I numbered some quick responses below for easy reference. Feel free to copy and paste without attribution. Here is a short link to this post — http://wp.me/p1wGU-48E .
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This topic will be in the news for a while, so it is a great time to prepare yourself for the endless sound bites you’ll be hearing. There are so many bad arguments used to advance the LGBTQX agenda. Get educated and politely expose people to the truth. This is a great opportunity to educate people on the facts and logic, and hopefully a biblical worldview.
Remember that you don’t have to convert people to your point of view on marriage before sharing the Gospel or pointing them to the Bible! Just having a few replies — literally just a minute or so — is often all it takes. You can just say, “Yes, the Bible does say it is a sin but even if it didn’t we are still separated from God by our many other sins . . .” and then point them to God’s word.
A secular case against “same-sex marriage” — Obama is trying to force his (false) religious views on us, but we can argue against SSM with or without the Bible. But since he brought the religious aspect up, feel free to talk about what the Bible really says.
You will often find skeptics and theological Liberals trying to dismiss your views because they are driven by or merely align with your religious views. They invoke the oft-misunderstood “separation of church and state” notion (for the 237th time, that phrase is not in the Constitution). But the 1st Amendment protects religious speech, it doesn’t restrict it.
Aside from that, here are some quick and easy replies when people try to dismiss your pro-life, pro-real marriage, etc. views. You are simply pointing out that the issue isn’t religious views, it is them being unwilling to argue the issues on their merits. They are trying to dismiss your views without having to respond to them.
1. “Do I have to vote opposite of my religious views or be silent about them? Christianity teaches me not to kill atheists and steal their stuff. So am I “forcing my religious beliefs on you” if I support laws against theft and murder?”
This argument shows how they are just dismissing your views because they disagree with them. They have no issue with your religious views in principle, just the ones they disagree with – which means religion isn’t the issue.
2. “Do you protest the religious speech of theological Liberals? I can point you to countless false teachers and religious types who insist that God is pro-abortion, pro-gay theology, pro-open borders, pro-wealth redistribution, etc. Can you show me where you are just as active in dismissing their religious views as you are mine?”
This points out their hypocrisy in claiming to oppose religious views when they really just oppose religious views they disagree with. Again, it shows that religion isn’t the issue. I’ve yet to find one person crying “separation” against theological Liberals.
3. “My arguments (for pro-life, pro-real marriage, etc. positions) didn’t even mention religion. But if you want to bring Jesus into this I’ll be glad to.”
I can and do argue for many of these issues without using “religion.” I save the biblical arguments for those claiming to be Christian, or I am at least very careful in keeping the arguments separate. For example, to advance the pro-life view I just need the irrefutable scientific fact that the unborn are unique, living human beings from conception and some simple philosophy (we shouldn’t destroy innocent human beings for 99% of the reasons given for abortion).
When opponents will reflexively use the anti-religion card I have fun pointing out that I haven’t used religious arguments. But hey, if they want to talk religion that would be great! This argument shows them that they are mired in stereotype-land and are just trying to dismiss opposing views without doing the hard work of responding based on facts and logic.
Eternity Matters 