Excerpt from Facebook Debate Conversation (shortened for brevity; context intact) YoungFly&Saveds Status If I woke up yesterday as Commander

and Chief, this morning the headlines would read "Same sex couples are not allowed to get married"..... Im Christian first and everything else after..... To lose power, favouritism etc in this world is gain for Christ and thats the best win in life!

noMorePork: The main point is, that the US is officially a secular nation. It is not Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist etc. You can't expect that the country you live in will apply everything that you/ your religion believes in. If you want to live in a country where gay marriage is not allowed, there are many countries like this to choose from. In some of them they even torture, persecute and kill people just because they are gay. So it's fine that you're a Christian first , but you need to understand that the USA is NOT Christian first... "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." YoungFly&Saved: Thanks for your opinion noMorePork but my opinion still stands, thankful I dont need permission from others to have or state my opinion especially on my own facebook status on my own facebook page! The first thing I got from ur comment is total disrespect because you dont agree with my opinion.... It makes it difficult to even bring myself to give a rational educated friendly response, sad but such is life.... I wish you a Blessed Day liMitz: To try and impose theocratic rule over ppl who don't submit to it is no different than what the Pharisees did to the Gentiles. The fact of the matter stands regardless of your beliefs you can not be counter-cultural by forcing people to do things based on feelings and interpretations of sacred texts. Your opinion is your opinion; however, it is wrong. #imho The law of the land isn't transcribed based on the Word of God. How can you expect someone to accept something that they don't adhere to or feel plays relevance in their life? You of all people should know this...and remember you're still young. noMorePork wasn't being disrespectful but this is how I would expect someone to respond who knows so much about the Bible and feels they have all things revealed to them, which none of us do.

The truth of the matter is, if Jesus Christ himself said, "Accept homosexuality with unconditional love", many of us would not be able to maintain the title of Christian. People fear what they don't understand. Is homosexuality sinful? Most likely it is...does that mean we can condemn a nation based on that by issuing laws? No we can not. Only God can judge so why do we rush so quickly to do so? YoungFly&Saved: I never say I hated homosexuals as you know I have met and get along with homosexuals, if I was in a position where I had to make a decision that conflicted with what I believed, I would go against it even if it means losing said positions.... If telling me I cant live here bcuz I dont agree with popular opinion isnt disrespectful then...... anywhoos the church is refusing the new health bill that will cause them to pay for contraceptives etc because of what they believe..... Again I dont hate homoseexuals but I dont agree with their lifestyle, that still remains my opinion.. I wonder if either of you read Romans 1.... * I dont condemn a nation, This convo is also taking place in my home country, gays there want these rights too, so its not specific to here..... Its funny how ppl look for a medium to be heard but are unwillig to listen to others... I am not here to judge but I have been, judged, tried and convicted.... not surprizing, in my line of work persecution is inevitable! My opinion still stand because of my Christian belief I cannot agree, will this change the fact, no but I gotta stand firm and not waiver.... It will determine my choices!

thatGayGuy2012: When I first learned that you were a Christian, I was inspired by you, because you had that passion, and it reminded me of my passion when I first came to the Lord. I had become lax in my walk lately and you had helped reignite that. It is our duty as Christians to let the world know about Jesus, about the word of God. So, YoungFly&Saved, I pray that you will be stronger spiritually and physically. He will give you wisdom and knowledge to discern what is righteous and wicked. thatOtherGirl2012: I agree with noMorePark, liMitz and YoungFly&Saved. noMorePark is right that the US is not a nation only for Christian therefore it serves the purpose of the nation as a whole and not as a religion. Obviously if you are gay and are christian you can chose not to get married regardless if it's legal or not. However, YoungFly&Saved has a right to have her own opinion regardless of whether if it is right or wrong in other people's opinions because they are also entitled to their own opinions. I don't think noMorePork is trying to be disrespectful to

