Propostition 8

Yesterday I had three rather lengthy, unrelated conversations about Proposition 8. This is an attempt to change the state constitution to specifically describe marriage as only between a man and a woman. In 2000 the voters of California passed Proposition 22 which did define marriage between a man and a woman but that law was struck down earlier this year by the California Supreme Court with the justification that it violated the equal protection clause of the state constitution.
The short answer to my position is "I'm a Christian so I do not support the idea of homosexual marriage." I do not expect this to be very persuasive and indeed I am not seeking to be persuasive but instead honest. I think the rational for homosexual marriage is philosophically consistent with humanism (as best I understand its tenants) but if I agree with secular humanism it is largely accidental.
The world I live in is largely cast in a humanist light and my position is not just misunderstood but in some ways is not understandable. Humanism is specifically rationalistic and anything which can not be explained or argued about is beyond comprehension. I say (somewhat mock innocently) "I just want to obey God." The humanist asks me properly how I could know what God wants me to do and I just shrug. I could give rationally acceptable answers, there are deist camps in humanism, but that would be dishonest. I do not know God's will soley from the Bible, that is I do not recieve God's Word like a computer accepts programming. Rather by faith when I hear God's Word and seek to obey God's will somehow become clear in a less articulate and private medium that is beyond rationality.
So my three discussions concerning Prop 8 were rather subdued because I did not enter into them as a rational humanist. There are fair and perhaps very strong arguements against homosexual marriage but if I were to research and present these arguements I would hiding my faith in God behind dieistic rationalism as if my faith were not good enough on its own or needs something to make it approvable to others. Also I would be dishonest because these many possible arguements are not my actual reason for my position. Like I said earlier my position is quite literally "I am a Christian therefore I do not support homosexual marriage."