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Ten Reasons Why "Same-Sex Marriage” Affects Your Marriage: A Reply to My Critics John Barber, Ph.D. Only recently did I learn that an article I wrote many months ago, titled, “Ten Reasons Why Same Sex Marriage Affects Your Marriage” (April 1 st , 2013), had garnished a large number of responses by LGBTQ advocates (The original article can be seen here: http://johnjbarber.blogspot.com/2013/04/tenreasons-why-same-sex-marriage.html or here: http://theaquilareport.com/ten-reasons-why-same-sex-marriage-affects-your-marriage/ ). So this reply comes somewhat late. Before I comment on counterpoints to my ten reasons, I wish to put forth a few preliminaries.   First, I want to be clear that the authority for my views on marriage and sexuality is Scripture. Although my original article drew from legal, sociological, and rational data, all of it reasoned outward from a point of origination in God’s Word. The following response will manifest that source of divine revelation eve...

Reflections on the Rwandan Genocide in the Light of James 3:7-9 John Barber, Ph.D. Most of us know of the genocide in Rwanda that began in April, 1994. The Hutu tribe, in a mission of ethnic cleansing, committed itself to thoroughly wipe out the minority Tutsi tribe that had ruled Rwanda for many years. In a period of 100 days the Hutus killed one million people: 800,000 Tutsi and 200,000 Hutu sympathizers. To accomplish that required the death of one person every second for 100 days! In August of 2013, I had the distinct pleasure of traveling to Kigali, Rwanda to conduct a 3-day pastor’s conference on the Cultural Mandate. Before I arrived, I read widely on the genocide, watched “Hotel Rwanda”, and a movie my son suggested, “Sometimes In April.” Although my reading and movie-watching helped set things in context, none of it answered the fundamental question that bewildered me. How? How could marauding bands, led by the Rwandan government, systematically slaughter one mill...

The Traditional Dowry-System in Africa [1] Arguments for traditional dowry   1.       It stabilizes the marriage and prevents the wife running away from her husband. 2.       Payment of dowry demonstrates that the husband-to-be is capable of supporting a wife. 3.       Payment of dowry makes the wife feel that she is worth “something” and that her husband considers her valuable. It can be considered a proof of love. 4.       Christian missionaries have often supported and encouraged the dowry system as a safeguard to the stability of marriage. 5.       The parents of the girl feel repaid for all their expense of caring for her and educating her. 6.       Bride Price enables the girl’s parents to provide similar dowry for their sons to marry wives. Thus the bride price becomes a kind of revolving fund in the family. 7.  ...