YoungFly&Saved because she doesn't say that you are wrong and not allowed to have your own opinion, just because someone doesn't agree with your opinion doesn't mean they don't have respect for you. Let's just admit that we may have different opinions but we can still be friends and of course I'm not here to say anybody is wrong or right here and def not to disrespect anybody but I just wanna come here and say that two people with different opinions could be both right and both wrong. having different opinion doesn't translate to disrespectful people so please calm down all of you and don't kill me lol.

liMitz: I've read the entire Bible...what's your point?! I didn't say you hated homosexuals, I was pointing out that you (we) lack understanding of certain things b/c we won't know about them in this lifetime; that's Biblical (and if you doubt I'll show you if you're willing to listen this time).** It's easy to grab a verse and say, "This is what the Bible says" without taking the Scriptures into context or doing additional studying to complement what's in Scripture. Am I admonishing you? Only slightly...I'm more so asking you to be open in dialogue than anything else. You say that people are "unwilling" to listen but the fact of the matter is this has been a part of your core personality since we met on Day 1, and it remains to be changed for a great portion. Of this I am sure. No one is asking you to change your opinion or stance but the way you responded to noMorePork when she presented Truth and Fact in Love shows that you still have room to grow... We all have room to grow and gain more understanding with why the world is the way it is. One thing that remains constant is no matter how long we live, study, or anything we won't understand in full God's bigger picture. YoungFly&Saved: Love the dialog but again in my opinion I dont feel disrespected because noMorePork doesnt share my opinion, but her way of sharing it surely was... #paraphrase I shudnt live in a country if I dont agree with gay marriage and they do, I shud go live somewhere else really? that whole statement right there just threw me smh. I wonder why the gov here recognizes Christian holidays.... but thats for another day... liMitz.......!! I will leave you at that!

The biggest thing is everyone is so passionate about the issue they missed the point of my status.... If I was the president who said I was a Christian, I would choose to not approve gay marriage, because Im a Christian first, I may lose the next election, I may be hated by my colleagues, but my decision would be determined by my belief and not what will make me popular. The country may still approve it but I wouldnt..... I strive to live a life where I dont compromise.....this life is temporary, but Im living for the eternal, Id rather lose all this world has to offer by being unpopular than gain it and lose all God has in store for me!

noMorePork: Hmm that's definitely NOT what I said liMitz: noMorePork did not say that and you should feel ashamed for twisting her words. At this point you're bearing false witness and that is a sin. I won't sit idly by and let you do this....so what you need to do is ACCEPT this correction, if indeed you are Christian. Otherwise you make your creator out to be a liar and God is not mocked. Let's review: "The main point is, that the US is officially a secular nation. It is not Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Bud"dhist etc." #Fact "You can't expect that the country you live in will apply everything that you/ your religion believes in." #Fact SN: Remember the story of Daniel and how his people had to assimilate to their new "home"... "If you want to live in a country where gay marriage is not allowed, there are many countries like this to choose from" #Fact The last fact here is that she stated YOU HAVE AN OPTION to go somewhere and be "secluded" from those who don't agree with you. You can't argue with me because it's the truth. That and you lack understanding. #bowingOut

Barack hasn't approved gay marriage...he said he supports it. There's a difference! And you claim all of this "non-compromise" but you lack the understanding to know what compromise really is. I bet you can't lay out a solid argument as to why there's an issue with homosexuality OTHER THAN the fact that there are Bible verses which speak out against it. In other words, you have substance w/ no context and that is where you're weak, my linky friend. YoungFly&Saved: I paraphrased and didnt do a qoute of what was said, it was implied that if u dont like it then I can choose to live somewhere else...... I wont even go into where they kill them etc....if this is not what was meant Id love to hear what noMorePork really meant when she wrote that..... its hard to not take a comment on my wall as directed at me... Homosexuals existed in the bible, its nothing new, both the old and new testament are aligned with whether its right or wrong.. So my choice of the word disrespectful is meant that the comment about choosing to live elsewhere was rude, offensive and uncalled for, the opinion cud have been shared minus this part. Was I offended? Yes by those ~2 lines..... No one should be ostrocized, segregated or secluded because of their belief, if that is the case all homosexuals should move to countries or buy an island and start a new one where marriage is legal and stop fighting to get where they currently live to support it and them.... Just as muchas this makes nosense me or anyone else having to choose to live elsewhere is ridiculous liMitz: I'm gonna offer this anecdote for thought: "USA is not a Christian nation"...as leader of a secular nation there's has to be balance between what you believe and what the people want. If Jesus was President, he might not go about it in the way that you're suggesting (and that's PERFECTLY fine). We didn't vote Barack in office to have his own agenda (i.e. inspired by ______), but an agenda that would benefit the people. Read the story of Saul...the people wanted a King and God gave them one. #BookOfSamuel The United States wanted hope/change, and that's what they've been given.

