Sen. John McCain endorsed on Thursday a ballot initiative in California that would overturn the recent state court ruling legalizing same-sex "marriage."
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(Photo: AP Images / LM Otero)Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., greets supporters after giving a campaign speech at the University of Nevada, Wednesday, June 25, 2008, in Las Vegas.
"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions," the Republican presidential candidate said in a statement, according to ProtectMarriage.com.
McCain's support for traditional marriage was welcomed by conservatives and pro-family groups especially at a time when many of them remain unsure of the Arizona senator and his stance on social issues.
But McCain is slowly winning the hearts of evangelicals and conservative leaders as polls show him head-to-head with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
On Thursday, McCain met privately with several conservative leaders in Ohio to talk about social issues, including embryonic stem-cell research, judges and gay "marriage." Although McCain wasn't their first choice for the Republican nomination, some are rallying behind him against Obama.
Participants of the private meeting said the Arizona senator indicated he would take seriously their requests that he choose an anti-abortion running mate and would talk more openly about his stance supporting traditional marriage, according to The Los Angeles Times.
After that meeting, a lot of hearts were changed, Phil Burress, who led Ohio's anti-gay-marriage ballot measure in 2004, the Times reported. "We realized that he's with us on the majority of the issues we care about."
Although McCain has opposed a federal constitutional amendment preserving traditional marriage, saying he believes states should decide the issue, McCain's announcement supporting the California Protection of Marriage initiative would indicate to many evangelicals that he's on their side when it comes to the core social issues.
"As a leader in the United States Senate and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Senator McCain's position will be an important factor to millions of Californians," ProtectMarriage.com chairman Ron Prentice commented. "We are honored to have the support of Senator McCain."
Although Prentice also invited Obama to endorse the ballot initiative, his wife, Michelle, delivered a speech Thursday indicating that he would most likely not hop on the traditional marriage bandwagon.
Obama will fight for equal rights for gays just as he fought to help working-class families overcome poverty, she said at a Manhattan fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, according to The Associated Press.
McCain is continuing his more aggressive push to reach out to his party base as he is scheduled to meet with the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, on Sunday. He said he also hopes to meet with influential evangelical Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family.
Comments
The Bible says "love does not seek its own". This means love isn't about your pleasure but about the pleasure of the other.
I doubt any of the children are seeking sex. They want love, acceptance and money. My guess would be if they got what they wanted without sex they wouldn't 'want' it with you.
Reality check please!
feet, it is amazing you keep coming here to justify your sin. And to top it off, you say that pedophilia is ok, because it is love. That is sick.
Jesus spoke out against sexual immorality.
Matthew 15:18-20
18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man unclean; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean.
Mark 7:20-23
20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean.
Now, sexual immorality would refer to what God had defined as wrong already by the time of when Christ said this; this would come from the Old Testament. As Christians today, we use both the Old and New Testaments to see Who God is, what God has done, how God feels about issues in life, and what He expects of and for us.
The word translated as sexual immorality is Porneia. This word means
1. illicit sexual intercourse
A. adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
B. sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
C. sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11
Romans 1 says even the desire of a man for a man or a woman for a woman is sin. The act of sex between two people of the same gender is also sin.
The term translated in Romans 1 as 'lust' is epiqumia in Greek. It means desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust.
It is even the mere desire for same gender sex that is wrong in God's eyes.
It does not matter how you feel about it. It does not matter how you justify it. God said if you do not change and turn to God, then you are not saved. If you claim you have repented and turned to God, then you need to live like it.
scits-
I love your heart.
I too grew up in a family that had no religious affiliation - unless you think drinking and partying was a religion. LOL - lots of that even to this day.
I was invited to a wonderful church many years ago as a kid and was told to read through the book of John - in the Bible. I not only read John, but I kept reading and I haven't stopped reading for the several decades!! Before I became a Christian and before the Bible reading, I was having nightmares that were leaving me traumatized and frightened; after committing my heart to Christ - no more nightmares. The Lord speaks to everyone differently. I pray you receive Him as your Lord and Saviour.
Scitz,
I actually came from a very similiar situation as you have. I grew up in a solid family, irreligious, middle class, and with all the opportunities afforded to me.
I used to think that homosexuality was a good alternative lifestyle (my uncle is gay). I don't blame you one bit for your views, because I had very similiar views as well.
I will also state that I think it's unbiblical for a Christian to judge homosexuals outside the Church.
Christ moved on my heart in my first year of university and I hope he will do the same for you.
rolln4him, Call me a Humanist if you like, I'm not much for labels, but if thats how you want to classify me, I guess thats OK. I derive my values on having grown up in a stable family and was taught to treat others as I would want them to treat me. There was no religion in my home when I was growing up.
As far as homosexuality is concerned, I say live and let live. I have a number of gay friends, very decent people I might add that I would trust with my life, and I have talked to them in depth about their sexual orientation, they all tell me about the same thing. They knew at a very young age that they were different than the other kids- they were not attracted to the opposite sex. They didn't like the feelings they were having because they were told it was wrong and that something is wrong with a person attracted to the same sex. After years of struggle, they finally accepted they are attracted to the same sex. It's not something they decided, its what they are, its how nature made them Same for me, its how I was made- a heterosexual. I knew at avery young age I was attracted to the opposite sex, not something I decided, its how I am programmed by nature.
(sickoids being people like feetxxl).
Oh man. Un-Believable. This is the problem. They throw out God's Word (except a couple of fragments to confuse real Christians), and march around inflamed with all kinds of perverse lust.
Gay-sex, lesbian-sex, animal-sex, child-sex, monkey-sex, giraff-sex, pre-maritual fornication, any kind of irreligious, perverse fornication you can think of is approved by these sick-oids.
feetxxx-
At least you're constant in your depravity unlike most in the gay agenda crowd.
You simply affirm what the gay agenda is itching to get to and that is to break down any barrier that would keep them from doing unimaginable. Gay sex, child sex, group sex, sex with animals, sex with things and the list goes on. Really all it is - is ultimate rebellion against the Lord, Almighty.
May God help you. Please, Lord
So you are saying that pedophilia is not sin and against God's Word?
the answer is the same.
feetxxx -
I'll post my question for you again, since you must have been napping or something and answered my question in delirium -
So, using your logic, if a 12 yr old boy and a 39 yr old man "love" each other and want to engage in a sexual relationship, then this would NOT be a sin?
since heterosexuals and homosexuals bond in the same spirit, whatever is a sin heterosexual bonding is a sin in homosexual bonding, and vice versa about what is not a sin.
scits -
When I say "making up your own world" implies that since you don't adhere to the Christian worldview of subjects like homosexuality, then you must derive you're values elsewhere; thus making up your own world - in essence you are also considered a Humanist as well since Truth can not be found, right?
scits -
Me too. I didn't know you weren't a Christian, because you came across as being one.
However, you face a unique situation. I'm almost certain that at one time you believed that homosexuality was a sin . If this is an "affirmative" than what made you change? If it's negative what basis did you use to see that it was OK?
rollin "therefore he's one his own to make up his own world."
not making anything up there rollin, perhaps you should read up on what an agnostic actually is.