Saving marriage

I will not bore everyone with my overview of the evening, except to say that it was well worthwhile. Cambell should also be given credit for a bold action in this contentious debate. We need more ministers who are willing to step out of their ivory towers of theology and fight the battle of discipling the nations. This issue will not go away, no matter the outcome of the debate. Those outside of the promises of God will seek to redefine words until the end of time. We must understand the importance of this battle. One of God's attributes is language, He is the Alpha and Omega, thus it is important. As Christianity takes hold of a nation it transforms it into a word enriched culture through poetry, books, general literature and increasing vocabulary. Idolatrous religions have the opposite effect. As Christians we must seek to be more and more precise in our language. Thus words and their meanings are important. Changing the meaning of words, like marriage, can be to the detriment of society.

Marriage and sovereignty

The whole marriage argument is one of sovereignty and vocabulary. Marriage is a defined word. It has been defined by the God of Scripture and our Australian law recognises this definition. What we must understand here is that an attack on the legal definition of marriage is an attack on the God behind our legal framework. All countries operate as theocracies. All laws are religious in nature. Laws are codified expressions of the underlying "god" of a society. Australia's law/constitution were formed out of British common law, which dates back to Alfred the Great. Alfred defeated the invading Barbarians by mobilising downtrodden Englishmen and encouraging them with the Word of God. Once victory was won he codified English Law by using sections of the Scripture. In other words, Australian law rests not upon Natural Law but Biblical Law. After the death, resurrection, ascension and enthronement of Christ all nations are under His authority. He is the King of kings, ruler of the kings of the earth and has all authority in heaven and on earth. This means that Australia is a theocracy under Christ. Those who do not recognise this are crazy. As Christians we are not after a theocracy, we live in one and are to take the Gospel to the people of Australia. And the Gospel is that the resurrected and ascended Jesus is the new king. He rules all of the earth from heaven and demands our obedience. Thus redefining marriage would bring a shift away from recognising king Jesus to rebellion against Him. If Australia's law re-defines marriage we will be recognising an idolatrous religion as the truth. Our vocabulary is to reflect the objective truth found in Scripture, which is marriage=man+woman for life. After the conference I placed such stating sticker on my car. The very first day it was ripped off and "bigot" written in the dust of my boot. To me this underscores the oppositions attitude and argument - they are illogical (marriage is either marriage or it is not, it cannot both be and not be as defined) and hypocritical (calling one a bigot while in the process of ripping sticker from car sounds awfully like being a bigot)!

Together with Jim Wallace, Andrew Corbett, Guy Barnett and Cambell Markham I urge all Australian Christians to engage in this debate. Write to your newspaper, contact your local member and encourage your church to actively uphold marriage as between a man and woman for life. Please take action by going to the Make a Stand (ACL) a participating in their petition.

Cambell's letter to the Mercury (22/03/2011):

Australian Marriage Equality released a paper yesterday saying that "Australia's prohibition on same-sex marriages is bad for the economy and could reap $750 million for the nation."

Marriage is not a commodity to be sold for the pittance of $750 million, and thoughtless assertions like this show that the arguments against homosexual marriage have simply not been answered.

If we redefine marriage to include consenting adults "who love each other", no matter what their sex, then on what conceivable grounds will we withhold marriage from any three or more consenting adults who love each other? In a nation with significant minorities who accept polygamy, this is no empty question.

Homosexual marriage will also cause many more adults to procure children through gamete donors. This cannot be condoned in light of the February 2011 Senate report on 'Donor-conception practices in Australia'. There donor-conceived children describe their pain, and loss of identity, caused by their removal from their natural fathers and mothers and extended family.

Far from being 'homophobic' or 'hateful', those who are opposed to homosexual marriage have genuine concerns about the breakdown of the natural family, and the basic human right of every child to not be unnecessarily deprived of their natural parents.

The Presbyterian Church of Tasmania is hosting 'A public address on same-sex marriage', 7.30pm, Wednesday 30 March at the Stanley Burbury theatre UTAS, with speakers Jim Wallace from the Australian Christian Lobby, Dr Andrew Corbett from the Tasmanian Family Institute, and Senator Guy Barnett.

We urge all Tasmanians who are concerned about this issue to attend.

Campbell Markham
Minister, Presbyterian Church of Tasmania
11 Sherbourne Avenue
West Hobart, 7000
Phone 0404 456 962

Videos from the Saving Marriage conference:

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