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Sermon on the Mount
supports gay civil unions, |
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the Word
according to Obama |
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Jesus' Sermon on the Mount backs up same-sex civil unions,
believes US presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
by Jennifer Riley, REUTERS US Correspondent
Posted: Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7:22 (GMT)
US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama
speaks to supporters at his Ohio and Texas primary election night
rally in San Antonio, Texas March 4, 2008.
Barack Obama defended same-sex civil unions Sunday by referring
Christians opposed to the practice to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount,
which he contends supports gay civil unions.
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"I believe in civil unions that
allow a same-sex couple to visit each other in a hospital or
transfer property to each other," Obama said, referring to
unions that provide all the legal benefits of marriage but the
title, according to Christian Broadcasting Network.
"I don't think it should be called marriage, but I think that it is
a legal right that they should have that is recognised by the state.
“If people find that controversial, then I would just refer them to
the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith,
more central than an obscure passage in Romans,” the Democratic
presidential candidate contends. “That's my view. But we can have a
respectful disagreement on that."
Media agencies speculate that Obama was referring to Matthew 7:12:
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” |
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Obama was responding to a
question posed by a local pastor during an appearance in
Nelsonville, Ohio. Pastor Leon Forte had asked the candidate how he
plans to win the support of evangelical voters who disagree with him
on moral issues.
Not all Christians are happy with Obama’s use of the Bible to defend
gay civil unions, however. |
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As a matter of public policy, the
best way to honour God’s intention for marriage and human sexuality
is to keep monogamous, heterosexual marriage privileged in law.
Denny Burk, professor of the New Testament at Criswell College in
Dallas
Pastor John Barner, manager of pastoral care at Focus on the Family,
said: "We are always saddened as evangelical Christians when others
who identify themselves as Christians do not have the high view of
Scripture that we believe is so important.
"We believe isolated portions of Scripture should not be used to
justify a personal preference or a social position that goes in a
different direction than the overall message of Scripture.” |
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The FOTF pastor said that
Scripture is “pretty clear” in defining and affirming that marriage
is “an exclusive, lifetime relationship between a man and a woman”.
“The compromising positions of these candidates are a disappointment
to us as evangelical Christians,” he added. |
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