endorsing gay "marriage." Not only is endorsement a moral judgment about the practice, it's a moral insinuation, if not judgment, about those who disagree. In fact, "disagreers" are routinely called (and judged as) homophobes, haters, and. . . anti-gay bigots with impunity.

But popular proof-texts notwithstanding, Jesus never said that Christians shouldn't judge the actions of others. He taught that we should remove our "specks" so that we can "see clearly" their specks, and He told His disciples, "If your brother sins, rebuke him."

Jesus never said anything against homosexuality or gay 'marriage.'

If the "argument from silence" settles the morality of homosexual behaviour, it does likewise for child sacrifice, paedophilia, slavery, rape, bestiality, and a host of other practices that Jesus never mentioned by name. . .

In a disarming passage, the apostle Paul uses marriage as a word picture for the church, and it is clear why. Just as the complementary design of man and woman creates "one flesh" out of two people for the purpose of multiplication, so the complementary gifts of the Holy Spirit create one Body out of multiple members for the same end.

That's only part of it.You can read the rest here.