Lewis said a lot of things I agree with whole heartedly, such as the importance of the promise made in marriage, and the explosion of being "in love" being replaced by the kind of love that is more like an engine keeping everything running ( I don't know much about engines, but I do know that the "in love" feelings return when they aren't desperately grasped at like the most important thing in the world, which is not something Lewis mentions, but then since he wasn't married when he wrote this, he can't be expected to get every aspect right.) But he also left me something to ponder.
....I should like to distinguish two things which are very often confused. The Christian conception of marriage is one: the other is a quite different question-how far Christians, if they are voters or Members of Parliament, ought to try to force their views of marriage on the rest of the community by embodying them in the divorce laws. A great many people seem to think that if you are a Christian yourself you should try to make divorce difficult for everyone. I do not think that. At least I know I should be very angry if the Mohammedans tried to prevent the rest of us from drinking wine. My own view is that the Churches should frankly recognise that the majority of British people are not Christians and, therefore, cannot be expected to live Christian lives. There ought to be two distinct kinds of marriage: one governed by the State with rules enforced on all citizens , the other governed by Church with rules enforced by her own members. The distinction ought to be sharp, so that a man knows which couples are married in a Christian sense and which are not.
Now, substitute the words American for British, legislators for Members of Parliament, and Gay Marriage for divorce laws, and you see my dilemma. Should Gay Marriage be allowed in America? Should a Christian (one who believes homosexual behavior is both a choice and a sin) attend such a ceremony / celebration? Isn't a boycott unloving? Aren't we supposed to love the sinner? Can we say "best wishes" and give a gift, hoping for their happiness even if we ultimately don't believe they'll be happy with their choice?
I'm thinking Clive would say if they aren't Christian, to go and try to wish them well. I don't know what I think, except in my heart, I truly want to show love, and wish people well, even when the picture I see ahead isn't rosy.
Thoughts? Feel free to disagree with me. I'm between many people in my corporal life who feel differently from me and each other on this issue.
Please join the discussion over at Connecting to Impact, where the discussion in the various links will be marriage in general, and not necessarily the paragraph I chose to ponder.
