Love is a many splendored thing: It is blind, nay “blindness”; it is a song, nay a sonnet; it is patient, kind; it is never shaken by the tempest; it is the greatest thing. And, one might think, logically, “Love is love.” This was the slogan of the most successful rhetorical campaign of our generation, ushering in widespread acceptance of same sex relationships and same sex marriage licenses. But it isn’t so. Since we can assume it’s not meant to be an empty platitude or a meaningless tautology, what is it supposed to mean? Nobody objects to love in principle, nor to loving anyone and everyone; “the freedom to love who you love” is a given. Jesus enjoins us as his greatest commandments to love God and to love our neighbor, indeed, even to love our enemy. No, “love is love” is not about that kind of love. It is, upon examination in context, a euphemism, coyly substituting the term “love” for “sex”. The underlying claim is, I posit: “sex is sex”. More specifically, it is a claim that, insofar as marriage is concerned, same sex behavior is equivalent to sex, to coitus, between a man and a woman. But, if this is the claim, the claim is false. Often, sexual acts are not love, and, not all sexual acts are essentially the same.

The phrase is meant to highlight that same-sex relationships should be treated with the same respect, honor, and dignity as heterosexual ones.

Rebecca Bauer

Sex between a man and woman is potent. Every consummation is pregnant with the possibility that a miracle of new precious and vulnerable life will occur. Human organisms are comprised of many marvelous physical systems, from the respiratory system to the digestive system. All of these life sustaining systems are possessed in totality by each individual, with one exception: the reproductive system. It comes in two parts. Nobody can initiate a new precious human person on his or her own. When a man and woman unite, literally two halves of a single system become one. If conception occurs, a new life begins that kicks off an incredible array of complex and ingenious changes in the body of the mother and her child. By contrast, same sex acts, and acts in isolation, are impotent, sterile. Though there is fleeting physical pleasure in each case, these acts are fundamentally different.

Because sex between a man and a woman is so uniquely life-giving, creating children who will need a stable home and the provision and protection of their mother and father, societies across time and place have uniquely sanctioned and supported the marriage of a man and a woman. They understood that not all sexual behavior is of the same character. They understood that only coitus is intrinsically a marriage of two complementary parts and systems that together make a single whole. Sex between a man and a woman is uniquely the province of making a family. Because this fundamental aspect of reality is the grounds for marriage, the attempt to redefine marriage as merely a contract between willing individuals requires doublespeak, obfuscation.

It had always been the case that anyone of age could marry, and many with same sex attractions did in fact marry, sublimating some of their desires. Understandably, many yearned for their non-marital sexual relationships to have the same institutional sanction and societal approval as married lovemaking. Already, the stigma of pre-marital and extra-marital sex had waned in the wake of the sexual revolution. As a result, the United States boasts the tragic distinction of having the highest rate of single parent homes in the world. “Marriage Equality”,

What is Love?

True love is singing karaoke Under Pressure and letting the other person sing the Freddie
Mercury part.”

Mindy Kalig

In contrast to the empty notion of love offered up by the “marriage equality” campaign,

Love wins, we’re assured. But what is love?

Biblically, there has always been a clear understanding. Love is putting another above oneself. You first, instead of me first. And as Jesus Christ pointed out, love is most distilled when one gives their life for another. Not only that, but the Apostle Paul helpfully describes what putting others before oneself looks in the everyday.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

#lastofus You will love me like I want to be loved. or Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Love is love, but sex is not sex

Beyond the vacuous truism — that x is x, blue is blue, and — is a true idea that love is love no matter whether it’s directed toward a man or a woman, a child, a sister or spouse, a Samaritan or a Jew. But of course, nobody objects to loving whomever you will. The issue is sex. And sex is not sex. We are not indifferent to spouse or sibling, adult or child when it comes to sex. And whether sex —or whatever you want to call it — is with someone of the same sex, that makes all the difference in the world. No as yet conceived child’s future hangs in the balance in such an event. Conflating these two issues is of course the purpos;evof the slogan.

