Yea, I haven't blogged in a while, not sure how long, sorry about that. Its not that I've been too busy to blog, but that I can't be bothered to blog.

Anyways, this is my 4th week of “college life” at St. Edwards University. I moved into my dorm, attended Orientation, signed up for classes, and after several fun days of getting to know some people, began school.

As of yet, nothing has been too hard. Its been easier than I imagined, and I keep waiting for the hammer to drop and for me to start begging for mercy or something. Yesterday I actually got to the point where I didn't... have anything to do but play video games by 4PM, which has never been the case. I got one homework assignment... and yea... it wasn't very much work.

So I'm taking 5 classes: The Printed Page and the Silver Screen, which is a literature/Film class that is... passable. It gets away with having irksome subject matter by having a lot of discussion (its an honors class, they like discussion in such classes) and fun people to discuss with. My American Grammar class is interesting, we're doing lot of diagramming and stuff, which I'm finding fun (!) for the first time. Ms. Gaines, you failed, sadly, to teach me diagramming very well. Then I have College Algebra, for which I will take my first major test at 1PM, hopefully that goes well. Its math, I don't like math, whatever. Then I have my “Freshman Studies” classes which are Rhet and Comp 1 (English 101, boring) and Current Events and Political Controversies. Political Controversies basically is 200 people (yea, biggest class I'll ever have) get together in a room and our prof makes us discuss (in small groups and standing up and saying some stuff relevant to the topic at hand) various Controversial topics. I just did an assignment on the current military policy regard Homosexuals.

And that, that brings me to the main reason why I'm blogging right now. See, now, how to do say this...
the discussion question we had in class was: “Is Freedom to marry whom you wish an individual right, or does society have a legitimate interest in regulating marriage?”

So, basically, can I marry whoever I want, or do I have to follow the standards of my society? Immediately, I realized that of course society has a interest in regulating EVERYTHING, and that, furthermore, if a society is trying to make their society better (in their opinions) then I'd call that a legitimate interest. However, this brings me to a problem: what do I do about societies that have different values than me? To the point that these societies may openly practice or allow behavior I consider immoral and unbiblical? For instance, currently, in my States, in most “societies” in the United States, Gay Marriage is illegal. This is changing, in some places, and it may get to the point where Gay Marriage is legal all over America. As someone who believes Homosexuality is immoral, this makes me sad. I don't want homosexuals in my society, as people who can actually make laws and challenge the ideals and principles of my society because I believe that they, as homosexuals will have an unbiblical worldview and that unbiblical worldview will be reflected in their preferred laws and principles. Its the same reason I count a person's lifestyle, including religious beliefs, against them if they differ from my own in regards to political decision-making.

However, the thing is, while I'm against Homosexuality I don't exactly see the problem with Gay Marriage. Okay, I'll be honest and say if I had to vote for or against Gay Marriage I would probably vote against it just because... yea... homosexuality isn't my thing.

But this opens another can of worms. In the times of Jesus, Tax Collectors were corrupt thieves, yet Jesus loved them and counted some of them among his closest friends (Matthew). He didn't condemn the lot of them as men stealing from their brothers and cousins, as most of them did, he loved them. Jesus didn't stone the adulteress, he forgave her sins and told her to stop sinning. Jesus has a legitimate interest in punishing the sins of people, but he outright condemned a very select number of people, basically the Pharisees (he didn't like what some guys did to the Temple Outer Courts, and called them thieves/robbers, so I guess that counts too). However, the Jesus I get the picture of is a man who loved first, and then dealt out judgment later, much later, in fact.

At the same time, Society has a legitimate interest in protecting itself from views that directly conflict with its own. As a person committed to building a Biblical Society, I am have a legitimate interest in preventing the spread of homosexuality and don't think homosexual marriage should be legitimate. However, my problem is, again and again, how do we let people, sinful people, be sinners, make their own choices (as God himself did in the Garden of Eden) without endangering ourselves. When do we cross the line and say “This is wrong! This will damage our society!” When do we stop the people of Bangladesh from mistreating their women? When do we stop the druggies from destroying their bodies? How do we stop them? How a society thinks reflects how a society acts, and a society that allows gay marriage, apparently, has no problem with homosexuality. That's my problem. I'm opposed to homosexuality, but I can't... I can't bring myself to the point where I can honestly say with 100% certainty that we shouldn't give homosexuals the same legal rights (Which is really what this is about. Its not about forcing churches to marry people its about Homosexual couples getting the same healthcare benefits, etc, that heterosexual, married, couples get). I don't want these people to be making the laws of the nation, but in country like the United States, I have the choice to vote for who I want and hope they will do what they promised me (I can vote them out of office if they don't...).

I think things like drugs and homosexuality are harder to deal with than Abortion. Abortion is murder and it physically harms a person who has no say in their death. Homosexuality, directly, effects no one. What is dangerous about homosexuality is that when a society, as a general whole, accepts such behavior they become a sinful society. Sodom and Gomorrah didn't exactly have a happy ending, neither did any society that allow open homosexuality (I don't have the evidence to back it up, but I've been told, and I believe it, that every society that has openly allowed homosexual behavior has eventually crashed and burned horribly). As an American citizen, I'm obviously concerned that my nation might follow Sodom and Gamorrah and other such nations. I'm already convinced America will not be the nation it is today when my kids are my age, but that doesn't mean I can try to prevent that.

Such a declaration also brings up the interesting question that, as a TCK, should I really invest all my energy in America? But that's a question for another time...

So, in conclusion, I'm torn here. I want to be the man that Jesus was, the man that showed love towards everyone, even the worst of sinners (the women at the well? Talk about scandalous!). But I also want to be the man that Jesus was and be firm in my principles and not... not let Satan destroy the world. And so yea... how do I do that? Where do you draw the line between love and judgment? Between condemning sinners to the punishment that they deserve and loving them? Old Testament law called for the death of homosexuals and the death of adulterous persons, but Jesus forgave such people (well, adulterers, there is no mention of homosexuals in the Gospels, to my knowledge). Its... its a really, really interesting question.