The Aristophrenium

Proclaiming the truth of the gospel and the centrality of Christ in all things

Marriage & Family Archive

Sunday

18

November 2012

9

COMMENTS

Gay Big Brother contestant proposes but passes on parenting

Written by , Posted in Marriage & Family, Sexuality, Society & Culture

The winner of this year’s reality show, Big Brother (Australia), surprised many when he popped the question to his partner in the dying moments of the season’s finale. Reality TV is no stranger when it comes to such outspoken displays of romance, but Ben Norris’s proposal was just as much a political statement as it was a declaration of love. His partner, to whom he presented a diamond ring that his grandfather had given his grandmother, is his boyfriend, also named Ben. In a country where the traditional definition of marriage has been challenged twice in the last few years (to no avail), Ben’s proposal is very political indeed, even if he didn’t intend it to be. But the pro same-sex ‘marriage’ media loved it. After all, when rational arguments fail, there’s nothing like a good ol’ public, emotional display that tugs at the heartstrings of the populace to make [...]

Tuesday

23

October 2012

1

COMMENTS

The Same-Sex-Parenting v Pro-life Conundrum?

Written by , Posted in Marriage & Family, Sexuality

During a recent conversation about same-sex parenting, a friend of mine made an interesting segue into the abortion topic that I thought would be instructional to share here. The conversation had gotten onto same-sex marriage and homosexual parenting. He already knew from previous conversations that I didn’t support either of these. He also knew that I didn’t support abortion and introduced the topic to the conversation to point out an apparent conflict – not necessarily in the views themselves, but in holding them both at the same time. Greg Koukl gives an example of this:[1] Those who are quick to object that God isn’t doing enough about evil in the world (“A good God wouldn’t let that happen”) are often equally quick to complain when God puts His foot down (“A loving God would never send anyone to hell”). If He appears indifferent to wickedness, His goodness is challenged. Yet [...]

Monday

15

October 2012

0

COMMENTS

Thursday

6

September 2012

0

COMMENTS

Francis Schaeffer: From Unthinkable to Thinkable

Written by , Posted in Apologetics, Christian activism, Ethics, Marriage & Family, Philosophy, Politics, Pro-Life / Abortion, Sexuality, Society & Culture

Francis Schaeffer was definitely a prophetic voice in his day. More than anyone else, he saw clearly what the trajectory of our post-Christian culture would be. He saw that the moral precepts that we regarded as axiomatic during the earlier part of the twentieth century could no longer be taken for granted today. This is important for us to consider because it is certain that this trend will continue over the next few decades, with certain things that are unthinkable now becoming more and more acceptable (just as the things that are acceptable now were unthinkable just a few short decades ago). In Schaeffer’s words: There is a thinkable and an unthinkable in every era. One era is quite certain intellectually and emotionally about what is acceptable. Yet another era decides that these “certainties” are unacceptable and puts another set of values into practice. On a humanistic base people drift [...]

Saturday

19

May 2012

1

COMMENTS

Why can’t the gay brothers be wed?

Written by , Posted in Ethics, Marriage & Family, Politics, Sexuality, Society & Culture

The title is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. However, in light of the arguments often advanced in support of legalising same-sex “marriage”, I believe it is a pertinent question. Why not let the gay brothers wed? If society and culture redefine marriage so that “any two persons can marry”, it seems no stretch of the argument at all to campaign for the legal wedding of two gay brothers to each other, or the wedding of an uncle to his adult nephew. In the Australian context, considering that our government is currently inquiring into the issue of legalizing same-sex “marriage” (see my last month’s post, Australian Senate considers marriage equality bill), our law enforces the following restrictions on people desiring to enter marriage: You must be an adult You must not be currently married You must not marry a close blood relation You must marry a member of the opposite sex Advocates of same-sex [...]