Love is a many splendored thing: It is blind, nay “blindness”; it is a song, nay a sonnet; it is patient, kind; it is never shaken by the tempest; it is the greatest thing. And, one might think, logically, “Love is love.” This was the slogan of the most successful rhetorical campaign of our generation, ushering in widespread acceptance of same sex relationships and same sex marriage licenses. But it isn’t so. Since we can assume it’s not meant to be an empty platitude or a meaningless tautology, what is it supposed to mean? Nobody objects to love in principle, nor to loving anyone and everyone; “the freedom to love who you love” is a given. Jesus enjoins us as his greatest commandments to love God and to love our neighbor, indeed, even to love our enemy. No, “love is love” is not about that kind of love. It is, upon examination in context, a euphemism, coyly substituting the term “love” for “sex”. The underlying claim is, I posit: “sex is sex”. More specifically, it is a claim that, insofar as marriage is concerned, same sex behavior is equivalent to sex, to coitus, between a man and a woman. But, if this is the claim, the claim is false. Often, sexual acts are not love, and, not all sexual acts are essentially the same.

Sex between a man and woman is potent. Every consummation is pregnant with the possibility that a miracle of new precious and vulnerable life will occur. Human organisms are comprised of many marvelous physical systems, from the respiratory system to the digestive system. All of these life sustaining systems are possessed in totality by each individual, with one exception: the reproductive system. It comes in two parts. Nobody can initiate a new precious human person on his or her own. When a man and woman unite, literally two halves of a single system become one. If conception occurs, a new life begins that kicks off an incredible array of complex and ingenious changes in the body of the mother and her child. By contrast, same sex acts, and acts in isolation, are impotent, sterile. Though there is fleeting physical pleasure in each case, these acts are fundamentally different.

Because sex between a man and a woman is so uniquely life-giving, creating children who will need a stable home and the provision and protection of their mother and father, societies across time and place have uniquely sanctioned and supported the marriage of a man and a woman. They understood that not all sexual behavior is of the same character. They understood that only coitus is intrinsically a marriage of two complementary parts and systems that together make a single whole. Sex between a man and a woman is uniquely the province of making a family. Because this fundamental aspect of reality is the grounds for marriage, the attempt to redefine marriage as merely a contract between willing individuals requires doublespeak, obfuscation.

It had always been the case that anyone could marry, and many with same sex attractions did in fact marry, sublimating some of their desires. Understandably, many yearned for their non-marital sexual relationships to have the same institutional sanction and societal approval as married lovemaking. Already, the stigma of pre-marital and extra-marital sex had waned in the wake of the sexual revolution. As a result, the United States boasts the tragic distinction of having the highest rate “Marriage Equality”,

What is Love?

True love is singing karaoke Under Pressure and letting the other person sing the Freddie
Mercury part.”

Mindy Kalig

In contrast to the empty notion of love offered up by the “marriage equality” campaign,

Love wins, we’re assured. But what is love?

Biblically, there has always been a clear understanding. Love is putting another above oneself. You first, instead of me first. And as Jesus Christ pointed out, love is most distilled when one gives their life for another. Not only that, but the Apostle Paul helpfully describes what putting others before oneself looks in the everyday.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

#lastofus You will love me like I want to be loved. or Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Love is love, but sex is not sex

Beyond the vacuous truism — that x is x, blue is blue, and — is a true idea that love is love no matter whether it’s directed toward a man or a woman, a child, a sister or spouse, a Samaritan or a Jew. But of course, nobody objects to loving whomever you will. The issue is sex. And sex is not sex. We are not indifferent to spouse or sibling, adult or child when it comes to sex. And whether sex —or whatever you want to call it — is with someone of the same sex, that makes all the difference in the world. No as yet conceived child’s future hangs in the balance in such an event. Conflating these two issues is of course the purpos;evof the slogan.

