What about Mark 10:6-8?

[danda]

Hi, I have read quite alot about other scriptures that are supposedly against gays but no one that I have found yet has tackled this one in Mark.
I am a straight woman who has a very good friend who is a lesbian. We both grew up in ultra conservative Christian homes that condemned homosexuality. When my friend finally admitted that she was gay she thought that she was going to go to hell and didn't like that idea. So
we started to do research about what the Bible says about homosexuality and were very happy and relieved on what we have read.
That is, until I read the above Scripture found in both Matthew and Mark. I don't know what to think about it and it has bothered me quite alot.
Does anyone have any ideas on this or perhaps something I can read online that will help us out?
By the way I am writing this for my friend and myself because she is very busy with her 6 children.
Thanks in advance.
Diana

[revmcd]

Context matters here. The passage is about the marital covenant (10:9). Specifically, it's a refutation of the premise that men should be able to abandon their wives whenever they want in a culture that made little to no provision for divorced women (Mark 10:2)

It's also important to note that this passage does NOT include Mark 10:6b "but God did not make homosexuals, and those who find themselves attracted to people of the same gender shall live their lives in the condition described in Genesis 2:18, for God hath forgotten what God hath said."

Ultimately, assuming that Mark 10:6-8 is somehow anti-gay fails on three accounts

1)It is an argument from silence. "God did not say that it was ok to be gay [we'll conveniently ignore how the church has frequently used a declaration of fidelity between women (Ruth 1:16-17) for marital vows] , therefore it must be WRONG!"

2)It misses the point and context of Mark 10:1-9.

3)It weakens the institution of marriage, reducing it from a covenant grounded in upholding the image of God in the other to a matter of genital differentiation on the level of the five year old's observation "boys have a / girls have a...."

[danda]

Thanks for your reply, it is much appreciated. I have thought and prayed about this and I agree with what you were saying that just because same sex marriage isn't mentioned doesn't mean that it is condemned. Just like living a single life isn't condemned even though is not mentioned. Is that what you were saying?

[revmcd]

Yes.

I also suggested that the measure of a biblical sexual relationship is covenant rooted in the image of God. There can be Godly straight marriages and Godly gay relationships, and there can be ungodly straight relationships and ungodly gay relationships. Relationships aren't defined by anatomy, they are defined by how one treats one's lover before God.

Rev. Darren

[danda]

Thanks, that makes alot of sense.