Gay marriage is heck of rad
Most of my readers (meaning both of them) are probably thoroughly aware of Newsweek’s article, by Lisa Miller, on the religious arguments for and against gay marriage, but on the off chance you missed it, click here. It does a particularly good job of summing up and discarding the conservative religious arguments against same-sex matrimony, so it’s useful information if you find yourself in an argument with a homophobic religious nut. A few salient quotes:
Most of us no longer heed Leviticus on haircuts or blood sacrifices; our modern understanding of the world has surpassed its prescriptions. Why would we regard its condemnation of homosexuality with more seriousness than we regard its advice, which is far lengthier, on the best price to pay for a slave?
and
Religious objections to gay marriage are rooted not in the Bible at all, then, but in custom and tradition (and, to talk turkey for a minute, a personal discomfort with gay sex that transcends theological argument).
As Insty would say, read the whole thing.
UPDATE: More here.
I suppose that makes me the ‘homophobic religious nut’, since I think Miller’s presentation is born out of the same “ideology first’ approach she criticizes from the other side.
If you want to say the Biblical prohibitions should be set aside because they are culturally derived, that’s fine (though very historically ignorant). However, to cite our surpassing of Levitical prescriptions ignores the NT affirmations of the same stuff.
Anyway, not interested in an argument but I think her position as advertised doesn’t hold water.
I don’t think you’re homophobic or a nut at all. I just think we disagree on the authority/authenticity/provenance of the Bible. We’ve argued over this before, so there’s no need to rehash in depth; I’m willing to concede that the New Testament supersedes the Old, but I find it hard to understand why many social conservatives pick and choose among which New Testament verses by which they live their lives. Which I think was Ms. Miller’s point as well. Although I think the jury is still out on the subject of Jesus’ marriage. 🙂
There have been two really great discussions on this topic over on LiveJournal. The user “ianvass” (whose journal these posts appear in) is a Mormon, and is opposed to gay marriage. The user “tongodeon” is for it, and presents absolutely fabulous, level-headed, well-researched counters in the comments section.
Part 1:
http://ianvass.livejournal.com/5152.html
Part 2: http://ianvass.livejournal.com/5756.html
Happy reading!