Responses to President Obama’s Statement on Same-sex Marriage

The temptation is for Christians go silent and give up the marriage fight: “It’s no use staying in this battle,” we think to ourselves. “We don’t have to change our personal position. We’ll keep speaking the truth and upholding the Bible in our churches, but getting worked up over gay marriage in the public square is counterproductive…. Here are five reasons Christians should continue to publicly and winsomely oppose bestowing the term and institution of marriage upon same-sex couples.” – Kevin DeYoung

On May 9, President Barrack Obama announced that his thinking on same-sex marriage had evolved to the point where he could now assert that same-sex marriage was appropriate. Mr. Obama, a long time proponent of civil unions, said his views had changed in part because of prodding by friends who are gay and by conversations with his wife and daughter.

“I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient,” Mr. Obama said. “I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that invokes very powerful traditions and religious beliefs.”

Mr. Obama also referred to his understanding of Christian teaching to explain his decision. He said, “The thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the golden rule — you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated…and I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids, and that’s what motivates me as president.”

Here are a number of links responding to Mr. Obama’s statement, especially his understanding of Christian teachings on same-sex marriage.

David Robertson [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]

Don Sweeting