Sunday

13

May 2012

7

COMMENTS

When same-sex marriage was a Christian rite

Written by , Posted in Apologetics, Church History, Marriage & Family

(Modified 20 May 2012. Original draft can be found here.) Or so claims an article that is becoming viral on the internet (i.e., becoming popular through the process of sharing) that was written almost five years ago by someone who attempted to argue that the early Christian church used to recognize and officiate same-sex marriages, the evidence for which included certain liturgical rites, historical examples of same-sex couples who were married thereby, and at least one iconic depiction of a gay wedding. Perhaps this recent spike in popularity of that old article is in response to the latest political advocacy regarding the issue, such as the North Carolina state constitutional amendment recently voted on to define marriage as strictly between a man and a woman and the discussions that it has provoked, [1] including President Barack Obama’s subsequent public approval of same-sex marriage expressed in an exclusive ABC interview. [2] [...]

Sunday

1

April 2012

20

COMMENTS

Australian Senate considers marriage equality bill

Written by , Posted in Marriage & Family, Politics, Sexuality, Society & Culture

On April 2, 2012, the Australian Senate closes invitations from the public on their opinion regarding the legalisation of same-sex ‘marriage’. This is not the first time the Senate has been requested to do so; the last time was back in 2009. Yet the political climate in Australia is markedly different now. In 2009, the Labor Government had as it’s official party policy to support marriage as man-woman only; likewise the Opposition Government. The Bill put forward to redefine marriage to “any two persons”, the Marriage Equality Amendment Act 2009, by the Greens (a progressive left party) was resoundly dismissed. Yet this time round, we have a Labor Government who altered their party platform late last year to support same-sex ‘marriage’ and we have three bills being reviewed by the Senate to amend the Marriage Act 1961. One of the those bills is again from the Greens: the Marriage Equality [...]

Wednesday

29

February 2012

1

COMMENTS

Judge rules on boy’s religion due to warring parents

Written by , Posted in Education, Marriage & Family

An interesting newspaper headline caught my eye this morning on my daily commute regarding a family court ruling where the Judge ordered that a five year old boy be enrolled in a ‘religiously neutral’ school. The case came about as the two – divorced – parents involved could not come to an agreement as to how the boy was to be raised. As the brief article describes it, the mother is a ‘church-goer’ and wants her son to be sent to a (presumably) Christian school, while the father is a self-described humanist who is adamantly opposed. It is an unfortunate dilemma (all custody cases are) as the court was essentially asked to adjudicate between two conflicting convictions. The articles I could find on the case were limited in depth and presented mainly the arguments put forth by the father – perhaps to skew the story in his favor? – so [...]

Tuesday

29

November 2011

0

COMMENTS

Weep with compassion for the celebration of sin

Written by , Posted in Marriage & Family, Sexuality, Society & Culture

In the lead up to the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) National Conference this coming weekend, at which will be tabled a discussion to change the Party’s official policy from supporting traditional one-man, one-woman marriage, this exhortation from preacher John Piper is a stirring reminder for Christians to weep with sorrow and compassion over the sins of their cities. No less ought we in Australia weep if God’s natural law of traditional, monogamous marriage is ever legislated out of existence. Jesus died so that heterosexual and homosexual sinners might be saved. Jesus created sexuality, and has a clear will for how it is to be experienced in holiness and joy. His will is that a man might leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and that the two become one flesh (Mark 10:6-9). In this union, sexuality finds its God-appointed meaning, whether in personal-physical unification, symbolic representation, sensual [...]

Tuesday

27

September 2011

0

COMMENTS

The 180 Movie reignites conversations

Written by , Posted in Anthropology, Apologetics, Ethics, Marriage & Family

Approximately 24 hours ago Ray Comfort and his Living Waters Ministry released the short 180 Movie regarding the subject of abortion, which has not only exploded across social media but also reignited conversations all over North America over the moral question about abortion. A bit skeptical about the film, given the hype and build up to its release, I decided to give it a viewing, mostly because I knew I would encounter conversations about it in my circles and wanted to be properly informed. And good thing, too, for the conversations have been plenty. While many of those conversations have regarded the biblical and theological integrity of the Way of the Master gospel witnessing techniques, one of them tonight regarded the issue for which the film was made in the first place, which I want to share with you here. While I have changed the young man’s name to protect [...]