Marriage equality is an issue I wholeheartedly support. I’ve been advocating for it through social media for years now. The fact that Christianity seems to the be biggest enemy of the LGBT community is sad, frustrating, and a huge reason why I am no longer part of any church. I was so proud of both my home and adopted states, when their voters became the first to approve the right for same gender couples to marry last November in America.
In Seminary, I was also told that a Liberal is defined as a someone who believed women could be pastors and that homosexuality is not a sin. I kid you not, dear reader, that was the answer the teacher gave me when I asked them define “Liberal Christian”. I guess I am guilty as charged if that is your metric.
So along those lines, the Conservative Christian Church (CCC) has a long history of stating the Bible demands that God CLEARLY SAYS marriage is between one man and one woman.
Having done nearly 15 years of academics focused almost solely the Bible, Theology, Church History, Exegesis and several other boring Greek/Latin terms spanning five distinct denominations, this baffles me. Are these people actually READING the Bible or just one or two passages that back up a preconceived notion? Or, as they like to call it, using Eisegesis to determine meaning. Evidently, I am not a alone in my puzzlement.
Three Biblical Scholars in Iowa wrote an op-ed on the subject.
I track with everything they said with the exception of this quote of course:
So, while it is not accurate to state that biblical texts would allow marriages between people of the same sex, it is equally incorrect to declare that a “one-man-and-one-woman” marriage is the only allowable type of marriage deemed legitimate in biblical texts.
If the Bible doesn’t give a one-size-fits-all definition of marriage throughout time (or a list of acceptable ones at the very least) then there is no reason to believe that the “text” wouldn’t allow for same sex marriage. It just doesn’t address an issue that didn’t exist a couple of millennia ago.
Nitpicks aside, they make a very good point that I have been trying to make for years. If you want to oppose Marriage Equality, then that is your right, but you simply cannot say that: “The Bible says marriage is only between one man and one woman.” It is just not true. You MAY be able to make a case that certain authors expressed that sentiment, but it is NOT consistent through the whole of the Bible.
You certainly cannot state that “GOD SAYS marriage is between one man and one woman”. Anyone who does, is inserting their interpretation of marriage into the mouth of God, or claiming some kind of special revelation. Neither of which should be done lightly or without potential dire spiritual consequences. It is the height of human arrogance and the worship of Systematic Theology over God.
IMHO of course.
The CCC is infamous for these assertions while also being vocal proponents of Biblical Inerrancy. They use the concept to charge others with heresy or blasphemy if anyone disagrees with them in the least. As if stating what God thinks on a subject with clear Biblical disagreement, doesn’t open them up to the very same thing.
Perhaps they should look up the concept of irony.
The CCC, and many others, claimed the exact same thing about interracial marriage. In their minds, God clearly said it was a sin. Check out the judge’s reason the Lovings were found guilty in 1959 of breaking Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law. The case that would lead to the landmark Supreme Court case, Loving V. Virginia, in 1964:
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
In fact, pretty much all of the “Biblical” or “Religious” arguments used to oppose Gay Marriage are lifted right from Interracial Marriage. They were not valid 50 years ago, and they are not valid ever no matter which consenting adults you try to apply them too.
So, I am here to say simply…KNOCK IT OFF.
Stop using this argument to keep people from having equal civil rights under the law. All it does is make you appear uniformed and Christianity look hypocritical. If you must oppose Marriage Equality, then find another reason that is consistent with the laws of the land.
Stop trying to speak for God on the issue, you are not needed on that front. Besides, you are most likely wrong. I won’t make a dogmatic statement on that, or I would have to go look up the definition of irony.
Which would be ironic.
