Furthermore, your religion doesn't own the word marriage.

Anything that is not a Sacramental Marriage is not a marriage.

So really, merely asking them to leave

"Quit before we fire you, and we'll give you a severance package, otherwise, you get nothing" -- hardly a choice there...

The church has done much worse in the past.

So, because a human institution (though divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, it's still a human institution) did bad things in it's History -- everything should be thrown out.

You're advocating throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Which is fine, but considering the Catholic Church is what created the first Schools and Hospitals -- well, you better close those right now (or not use either) because someone may have burned a witch 500 years ago.

People are doing the opposite of calling vices virtues.

Well this is just complete BS. Homosexual contact (not the attraction, but the sexual contact) is sinful. It's a vice. The virtue would be abstinence -- in other words, celibacy. Which is the same virtue for all unmarried people.

But that's not what the current culture says -- it says, well, "be who you are" and promoted the idea that a deviant behavior is mainstream and one that should be celebrated. I'm not advocating judging gays, I would not support any law that restricts what two consenting adults do in their bedroom -- but stating that the relationship is a marriage is folly, and that it's a virtue to be aspired to (gay marriage) is completely backwards.

Society has fallen far, and very fast, from the way God intended it to be.

And just like Sodom and Gomorrah, the Roman Empire, and Babylon before it, God's judgment WILL be poured out.

The barbarians are at the gates, you just don't realize it.

No, but the societal acceptance of these evils -- and the scale of the acceptance, moving on to promotion and calling vices virtues, and the downright fascist hostility to anyone who doesn't share this outlook, is downright breathtaking.

Can anyone imagine a mob getting a CEO fired because he donated $1K to a political cause they didn't like even just 5 years ago? I can't, and it's why I'm still stunned Mozilla fired Eich... for the "crime" of having religious beliefs. And it's not just CEO's -- Chase bank is asking it's employees if they are members of or allies of the "LGBT Community". No word on what happens if the employee says "I don't care what you do in your bedroom, but it's not a marriage." They'll probably get fired and liberals like the dipshits we have around here will cheer this saying something along the lines of "Good! We should not tolerate such intolerance!"

Can anyone imagine just 5 years ago the decay (and acceptance of sin) we're seeing in the American Protestant Church? The gay marriage agenda is nothing more than a play from Marx's book on how to destroy the Church -- by launching a full frontal assault on the nuclear Family.

As an aside, I'm seeing a trend start -- as Protestant denominations become more and more secular, a good number of those, shall we say, conservative members, are coming home to the Catholic Church.

The Episcopaleans, the Anglicans... these denominations are falling -- and many members who believe are becoming Catholic.

Most people, I think, sense it -- we've fallen off the final cliff. The landing is going to be brutal. As long as we're falling, though, there's still time to brace and prepare.

But when the shit hits the fan -- and it will -- there will be Hell to pay. God has a limit to how much offense He will take, and His Judgment will be unleashed.

I think we're in the really big dip at the end.

It's a little shocking how depraved the culture is getting and how fast it's getting there.

You are citing the usual legalistic

Because it's true, and been around for a very long time.

There's a whole list of things he didn't say anything about, including homosexuality and abortion and women being subservient and on and on.

On that, you are completely wrong.

In Matthew 5:17 Jesus is quoted as saying: ""Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

In other words, Jesus himself is saying that he isn't changing the moral law. Things that were immoral (homosexual activity being just one of many) is still immoral and thus sinful. On abortion? Here's another one, to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Note that Jesus is confirming the message of the prophets, meaning He is saying that yes, He knows us while we are still being formed in our mother's wombs.

It's becoming pretty clear that you have neither read, nor understood, the Bible. More recently, of course, there are great doubts about whether Paul even existed at all.

Saul of Tarsus (Paul) most certainly existed, and he was beheaded at the order of Nero.

There were three types of law in the old Jewish custom -- ceremonial, civil, and moral. Some things were intended to be guidelines -- for example, pork and shellfish. This is an example of God watching out for His people, as the primary fuel for cooking in the desert was camel chips. Largely undigested grass, camel chips, much like cow chips, are very flammable. The problem is, that they burn very hot, and burn much to hot to reliably "slow" roast pork to a proper internal temperature. Shellfish -- good idea ot avoid for the same reason, plus you also have the problem of severe food allergies.

That law, however, was a civil law, not a moral one.

For stoning, well, Christ Himself stopped that practice -- Let he among you who is sinless cast the first stone...

For the last one... dude, really? You want to have sex with a woman while she's on her period? That's pretty nasty.

I'd continue, but pearls before swine and all that...

until He comes back. Until then, we will continue our march into a depraved, degenerate society fully embracing the culture of death.

Good to see you again fustakrakich.

Swing and a miss, Ratzo.
It took a millennium and a half for the reformation to try to straighten out Scripture.
The point I made was that Luther incorrectly removed this.

So which would you use to inform your life and society? If you said, "The Bible", then even God thinks you're a moron. Because, way before there was scripture, there was man's ability to reason.

Read the Gospel; specifically read how Jesus reacted to Thomas' skepticism, and his message about those who haven't seen and still believe.

Man's ability to reason is deeply flawed. Man's "reason" once told the Egyptians it was OK to use the Hebrews as slaves. Man's "reason" today says it's OK for women to butcher their children in the womb.

I'm attacking liberalism as a demonic religion, I'm not attacking religion in general. I, for one, am a proud Catholic and will always remain one.

Typo -- above should read: Martin Luther removed them from his Bible, and also wanted to remove a few other books as well --- James, for example.

Those books were part of the Bible until the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther removed them from his Bible, and also removed a few other books as well --- James, for example.

But... But... Chicago is a gun-free utopia! No guns are allowed there, so everyone is safe and no one has to worry about getting shot. /sarcasm

That's to be expected. Liberalism was born from the same tree as religion.

You might be surprised, AC, but I agree with this. Modern Liberalism / Progressivism (also known as fascism) is indeed a religion. The State is worshiped as supreme, the environment replaces the saints, and their unholy sacraments are abortion and gay marriage.

In other words, the Devil himself is who they really worship, the Devil just abstracts that out as the State so the leftists don't realize what master they truly serve.

And if there's anyone who wants to dismiss that... get a history book and learn how many Catholic Clergy got the Guillotine in the French Revolution for not dropping their faith in favor of Robespierre's "Reason".

Let's not forget the incorrect retraction of the Bible that removed 6 books. The full Bible has 73 books.

Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and I & II Maccabees are all scripture.