Gay Marriage, Some Thoughts

I'm not terribly sure about many things, one of them being: should the Church condone, acknowledge, and bless gay marriages?

Although the Bible contains half a dozen verses that seem to forbid homosexuality, it also has verses that state women should have long hair and keep quiet in church. I don't believe God cares that much about the length of a woman's hair and I don't believe that He wants women to be silent in church. These seem to me to be cultural issues and not the divine will of God. So is there a chance that gay marriage prohibitions are under the old covenant or that they are cultural issues? I can't say with any absolute certainty what God thinks about gay marriage.

I am CERTAIN of some things:

1. God loves all people, including homosexuals.
2. God wants ME to love all people, including homosexuals.
3. Church SHOULD be a place where everyone can come and meet God and participate in a personal relationship with God and fellow believers, including homosexuals.
4. God can speak to people individually about their lives. He doesn't need me or anyone else to point out people's flaws (either actual or supposed). He is fully capable of taking care of His own business with his children. We all need to learn to hear God better. Church is a place where this should happen.
5. The Church should stand for justice and equality for ALL people, including homosexuals.
6. Forbidding gays to marry is a matter of religious belief, not a political issue. It therefore should be allowed by the government (separation of church and state) and individual church bodies should be free to decide for themselves if they are going to participate or not.
7. Definitions change, driven by cultural use of words. Just because a word means one thing today, doesn't mean the meaning will never change. The word marriage, like all other words, means what our society collectively decides that it means
8. Condemning, lording-it-over people and name-calling are not Christian values and should be avoided (but that's between you and God).
9. The Church in general is not doing a very good job of loving and welcoming homosexuals. We have made them an adversary. This isn't right.
   
10. (This is unrelated to this topic) George Bush needs our prayers. He is the worst President ever and he's destroying American values and American reputation in the world on a large scale. If we don't pray for him, America could take a very long time to recover from his presidency.

Some follow-up questions.

• If the Church decides not to participate in gay marriage, how welcome will gays feel?
• Does the church have less responsibility to welcome gays than straights?
• Are certain "types" of sinners welcome, while others are not?
• Should there be a list on the front door to let people know who is welcome and who isn't?
• Is it better to stare, whisper, point and intimidate the people we don't feel are worthy?
• Are any of us worthy?