My recommendation to the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Unions and Christian Marriage is to draw a sharp distinction between what is essentially a civil partnership agreement between two people and a blessed covenant of Holy Matrimony between husband and wife, instituted by God. As such, civil unions have no standing in the church. They are simply an accommodation to our present culture.
The five issues to be studied by the committee clearly reveal a bias toward the progressive/liberal point of view, especially the last one: “the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community.” The committee should start with Scripture, the Word of God, and accept the tenet that homosexual practice is a sin, an unnatural affection, and not part of God’s plan for humankind.
Amendment 08-B was just defeated. It would have replaced the “fidelity in marriage or chastity in singleness” language in the Book of Order. The committee should recognize that the majority of Presbyterians oppose same sex relationships in our officers, and I daresay, among our members. Many wish GLBT advocates would either repent of their sinful lifestyles and be transformed by the renewing of their spirits in Christ Jesus, or go away.
Bob Battenfield
La Mesa, Calif.
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