Paul,
I suggest you read the New Testament which contains the actual words that Jesus taught, rather than the twisted Hollywood version you present. Some of his disciples were former Essene zealots who believed sex even with a woman was an unclean practice. It is easy to use sarcasm and emotive criticism of facts to gain the support of simple minds.

Palin also is a simpleton as Jesus taught, "he that lives by the sword will die by the sword". He never used weapons to defend himself and when the zealot Peter cut off the Roman soldiers ear he immediately put it back in place. He taught do good to one who would be your enemy.

On the fact of the subject of legalized pedophilia is accepted by more people in our world than the push for homosexual marriage. I have friends in Cambodia working with "Destiny Rescue" who are taking young girls out of sex slavery and teaching them skills to find employment rather than have parents sell their bodies to older men. In some Islamic and other cultures they see no problem is having child wives or as sex slaves. It is just that cultures influenced by Christian values have made persons of 18 years without legal consent the age of marriage.

I think the main reason for the challenge to the ACT laws comes from the separation of powers between commonwealth and state. Marriage has been given (in the constitution) to the commonwealth and as such, the states may not have the authority to create another legally recognized relationship. This is why the court needs to be involved. I'm not a federalist but I am keen for the high court to make a decision based on the constitution I have agreed to live in.

As far as whether gay marriage is right or wrong is an interesting question. Obviously it is impossible to separate this discussion from religion, as shown by the past comments.

My thoughts are that everyone believes in something. It may be Jesus, or it may be Themself, or it may even be their political party. But all people on earth will act according to their beliefs.

I am curious to know the belief system that supports gay marriage. The opposite side is well documented, so what do the pro believe?

I dont mean the comments "i believe everyone has free choice". Everyone has that, I want to know what you believe people should do with that choice. Saying "I believe everyone has free choice" is like saying "I believe the sun provides light", it is a fact of life and as such, belief is no longer needed and any contrary belief is simply denial.

jesus..must have..made mention..of this..greatest/test..
moral,..issue/of our..end times..and..then..there it is

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=acim+homo+sex
but..is it pearl..before swine?
[the acim..says..there is no swine
not anyone..is un-worthy..of our fathers..highest honors

[kiss principle..there are..two opposites..[opposing..motivating/forces/powers]
love..[em-powering]..and its opposite..[opposing]..FEAR*[dis-em-powering]

hear?

http://www.circleofa.org/library/acim-history-issues/copyright/earlier-versions/

The Earlier Versions
and the Editing..of A Course in Miracles

by Robert Perry

Life for students of..A Course..in Miracles used to be..simpler than it is today...We had one version..of our revered book,..and we knew that this version..was almost exactly..as its scribe, Helen Schucman, heard it,..straight from Jesus.

[continues later
reposted..in full here]
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=6040&page=0

Under "life issues," I am classing material on sex, homosexuality, selection of partners, the role of the teacher, and parents and children (one of the original miracle principles began with, "Miracles are a blessing from parents to children"23).

Some of this material spoke to personal situations, but much of it discusses these issues in the abstract. So why was it taken out?

She herself gave this impression in the Course's preface:

edited

Then everything changed...In January of 2000,
an earlier version..of the Course,..called the Hugh Lynn Cayce Version,..was disseminated on the Internet...Later in that same year, an even earlier version,..called the Urtext,..also became available on the Internet. Both versions showed/that the Course..as we knew it had gone..through a far more extensive editing/process..than anyone had suspected.

While before we felt the comfort of knowing that our scripture, unlike so many others,..was free of human influence.. we now began to wonder how much of the Course was altered..by human editors.

ALl..HOLY TEXTS..*GLOBALLY
[this is..satans FEAR/realm]

We also wondered..which was the "true" version.
Indeed, the Hugh Lynn Cayce Version..was quickly published/under the rather in-your-face title..Jesus' Course in Miracles..(and just as quickly became unavailable..due to a court injunction).

A huge amount of material has been removed..from the notes that Helen originally took down...We know at least 6,000 words never made it out of her notebooks,..and there may have been many more. And there are an additional 35,000 words that never made it from the Urtext into the standard Course.

What was removed?
need a clue?

"Good post, Poirot, Sarah Palin and our Suseonline seem to have much in common, historically speaking."

Are you certain, Is Mise? Surely it is you and Sarah Palin...
---
Not when it comes to making glaringly obvious mistakes about the age of the biblical writings..
---
"Just so that you don't make the same mistake again, the Bible was finished well before the birth of Christ, some 2,000 years ago,"

I refer of course to the Bible as the writings of the Jews not the Christian additions of the New Testament, which were written after Christ's death.

Is Mise, the bible was written by mere humans, regardless of when.
Any or all of it could be mistakes or fiction.

Most of us have grown up and moved on from the fairy tales of our childhood.
I want nothing to do with the Catholic stories fed to me by the very people who kept secrets about paedophile priests and Brothers.

Just a quick word of advice, Is Mise.

>>I refer of course to the Bible as the writings of the Jews not the Christian additions of the New Testament, which were written after Christ's death.<<

I wouldn't rely too heavily on that document for guidance, if I were you...

>>...the same book says that murder is wrong, along with lying, adultery and theft. So those are of no importance along with the honouring of one's father and mother.<<

If you would like a list of all the other stuff that the Old Testament provides as advice on what is wrong and right, I'm sure that there are a few here who would be delighted to put one together for you.

Or are you being selective as to which parts we should accept, and which we should reject as being relevant to our modern civilization?

Just askin'