In his television programme, 'The Wright Stuff' broadcast on UK's Channel 5 on Wednesday 19th January, Matthew Wright sneered openly at the Old Testament during a discussion about the case of Peter and Hazelmary Bull, the Christian hoteliers who recently lost the case brought against them by two homosexuals in which they were challenged for refusing to allow the two men to share a bed in their B & B. Their policy of only allowing married couples to share a double room is clearly stated on the B & B's website, as is their interpretation of the term 'married' and the fact that as Christians it offends their faith to go against Biblical teaching.
The fact of the matter is that marriage, by its very nature, is the union of a man and a woman. I realise that homosexual couples and lesbian couples often like to state that they are 'married', but, by the very definition of marriage, this is an impossibility. A Civil Partnership is just that, a Civil partnership involving two people of the same sex, designed to afford them the rights that would otherwise be deemed to not be existent. I have no argument with that, and uphold the concept of the protection of rights embodied in it. It is not, however, a marriage, and neither can it ever be in the strict understanding of the word, for as stated previously, marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
I agree that if the life-style choice of the individuals is to live together in full union then they have every right to do so. It does not, however, change Scripture. No matter how many times you say that something is right it does not mean that it is so.
What was needed in this instance was a greater degree of tolerance. The Bulls made it quite clear on their website what their viewpoint and practise was. It may be claimed that the two men in question failed to look at the website, although I would find that difficult to believe in these days of Internet literacy. What was not made clear by either of the two men at the time of their booking was that the booking was for a homosexual couple. Had this been the case then the issue would not have arisen. It was not imperative that they stayed at the Bull's B & B, only a choice, and obviously, if their was no malice aforethought in their booking, a misguided choice at that. It has to be said that, particularly as Stonewall had previously targeted the Bulls with a complaint about their policy, that the whole thing smacks of a set-up. Personally I would be hard to convince otherwise, as would countless others.
Scripture makes it quite clear that all fornication is wrong, that is to say that all sex outside of the sanctity of marriage is sinful. Hence there is no need to trawl through passages of the Old Testament to find reference to homosexuality, but simply to abide what the whole of Scripture states quite clearly.
In order to ensure that the homosexual/Lesbian boat was not rocked, the TV programme ensured that no Christians were allowed to put forward their viewpoint. Both Wright and his guest Stephen Amos made a point at sneering at Scripture. However, I warn them both that they did so at their own peril.
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