In your cherry-picking scan of the Bible, Chris, you forgot Leviticus 20:13 --

New International Version
"'If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

That seems pretty clear to me, and I can understand why anyone who believes this nonsense would regard legalising gay marriage as a disaster and an abomination in the sight of their God. What I can't understand is how someone who respects human life can go on believing in, and working for, an institution founded on a book that contains material like this. How do you sleep at nights?

That is the dumbest article on this issue I've read in a while, what are we now to be subjected to smug, lefty style snarkiness from so called Christians on top of all the other BS? Put it to a referendum in a country with universal suffrage and compulsory voting and we'll see who looks like an "alien", go on, we dare you.
First up the parliament are not our leaders they our elected representatives, it's not up to them to shape society, just run it efficiently and they have no mandate to change the law since only two minor and politically irrelevant parties supported same sex marriage in their platform at the 2013 election. If 18 out of 150 federal MP's support changing the marriage act that's 12%, if that's a reflection of the "will of the people" directing their elected representatives or even of a display of misguided personal conscience then with those figures we should not even be having this discussion.
The Australian people have spoken on same sex marriage, if it was acceptable to the majority the Greens and the Sex Party would already be in coalition governing the country.
Gay marriage is a non issue and the debate around it grows more idiotic by the day as we saw with Barnaby Joyce's comments yesterday and Chris Ashton's article today, it's time to move on and forget about it.

Although I disagree with the thrust of J.O.M's post, I agree with him that the people should decide.

We should have a plebiscite!

This will remove the necessity of reluctant elected representatives needing to reflect or defy the will of the people, as the case may be?

Rather than stick stubbornly to their outdated views or rely on a book of unproven fables, coming to us from the "stone age"!

And in essence, get them off the hook so to speak?
Rhrosty.

'God's people may be on the wrong side of history, but they are on the right side of eternity.'

thanks for that Chris. Believers need to be reminded of that. Thank God for those who still call sin sin in order for people to be saved. Personally I have lived a blessed life but realise that my grandchildren will have to live with deviants and god haters ruling over them.

State same sex marriage is inevitable. The christian community could begin preparations forthwith for a more self sufficient lifestyle with less reliance on the wider tax base. If we are to follow Genesis 2:24 as a our familial arrangement into the future, Churches will need to become the centre of our work, social and leisure lives once again rather than a just a nice looking place we go to between brunch and the football.

Dear Runner,

<<Personally I have lived a blessed life but realise that my grandchildren will have to live with deviants and god haters ruling over them.>>

I'm sad to hear that this is how you feel.

It doesn't have to be this way. There is one, but only one way to prevent your grandchildren from being ruled by deviants and God haters - that is to have and promote freedom for everyone, righteous and sinners alike, so that no man or woman is ever again ruled by another.

And there is one more little thing you can do to help:

Tell your grandchildren that when they marry they should do so in church in front of God, but refuse to be registered as "married" by the state.

The christian bible like the koran is only human opinions and ideas. Makes no difference to me about same sex marriage. Bring it on.