Olsen Park Church of Christ


 

Interviews on "Same-Sex" Marriage


With Kyle Pope


KVII News: March 26, 2013       Watch Interview
Amarillo Globe News: March 28, 2013       Read Below

On Thursday March 26 and 27, 2013 I was interviewed by ABC ProNews Channel Seven and the Amarillo Globe News regarding my views as a gospel preacher on the court cases that came before the US Supreme Court that week regarding "Same-Sex" marriage. Some comments I made in the phone interview with the Amarillo Globe News were included in an article entitled “Residents Hope Ruling Delivers Answers” by Russell Anglin that ran March 28, 2013. Unfortunately, they didn’t present my statements in the manner in which I intended to communicate them. Below is what they printed, and a clarification of what I said.

Kyle Pope
March 29, 2013



Kyle Pope, preacher at Olsen Park Church of Christ, said Wednesday he opposes gay marriage because he believes it conflicts with his values as a Christian.

“I believe that God defines marriage and I don’t believe that human beings make a covenant with one another … Malachi 2 describes (God) as the witness to a covenant,” Pope said.

Therefore, he said, he believes government should not have any role in sanctioning marriage, whether between homosexual or heterosexual partners.

“I could not say I could approve of anything that would sanction (homosexual relationships) whether they call it a civil union or marriage or whatever,” Pope said, adding “People have free will and I don’t see the role of government as intruding in our free will choices.

Amarillo Globe News. March 28, 2013, p. A8

 

1.       I didn't say that human beings can't make a covenant with one another. What I said was that Malachi 2 teaches that God acts as witness to marriage covenants that are made. When two people have the right to make such a covenant, it is God who joins them in that covenant. When two people don't have a right to make a covenant because they are of the same sex, or because they are still bound to someone else, God does not join them in that covenant. They have made an unlawful covenant.

2.       I did not say that government should have no role in sanctioning marriage. What I said was that throughout most of human history the only role that government played was to record who had been married. In my understanding it was not until the turn of the 19th century that marriage licensing came into practice in the United States. This came about 1) to combat polygamy in Utah Territory; 2) to curb common law marriages, and 3) Unfortunately to impose restrictions on intermarriage between races. I told the interviewer that some of the problem we now face has come from the fact that government has presumed to have the right to be able to define who is and who is not married. God is the one who defines marriage. Human beings may make unlawful covenants but that doesn't mean that God considers that "marriage."

3.      Concerning the comments on "freewill." What I said was that human beings have freewill, and I don't think that the government should intrude into freewill choices. People have the freewill to choose to do wrong, but that doesn't mean that God approves of the behavior.

I also mentioned to the interviewer that while this is a new issue in America, it is not a new problem. The Roman emperor Nero engaged in two homosexual marriages himself. Christians had the responsibility then as they do now to oppose behavior that God defines as sinful. Some of the first laws forbidding homosexual marriage were put in place by the sons of Constantine, the first emperor who held any type of belief in Jesus.---The interviewer did not include these comments.

Please let me know if you have any questions or I can clarify further what I was trying to communicate.

kmpope@att.net

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