It is interesting how the situation can be twisted around from homosexuals trying to force Christians to be involved in their ungodly practices to Christians somehow forcing homosexuals to do something.
In fairness, the proposition does not make single gender marriage compulsory, and certainly not that it should be obligatory for anybody to be involved. The legal expectations for Christians, and indeed for all Australians, is that we treat all people with the dignity they are due under the law.
I have listened to reasonable people (and some unreasonable) on both sides of the question, and perhaps older people have taken a position based on the inherited tradition, and an understanding of Faith and Scripture, for the most part I think younger people have seen it as a Social Justice issue.
We live in a democracy, and a voluntary postal survey gained responses from 79.5% of the population, which is a significant participation rate. Of those who responded, 61.6% believed that the law should be changed. Voting demographics suggest that older people supported it nearly as much as younger people, and the sociologists suggest older people were supporting friends and family.
Some of the ungodly practices may have been the way some Christians and others treated gay people in the past. We live in an time of social change, perhaps faster and less helpful and more stressful than at any time in the past. Each human being whether they be gay or straight, male or female, bond or free, black or white, president or prisoner, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic, is according to our theology a bearer of the image and the likeness of God, the hallmark of the Father's making, and an object of Christ's love and mission. None of us are perfect for all have sinned and are falling short of the glory of God.
In a very real sense for us as Christian Australians, we are called to be part of this new Kingdom, and act as incarnational ambassadors of this love and mission in our society. We will no doubt need to make some adjustments, for we are bridge builders, and whilst heaven is solid and remains firm, the other side of the bridge is moving. We are called to accept the will of the people, which does not mean that we have to conduct single gender marriages in our faith communities, however we will be required to respect those relationships in a number of areas of life.
I believe we can still be quite salty in this new world, however salt is generally best used in moderation as we do not want to end up like Lot's wife.
For us, the reality is, the tribe has spoken. If we and the gospel we proclaim are to be heard inside our community, then we will need to be prepared to show some respect for that community. I have no doubt that there will be some difficulties for some Christians as we adjust to the new realities. I suspect that some of this is the challenge of being Christian in a post-Christian era.
