When Politics and Faith are at War, Where do you Stand?

BBC NEWS; 30 October 2011 Last updated at 13:04 GMT

Cameron threat to dock some UK aid to anti-gay nations

The Commonwealth must have strong values, David Cameron says

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David Cameron has threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.

The UK prime minister said he raised the issue with some of the states involved at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.

Human rights reform in the Commonwealth was one issue that leaders failed to reach agreement on at the summit.

Mr Cameron says those receiving UK aid should "adhere to proper human rights".

Ending the bans on homosexuality was one of the recommendations of an internal report into the future relevance of the Commonwealth.

Mr Cameron's threat applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget support, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country.

Malawi has already had some of its budget support suspended over concerns about its attitude to gay rights. Concerns have also been raised with the governments of Uganda and Ghana.

This is what Politics has to say on Same sex marriages!

In what might be viewed as a contradictory statement here in the United States, U.K. prime minister David Cameron said he supports same-sex marriage precisely because he is a conservative.

His comments were made while speaking to the Conservative Party in Manchester, England, on Wednesday.

"I stood before a conservative conference once and I said it shouldn't matter whether a commitment is between a man and a woman, or a man and a man, or a woman and woman. And you applauded me," he said. "Five years on, we are consulting on legalizing gay marriage, and to anyone who has reservations, I say this: yes, it's about equality. But it's also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society's stronger when we make vows to each other and we support each other. So I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a conservative, I support gay marriage because I am a conservative."

While government officials in the U.K. are set to begin discussions on legalizing gay marriage by March of 2012, some religious leaders have lashed out at Cameron for attempting to redefine the concept of marriage altogether.

Peter Smith, a senior archbishop in England said, "Whilst we welcome the prime minister's support of marriage, family life, and especially the care of children, the proposed redefinition of marriage cannot be right."

England's two major parties, Labour and Cameron's own Conservative, have long been criticized for remaining silent on the marriage equality issue.

Representatives from both parties however, have recently come out in support of marriage equality. Chris Bryant, a Labour MP who is in a civil partnership himself, tweeted, "I hear Cameron backed gay marriage, if so I warmly applaud him"

...and this is what some people say...

Eric F Hearn

I could kiss him for that. That is beautiful

Jeff Seddon

It's great that in the UK we have a Conservative prime minister who supports gay marriage, and says so publicly. It's not something you could have even imagined a few years ago. But these are fine words that are yet to be backed up by actions. The Conservatives have already delayed the consultation exercise for gay marriage once - it was supposed to be this summer, now it's next spring. They've also already caved to the religious lobby and said they're only supporting civil marriage equality but religious marriages for gay people will still not be possible. At least that one's a clear violation of religious freedom ripe for challenge in the European Court of Human Rights. This whole exercise looks like it could turn into our equivalent of the DADT repeal - long, drawn out and full of petty squabbling. The left-wing Labour Party did most of the work for them during the first decade of the 21st century; we already have 'civil partnership', which is legally virtually the same as marriage. It's a shame the Conservatives seem incapable of taking the last few steps towards full equality without tremendous dithering.

When Politics and Faith are at War, Where do you Stand?

...and what does the Bible says, i like what Bible.org says quoting from the Bible

Q. What explicitly does the Bible teach about homosexuality?

This question I consider to be basic because, if we accept God's Word on the subject of homosexuality, we benefit from His adequate answer to this problem. I am concerned only with the Christian or biblical view of homosexuality. The Bible has much to say about sex sins in general.

First, there is adultery. Adultery in the natural sense is sexual intercourse of a married person with someone other than his or her own spouse. It is condemned in both the Old and New Testaments (Exodus 20:14; I Cor. 6:9, 10). Christ forbids dwelling upon the thoughts, the free play of one's imagination that leads to adultery (Matthew 5:28).

Second, there is fornication, the illicit sex acts of unmarried persons which is likewise forbidden (I Corinthians 5:1; 6:13, 18; Ephesians 5:3).

Then there is homosexuality which likewise is condemned in Scripture. The Apostle Paul, writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declares that homosexuality "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 6:9; 10). Now Paul does not single out the homosexual as a special offender. He includes fornicators, idolators, adulterers, thieves, covetous persons, drunkards, revilers and extortioners. And then he adds the comment that some of the Christians at Corinth had been delivered from these very practices: "And such were some of you: But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God" (I Corinthians 6:11). All of the sins mentioned in this passage are condemned by God, but just as there was hope in Christ for the Corinthians, so is there hope for all of us.

Homosexuality is an illicit lust forbidden by God. He said to His people Israel, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" (Leviticus 18:22). "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them" (Leviticus 20:13). In these passages homosexuality is condemned as a prime example of sin, a sexual perversion. The Christian can neither alter God's viewpoint nor depart from it.

In the Bible sodomy is a synonym for homosexuality. God spoke plainly on the matter when He said, "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel" (Deuteronomy 23:17). The whore and the sodomite are in the same category. A sodomite was not an inhabitant of Sodom nor a descendant of an inhabitant of Sodom, but a man who had given himself to homosexuality, the perverted and unnatural vice for which Sodom was known. Let us look at the passages in question:

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house around, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. (Genesis 19:4-8)

The Hebrew word for "know" in verse 5 is yada`, a sexual term. It is used frequently to denote sexual intercourse (Genesis 4:1, 17, 25; Matthew 1:24, 25). The message in the context of Genesis 19 is clear. Lot pled with the men to "do not so wickedly." Homosexuality is wickedness and must be recognized as such else there is no hope for the homosexual who is asking for help to be extricated from his perverted way of life.