Love is a many splendored thing: It’s blind, nay “blindness”; it’s a song, nay a sonnet; it is patient and kind; it’s never shaken by the tempest; it is the greatest thing. And, one might think, “Love is love.” This was the slogan of the most successful rhetorical campaign of our generation, ushering in widespread acceptance of same sex relationships and same sex marriage licenses. But it isn’t so. Since we can assume it’s not meant to be an empty platitude or a meaningless tautology, what is it supposed to mean? Nobody objects to love in principle, nor to loving anyone and everyone; “the freedom to love who you love” is a given. Jesus enjoins us as his greatest commandments to love God and to love our neighbor, indeed, even to love our enemy. No, “love is love” is not about that kind of love. It is, upon examination in context, a euphemism, coyly substituting the term “love” for “sex”. The underlying claim is, I posit: “sex is sex”. More specifically, it is a claim that, insofar as marriage is concerned, same sex behavior is equivalent to sex, to coitus, between a man and a woman. But, if this is the claim, the claim is false. Often, sexual acts are not love, and, not all sexual acts are essentially the same.

Sex between a man and woman is potent. Every consummation is pregnant with the possibility that a miracle of new precious and vulnerable life will occur. Human organisms are comprised of many marvelous physical systems, from the respiratory system to the digestive system. All of these life sustaining systems are possessed in totality by each individual, with one exception: the reproductive system. It comes in two parts. Nobody can initiate a new precious human person on his or her own. When a man and woman unite, literally two halves of a single system become one. If conception occurs, a new life begins that kicks off an incredible array of complex and ingenious changes in the body of the mother and her child. By contrast, same sex acts, and acts in isolation, are impotent, sterile. Though there is fleeting physical pleasure in each case, these acts are fundamentally different.

Because sex between a man and a woman is so uniquely life-giving, creating children who will need a stable home and the provision and protection of their mother and father, societies across time and place have uniquely sanctioned and supported the marriage of a man and a woman. They understood that not all sexual behavior is of the same character. They understood that only coitus is intrinsically a marriage — or proto-marriage —of two complementary parts and systems that together make a single whole. Sex between a man and a woman is uniquely the province of making a family. Because this fundamental aspect of reality is the grounds for marriage, the attempt to redefine marriage as merely a contract between willing individuals requires doublespeak, obfuscation.

It had always been the case that anyone could marry, and many with same sex attractions did in fact marry, sublimating some of their desires. Understandably, many yearned for their non-marital sexual relationships to have the same institutional sanction and societal approval as married lovemaking. Already, the stigma of pre-marital and extra-marital sex had waned in the wake of the sexual revolution. As a result, the United States boasts the tragic distinction of having the highest rate “Marriage Equality”,

What is Love?

True love is singing karaoke Under Pressure and letting the other person sing the Freddie
Mercury part.”

Mindy Kalig

In contrast to the empty notion of love offered up by the “marriage equality” campaign,

Love wins, we’re assured. But what is love?

Biblically, there has always been a clear understanding. Love is putting another above oneself. You first, instead of me first. And as Jesus Christ pointed out, love is most distilled when one gives their life for another. Not only that, but the Apostle Paul helpfully describes what putting others before oneself looks in the everyday.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

#lastofus You will love me like I want to be loved. or Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Love is love, but sex is not sex

Beyond the vacuous truism — that x is x, blue is blue, and — is a true idea that love is love no matter whether it’s directed toward a man or a woman, a child, a sister or spouse, a Samaritan or a Jew. But of course, nobody objects to loving whomever you will. The issue is sex. And sex is not sex. We are not indifferent to spouse or sibling, adult or child when it comes to sex. And whether sex —or whatever you want to call it — is with someone of the same sex, that makes all the difference in the world. No as yet conceived child’s future hangs in the balance in such an event. Conflating these two issues is of course the purpos;evof the slogan.

Readings from the universalistic perspective. An interview with Michael McClymond. Thomas Talbot chapter.