Why I oppose Same Sex Marriage (it's not religion)
Depending on whom I discuss this with, I'm generally accused of two different reasons for my opposition to SSM: my religion or my homophobia. Both are wrong.
I'm a Southern Baptist, which is widely regarded by the Left as one of the most backward and fundamentalist of Christian denominations. People who believe that merely reveal their ignorance of the fundamental principles of Southern Baptists. In their defense, there are many Southern Baptists who have a different understanding of the principles behind our denomination, and can't figure out why I'm a Southern Baptist, beyond the fact that my father was a Southern Baptist pastor for over 50 years.
One of the fundamental principles of the Southern Baptist denomination is the priesthood of the individual: we require no intermediaries between ourselves and God. While there are overarching principles of Christianity, beyond those, my relationship with God is established and understood directly between me and Him. It's not up to some priest or pastor or even Karl Rove to determine my beliefs: that's between me and God.
But consider this: I'm also an evolutionist: I believe that God ordained that Earth and the universe evolved from a primordial goo through single-cell organisms and fish, then on to amphibious creatures and dinosaurs, primates ultimately surviving the trials and tribulations of our maturing planet, until ultimately homo sapiens emerges. And I interpret the Bible to support my theory. Needless to say, I'm not a member of the so-called "biblical inerrancy" crowd (they don't believe in biblical inerrancy; they believe that the interpretation provided by the authors and translators of the Bible are literally what God intended to provide us. They believe that God doesn't want us to think about what the words mean; He's already done that for us. Obviously, I disagree).
