Position Paper on Marriage and Family

We live in a society which has lost many values which were once considered the bedrock of a sustainable society. Nowhere is this more pronounced than on the issue of marriage and family, especially in the current debate about the nature of marriage.

New Life Christian Fellowship affirms a Biblical stance on marriage, that is the traditional view which is currently enshrined in the Marriage Act, that marriage is a union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

This definition of marriage is at the heart of God’s purpose for people as stated right at the start of the Bible in Genesis 2:24: “For this reason, a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” It is repeated by Jesus In Matthew 19:5,6, and is used as a metaphor for Christ’s relationship with the church right through the New Testament, particularly Ephesians 5:22-32 and Revelation 19:6-9

The marriage relationship is exalted right through Scripture, while same sex relationships are condemned as being an abomination and a result of worshipping the creation rather than worshipping God.

Marriage is given as a mean of providing stable families to ensure that generations of people care for one another and that children have the best possible opportunities in life. It is basic infrastructure for a civil society, not just a piece of paper to put a legal blessing on romantic love.

For all of the obvious failures of individual marriages, it is still the best tool for allowing for children to be raised in harmonious, life-giving households.

In a few weeks Australians will be given an opportunity to cast a vote on whether they approve of marriage being changed so as to include same sex couples.

I urge all christians to vote in the plebiscite and to vote NO.

Here are my reasons for voting NO.

1. As Christians living in a democracy we have both a right and a responsibility to express our opinion on public policy. This is not “forcing my opinion” on others, but exercising a right of citizenship.

2. We do not know what the legislation will say. In fact no specific legislation has been introduced into Parliament. There have been many bills brought into Parliament over the last decade with different ways of expressing the change, but we have not been given any specific indication of what legislation might be introduced following a YES vote. This is unprecedented in Australian politics.

3. There is no doubt that the introduction of same sex marriage will infringe on people’s rights to speak out in defence of traditional views of marriage or against homosexuality in general. This has happened wherever same sex marriage has been introduced.

4. People’s rights to not offer business services to same sex weddings will be removed. Florists, photographers, cake decorators and a whole swathe of practitioners have found themselves at the mercy of “Human Rights” tribunals for daring to refuse to provide services for these events, even when they offer names of similar businesses which will provide the service. Bill Shorten has said that he would not support any exemptions for anyone.

5. Governments in countries where same sex marriage is allowed invariably back this up with gender theory indoctrination in schools from an early age. Over time this tends to be expanded to pre-schools, private schools and church-based schools. Typically parents are restrained from withdrawing their children from these “Safe Schools” type classes. This is already happening in some Canadian provinces and some states in the U.S.A.

Same Sex Marriage is not just about “Equal Love” or other empty slogans. It is part of a process of radical social engineering which aims to destroy traditional structures in our society such as family, marriage and church.