Gay Is The New Black
The next time you open the newspaper, and see the words of some mouth-foaming bigot railing against gay marriage in a news story, go through the piece and replace the word "gay" with "blacks and whites" -- as in, "Allowing blacks and whites to marry will be the downfall of society as we know it."
No, The National Guard isn't marching on the San Francisco city hall with dogs and fire hoses -- but the fight for gay citizens to have the same rights as all other citizens is a sad repeat of the fight for civil rights for black Americans. Once again, the bible-toting bigots are using history and religion to justify their bigotry -- and once again, notes C.W. Nevius, in the SF Chronicle, they simply expurgated all the parts that don't support their case:
"It is really much more complex in religious perspective than you might think,'' says Tolbert, the George Atkinson Professor for Biblical Studies at the Pacific School of Religion. "What the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) suggests as a general model for marriage is polygamy. You look at someone like Solomon who had 200 wives and 600-and-some concubines. Or Abraham, who had his first child by his wife's slave. It sounds as if it was quite normal.''Tolbert, who is also the executive director for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, points out that marriage didn't even become a sacrament of the church "until the 12th century. For the first 1,200 years (A.D.) in Europe there were civil unions by town or village government.''
Nor does the New Testament offer much help. In fact, by some selective readings it sounds as if the Bible has mixed views of marriage. As Tolbert says, Jesus says very little about marriage, and both he and Paul were single men. And Paul, at least, recommended chastity.
"Marriage is not a sin,'' says Paul in First Corinthians, "but it is better to be unmarried.''
"The Bible is an incredibly important sacred icon in our culture,'' says Tolbert. "But I just think a lot of people don't read it.''
No, they prefer to use it as weapon.
"...the fight for gay citizens to have the same rights as all other citizens is a sad repeat of the fight for civil rights for black Americans."
Not really, because gays presently have PRECISELY the same rights as straights. That's the problem, isn't it?
crid at February 26, 2004 11:40 AM
Did they get the right to marry while I was in the shower?
Amy Alkon at February 26, 2004 11:53 AM
Nope; they've had it since the birth of the Republic.
crid at February 26, 2004 1:12 PM
Aaah, I see...the right to marry a member of the opposite sex is what crid's talking about.
Incidentally, there are many liberal theologians who believe Jesus was married (to Mary Magdalene; the wedding party where he turns water to wine is his own. Part of the case for that is that Jesus' own mother is the one who comes running to him to complain that the wine has run out, and why else would that be her concern?) and Paul a conflicted homosexual. I'm not making that up to be contentious or blasphemous; the written works of Bishop John Shelby Spong, for one, offer further articulation on the subject.
LYT at February 26, 2004 1:45 PM
As a child, I was a full-on Jesus Freak who couldn't take anything literally. It always seemed obvious to me that Mary M. was Jesus's girlfriend. I thought, "Oh yeah, he 'forgave her for her sins.' I might be a kid, but I'm not stupid. I know what THAT means." I always assumed that anyone with half a brain knew that Jesus and Mary M. got it on.
Years later, sitting in class with a 100 other college kids comparing and contrasting slides of religious paintings, the art history professor asked us if we knew who Mary Magdalene was. I raised my hand and answered, in a very matter-of-fact way, "Christ's lover." From the reaction in the lecture hall, you'd have thought I said I wanted to doggystyle a 2-year old up on the podium. I really didn't mean to be disrespectful. I just always thought that the Son of God should be able to get his swerve on like any other guy.
I'm happy to say that 1) I didn't get my ass kicked in the stairwell that day; and 2) I eventually dumped the Bible for the U.S. Constitution (I'm looking at a copy of it on my desk right now). I wish George Bush would do the same.
Lena the Heathen Patriot at February 26, 2004 11:34 PM
Have you read The Da Vinci Code, Lena? It goes even further than that!
Jim Treacher at February 27, 2004 2:21 AM
Jim -- I haven't read it, but I heard the author interviewed on NPR and thought it sounded great. I'm not a big novel reader. Leener
Lena at February 27, 2004 4:12 AM