SN: I challenge you to get better at paraphrasing b/c that was a poor job. noMorePork told you what she meant was NOT what you interpreted it to be lol..."He who has ears let him hear". Maybe you don't like what you're hearing (reading)?! And why thank her for her opinion instead of being open and honest from jump street; "You offended me". thatGirl2012 tells me that all the time and it never gets old :-p noMorePork: you asked me to explain what I meant so I will. I meant exactly what I wrote, there are no hidden messages. It seemed to me that you are bothered by the fact that gay marriage will *possibly* be legitimized in the USA. So I said, that there are many countries where religion is in the first place and not the people, and that you are free to live there IF YOU WANT to live in such a country (I didn't say you should move there, I simply said that those places exist!). And when I mentioned that some of the countries treat gay people terribly is to emphasize how fortunate we are to not be living in such countries but to live in a country where a human is treated like a human. Where everyone has equal rights and can walk on the streets with no fear! Second, even if the president was Jewish, I would not expect him to make a law where restaurant won't serve pork (which G-d forbids eating, by the way). And this is because the USA doesn't belong to one religion, and that's the whole beauty about this country. Regarding "why the government here recognizes Christian holidays"that's probably because Americans consist of 78.4% Christians. Why the government doesn't recognize Jewish holidays? that's probably because there are only 1.7% Jews. And I'm not going to complain about this because as I've said, the USA doesn't belong to 1 religion. *** liMitz: Alright everyone, I think this matter has been "resolved". Go in peace and enjoy your Friday; be thankful! YoungFly&Saved: Ok liMitz Smith Mr Moderator I rest for as you said its like the Pharisees and the Gentiles, its hard to get persons who are not subject to or understand and believe in Christ to grasp my point or to get the basis of my status... and though I have tried to explain the eyes are blind and it is not the time for it to be seen or understood.... many will soon have their "moment on the way to Damascus" and the Lord does have an appointed time for the chosen to return to the vine until then #Selah ****

*Note: Ive read Romans 1. As a matter of fact if youve read the blog post, youd see that its the beginning of the conversation. Perhaps this person didnt fully understand Romans 1. Also, they clearly dont have a cultural understanding of what the Apostle Paul was talking about.

**Ironically enough ANYTIME I suggest showing this individual Scripture to back up my basis they never take me up on the offer. There was that one time and then they read the Scripture and felt they knew what it said and therefore no longer needed another look. ***God doesnt forbid the eating of pork for Christians. Some Jews do not eat pork. Some people dont eat meat at all. Its okay to eat what you want as long as you dont feel that you are sinning; however, if theres a mandate by your faith to not do somethingthats on you. I eats my red meat #yaHeardMe Also, noMorePork mentioned this (i.e. G-d forbidding the eating of pork) to me via a fbk msg. I thought to correct them, but their faith says that they should not eat it, so I could not and did not say anything. ****If you know what YoungFly&Saved explained that hasnt already been understood or reiterated by others in this convo, let me knowb/c Im pretty sure that we covered anything/everything they said. Although that whole, eyes are blind and time to be seen or understood threw me for a loop. Like they were giving a prophecy or something :-/