Former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood has come out in support of gay marriage. The married, 29-year-old country star believes everyone has the right to marry the person they love and share the same happiness. Despite criticism that speaking out for gay marriage could cause her to lose some of here more conservative fans, Carrie Underwood is firm in her belief that everyone is created equal by God when it comes to marriage.
“As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love,” Carrie Underwood said in an interview with London newspaper The Independent. “I can’t imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love.”
Carrie Underwood, who is a devout Christian, said it is her faith that prompted her to come out in support of equal rights for gay citizens. “Our church is gay friendly,” Underwood said.
“Above all, God wanted us to love others. It’s not about setting rules, or [saying] ‘everyone has to be like me.’ No. We’re all different. That’s what makes us special. We have to love each other and get on with each other. It’s not up to me to judge anybody.”
The Grammy Award-winning singer added that she does not understand “people who use the Bible for hate” and said that is “not how I would want myself as a Christian to be represented.” Carrie Underwood launches her Blown Away tour in September 14th in Manchester, N.H.
I am a Christian, and I am a HUGE Carrie Underwood fan. I agree with her in the sense that we as Christians should not judge others. Everybody (gay or straight, black or white) has their flaws and imperfections, and yet Christ in His infinite love forgives us all anyway.
However, while I believe Carrie’s heart is in the right place, I think she needs to really be careful. There’s a difference between not judging someone for sinning and pretending that there was no sin committed at all. I don’t claim to be sinless. Far from it, in fact. I may not judge somebody else, BUT I’m not going to simply pretend something is not a sin when God’s Word clearly defines it as such. I don’t make the rules, but I know the One who does make the rules is vastly wiser than I am, knows what He is talking about, and gives us His Commands for our own good.
If you are not a Christian and you put no value in the teachings of the Bible, then FINE. I completely understand why you might support gay marriage. Were I not a Christian myself, I’d probably support it myself. However, I AM a Christian, and so is Carrie Underwood. We have both chosen to do our best (failing miserably along the way) to honor God’s Word and live a life in accordance with the Scriptures. Scripture makes it crystal clear what God’s position on homosexuality is. Homosexuality is biblically a sin. There is no avoiding this simple truth.
So when prominent Christians in the spotlight such as Carrie Underwood undermine the Bible (whether intentionally or not) by ignoring scriptures and pretending something is morally acceptable when it biblically is not, they send the message that we can pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe in. So, suddenly, God’s Word loses all its effectiveness to guide us in our lives. If we don’t like something in it, we just brush it under the rug, while focusing on the pet Scriptures we like. It’s a slippery slope, and it’s very easy to fall.
I can sense the depth of Carrie’s faith as evident in her beautiful songs. She not only has a gorgeous body but a gorgeous soul as well. That’s why I hope and pray that Carrie will not make a mistake here. She is right in that we SHOULD love people above everything else, and she hit the nail on the head when she said we should NOT judge others. BUT, she’s wrong to go directly against the Bible by labeling something NOT a sin when God’s Word clearly states otherwise.
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.”
–1 Corinthians 10:12
Pubic figures should be careful about what they support or not support. In coming out to openly support an issue, they are in fact influencing the young people who look up to them as ‘idols’
This basically just ruins my hope that maybe Hollywood doesn’t change everyone. Also, I agree with EVERYTHING @018fe4bcd065fc61468d1cc7e698058f:disqus said.
Amen!!
God’s Word 100% clearly says Homosexuality [and Lesbianism]
is sin and Homosexuals [and Lesbians] will not go to Heaven
…they will go to Hell. 1 Cor.6:9,10.
God’s Word calls homosexuality degrading of the body, shameful,
indecent
and perversion!! Romans
1:24-32,
“Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave
themselves
up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an
example
of those who suffer the punishment of Eternal Fire.” Jude 7.
The
sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality!
So
according to God Homosexuals are going to suffer the punishment
of Eternal Fire!!!!! Ouch! [bring a lot of suntan lotion! Ha!].
Jesus spoke against homosexuality. He condemned “sexual
immorality” in Mk.7:21-23. This word means all sex outside of marriage:
Adultery, incest, animal sex, LESBIANISM and HOMOSEXUALITY.
This word sexual immorality also means, “to prostitute one’s body to
the lust of another.” Jesus
says sexual immorality makes a man “unclean,
defiled and polluted.” Mk.
7:23
I am very sad to hear your view on gay marriage. I think you need to read the story on Sodom and Gomorrh. ,and how God hates sin And especially fornication. Much less being man with man and woman with woman. God will forgive you and also the gays of this world if you repent of your sins ,call on Jesus to save you and that’s the only hope this world has. I was so proud of you for your accomplishments but now I’m disappointed.. Signed. Me..
“Ouch! Bring a lot of sun tan lotion! Ha!” ??????
I agree overall with the points of your post, but I don’t think making flippant jokes about gays going to Hell is the right thing to do. I’m surprised you are so comfortable joking about a person’s eternal damnation. First of all, we should not be so quick to pass judgment on somebody else. The Bible makes it QUITE CLEAR that: “There is no one righteous; not even one.” (Romans 3:10) We ALL sin, and we ALL deserve “Eternal Fire” (so we should all have some sun tan lotion handy). The Bible DOES say that homosexuals are going to Hell, granted, BUT it also says that liars, adulterers, fornicators, and thieves are also in danger of Hell. Sin is sin. Homosexuality is NO WORSE OR BETTER a sin than telling a lie is or taking something that doesn’t belong to you. We are ALL guilty, and we ALL deserve Hell.
Thank God that He actually cares about us lost causes more than His followers often do. He doesn’t make sun tan lotion jokes; He died for us to forgive and save us “while we were yet sinners.” (Romans 5:8) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
We as Christians have not done a very good job with this issue of homosexuality. One day WE just might have to answer to God for OUR poor handling of the matter. We just love to rally outside Lady Gaga concerts with picket signs and make sun tan lotion jokes about how hot it’s going to be in where “fags” (a word I hate by the way) spend Eternity.
There’s a lyric in a Casting Crowns song that convicts me to the core: “Nobody knows what we’re for; only what we’re against when we judge the world. What if we put down our signs, stepped over the lines, and loved like [Jesus] did.”
I don’t agree with Carrie about how homosexuality isn’t a sin. God’s Word debunks that theory pretty quickly. However, I DO agree with her that more Christians need to reach out in love to those who are struggling with homosexual temptations rather than hurling hurtful words at them and pretending that a gay person’s sins are somehow greater than a straight person’s sins. THAT kind of love is what changes people far more than hammering them with Bible scriptures or holding up signs saying “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” After all, wasn’t Jesus’s GREATEST commandment to us was to love each other as He loves us? Unconditionally and in spite of our sins?
We are fallen human beings whose ONLY hope is not our own self-righteousness but rather our Lord and Savior, the One who is not weighing our merits but pardoning our offenses. Carrie is certainly misguided on some of her points, but perhaps not as fatally so as we think. We’re human. We are going to err. That is inevitable. However, maybe it’s better to err on the side of love rather than hate. Just something to think about, I guess.
“You therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else. For at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” (Romans 2:1)