Same Sex marriage

I was raised that a marriage is between a man and a woman, ordained by God and stated as so in the Word of God.  Recently, the Supreme Court has decided to over turn Prop 8 and make same-sex marriage legal in CA.  When this came up on the ballot, I voted for Prop 8, keeping with the values that I was raised with and voted that way I felt was right and biblical.  I was labeled as a hater of the LGBT crowd.  I don't hate these fine folks and I am not even against them being together, or having legal rights to be joined.  I just would prefer that they don't label it as "marriage".  Civil Union, or whatever they want to call it... give their partners legal rights to health care, and anything else that a man-woman union would have.... just not keen on it being called marriage.

As I have been studying the Word, I have even come to another little revelation.  I am almost keen on the union as long as there is no sex involved....don't laugh, my first marriage operated under this guideline for 4 out of the 5 years we were married, so I know that it is possible.  I really want all my friends who are gay to be happy and to know that I really do love them and support them in most everything they do.... accept this.

With the recent announcement of the Supreme Court shooting down Prop 8 and once again legalizing same-sex marriage in CA, I will accept the ruling and not make a big stink about it.  There are many things that I may not agree with, yet do not feel the need to make a huge deal out of it.  I disagree with the ruling of the Supreme Court.  I love all my friends regardless of gay, straight, bi, trans, or whatever.  My job, at this point is to love, love, love, as Christ did.  I would even go to a wedding of a gay friend, if invited, for I never want to alienate them in any way or give the impression that I look down on them.  Being a conservative, naive, kinda prude person, I might feel uncomfortable, yet I would show my support, non-the-less.

One of my biggest concerns is one of a legal nature.  Just because it is legal, should any pastor, priest or clergyman (or woman) be forced to do a wedding of same sex even if they do not feel comfortable doing so?  Could people file a lawsuit against such clergy for discrimination?  If so, is this fair?  Coming from a family of pastors, I have seen many times that couples have been turned away for various reasons by my family members who did not feel comfortable doing their ceremony.  Can this be a valid reason, or will this get them in hot water.  I have seen such reasons for not doing weddings as "too young", "un-equally yolked", "wrong reason for getting married", and the non committal reason of "I just don't have a peace about doing your ceremony".  If the last on was used and the real reason was "I don't do same-sex marriages", could the clergy get in trouble?

Once again, I just want to say that I will support my LGBT friends and am happy that they are happy with the decision that the Supreme Court made, yet if given a chance to vote on this issue, I would not be voting the same way the SC did.  I love all my LGBT friends.  I love you, I support you, I will the highest for your life and I want you to be happy.  God loves you, cherishes you and wills the highest for your life and wants you to be happy.

Post from Kris Vallotton on FB, Sepember 26, 2013:

Here my take on homosexuality for whatever it is worth; 
1-God planted two trees in the garden, a good tree and a bad tree. Therefore it is the nature of God to give people choices because the only way you can get a reward for doing the right thing is to have the opportunity to do the wrong one. So I respect the right of people to make choices without creating rules against those choices unless those choices infringe negatively on the lives of others. I would not therefore, be in favor of a law that made homosexuality illegal.

2-Homosexuality is not same-sex attraction. It is the desire to have sex with the same gender. It is healthy for men to want the attention and affection of other men, and the same goes for women. Jonathan and David had a soul tie and a love relationship that transcended the love of a woman. This is common among soldiers who fight together in the trenches of battle and build a bond as they struggle together in life-and-death situations. But modern culture does not know how to separate love and sex and therefore assumes every sacred bond must be sexual. This is simply not true! I believe that many people get sucked into homosexuality out of this deep desire to the boned brother to brother or sister to sister. Society teaches people that this bond is a homosexual tendency because it has no other box for brotherly and sister love.

3- I do believe that there are people that have same gender sexual attractions. I think it's real and not imagined. But being attracted to something that is wrong does not define you. For example, I'm a married man and therefore I am a one woman man by choice. Biologically I have the capacity to be sexually attracted to many other women but I have chosen through covenant to manage my appetite towards one woman. Therefore I am not define by the temptations that I resist. Instead I am defined by the virtues that I embrace. These virtues have become the boundaries for my appetite and they dictate what I allow myself to desire.

4-I have deep concerns that homosexuality is growing out of a misunderstanding of love and sex. When we teach people that the need for affection from the same gender is a homosexual tendency, it creates that mindset in people that have this need.