I ran across this editorial on my local newspaper's website, about the current debate of whether or not to alter Indiana's state constitution to make same-sex marriage illegal. The poster talks about how he hasn't heard any convincing reasons from the religious sect as to why to make it illegal, just that it should be so.
Of course, there were plenty of people responding to that. I loved the response of this individual (copied and pasted below)
http://blogs.indystar.com/expresso/archives/2006/10/between_consent.html#commentsComment from Josh on October 27, 2006 2:56 PM
Daniel,
You identify yourself as someone who use's the Bible as a litmus test. While I do not personally follow the same path, I also try not to influence anyone into thinking the way I do. Most members of my family are devoutly religious (typically pretty mainstream Christian denominations), and I see that their belief does them a world of good, so I am even a supporter of the concept of the church.
What tends to get me into a discussion though, is when their own Bible contradicts itself/their church, and they just ignore the contradictory passages and still use the other passages to argue their point. Either a person believes the Bible is the Word of God, and therefore is a divine proclamation from God himself, or it is a collections of stories to be used as a general guide, open to interpretation and revision, but not to be followed word-for word. Most churches want to have it both ways -- that it is the Word of God when it supports their beliefs and just a guidebook when it does not.
Many churches will also diffferentiate between the Old Testament and the New Testament, as if we switched Gods at halftime, and the "New" God is more correct than the "Old" God. But, again, they go ahead and preach about the "One" God in the next breath.
Finally, most churches argue that the mortals who wrote the books of the Bible were inspired by the hand of God. Who chose which of those writers had actually been inspired and which were just infidels who wrote a fictional story (i.e. the recent Gospel according to Judah, that has already been discredited by most churches, as well as countless other known "gospels" that do not appear in the modern Bible)?
With those things in mind, please explain the infallability of the Bible's anti-homosexual stance in the light of the questions I have previously posted (which I have conveniently also posted below). While many of the "questions" are obviously written in jest, I cannot get someone to argue against same-sex marriage and for any of the proscribed ideas at the same time. If the two can be reconciled, I am willing to proclaim defeat.
Why is there no outrage over a 2nd marriage as it is defined by Jesus as adultery, and therefore a sin (Matthew 19:9) (same book that contains the oft-cited verses (4-5) to put down the outlandish notion of same-sex marriage)
Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not to Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
A friend of mine feels that, even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there "degrees" of abomination?
Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread(cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev. 24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev. 20:14)?
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
taria_shadow's journal
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
