Lisa Miller’s Cover Story, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” A Review of Lisa Miller’s Cover Story, “Our Mutual Joy,” in the Dec. 15, 2008 issue of Newsweek A Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage”

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Try to prove truths using random examples Ex: Marriages of Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon Make false claims altogether “The Bible endorses slavery, a practice that Americans now universally consider shameful and barbaric.…It provides conceptual shelter for anti-Semites.” Take that which is pure and make it perverted and evil Ex: Story of David & Jonathan

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Gay men like to point to the story of passionate King David and his friend Jonathan, with whom he was "one spirit" and whom he "loved as he loved himself." Conservatives say this is a story about a platonic friendship, but it is also a story about two men who stand up for each other in turbulent times, through violent war and the disapproval of a powerful parent. David rends his clothes at Jonathan's death and, in grieving, writes a song: I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; You were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, More wonderful than that of women. Here, the Bible praises enduring love between men. What Jonathan and David did or did not do in privacy is perhaps best left to history and our own imaginations. Sick! Twist the meaning of Biblical love! Typical mind in the gutter! Always sexual! Jonathan defended David, saved him from death & yielded his right to the throne. The danger of speaking about something where the Bible is silent!

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Try to prove truths using random examples Ex: Marriages of Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon Make false claims altogether “The Bible endorses slavery, a practice that Americans now universally consider shameful and barbaric.…It provides conceptual shelter for anti-Semites.” Take that which is pure and make it perverted and evil Ex: Story of David & Jonathan Twist Jesus’ actions & words to meet their own wishes Ex: Their wish that Jesus accept everyone unconditionally

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” In the Christian story, the message of acceptance for all is codified. Jesus reaches out to everyone, especially those on the margins, and brings the whole Christian community into his embrace….[T]he story of Jesus revealing himself to the woman at the well— no matter that she had five former husbands and a current boyfriend—[is] evidence of Christ's all- encompassing love…. The practice of inclusion, even in defiance of social convention, the reaching out to outcasts, the emphasis on togetherness and community over and against chaos, depravity, indifference—all these biblical values argue for gay marriage. “Acceptable for all” is conditional! Requires obedience! “Come unto me all…take My yoke upon you…” (Matt. 11:28-30). “Eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:9). “All-encompassing love” does not overlook or condone sin. “Go and sin no more.” “Unless you repent you will likewise perish.” “…You did not do it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment.” “Inclusion…over and against chaos, depravity, indifference”? – those are not “biblical values” – Inclusion in the family of God is based upon man’s obedience to the will of God!

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Try to prove truths using random examples Ex: Marriages of Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon Make false claims altogether “The Bible endorses slavery, a practice that Americans now universally consider shameful and barbaric.…It provides conceptual shelter for anti-Semites.” Take that which is pure and make it perverted and evil Ex: Story of David & Jonathan Twist Jesus’ actions & words to meet their own wishes Ex: Their wish that Jesus accept everyone unconditionally Wrongfully claim we’re “all God’s children” anyway

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” If we are all God's children, made in his likeness and image, then to deny access to any sacrament based on sexuality is exactly the same thing as denying it based on skin color… We are NOT “all God’s children.” A child of God is one who has obeyed God’s will (Gal. 3:26-27). We have all been created by God, but NO ONE was created a homosexual. There is NO GAY GENE! Did God create a man homosexual then condemn him to death? No! Homosexuality is a learned behavior! It is something a person chooses to do! There is no parallel between skin color and homosexuality! Where is the verse that condemns skin color in any way?

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Try to claim that the Bible cannot be trusted

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” The Editor’s Desk: Given the history of the making of the Scriptures and the millennia of critical attention scholars and others have given to the stories and injunctions that come to us in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is…

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Try to claim that the Bible cannot be trusted Try to claim that the Bible writers were inept and uninspired

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” The fact that homosexual couples cannot procreate has also been raised as a biblical objection, for didn't God say, "Be fruitful and multiply"? But the Bible authors could never have imagined the brave new world of international adoption and assisted reproductive technology… … The Bible was written for a world so unlike our own…

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Try to claim that the Bible cannot be trusted Try to claim that the Bible writers were inept and uninspired Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Mock opposition to homosexuality using Bible as final authority

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” The Editor’s Desk: On the campus of Wheaton College in Illinois last Wednesday, in another of the seemingly endless announcements of splintering and schism in the Episcopal Church, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan and other leaders of the conservative forces of reaction to the ecclesiastical and cultural acceptance of homosexuality declared that their opposition to the ordination and the marriage of gays was irrevocably rooted in the Bible—which they regard as the "final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.“ … One can decide to oppose it in good faith, but such opposition should at least be forged by those in full possession of the relevant cultural and religious history and context.

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Lisa Miller’s article: A mature view of scriptural authority requires us, as we have in the past, to move beyond literalism. … We cannot look to the Bible as a marriage manual, but we can read it for universal truths as we struggle toward a more just future.

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Try to claim that the Bible cannot be trusted Try to claim that the Bible writers were inept and uninspired Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Mock opposition to homosexuality using Bible as final authority Complain of unfair Scriptural advantage of gay marriage opponents

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” …the sides are unevenly matched. All the religious rhetoric, it seems, has been on the side of the gay-marriage opponents, who use Scripture as the foundation for their objections.

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Try to claim that the Bible cannot be trusted Try to claim that the Bible writers were inept and uninspired Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Mock opposition to homosexuality using Bible as final authority Complain of unfair Scriptural advantage of gay marriage opponents Admit but then move on and dismiss clear Bible authority

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” The Bible does condemn gay male sex in a handful of passages. Twice Leviticus refers to sex between men as "an abomination“… Paul was tough on homosexuality… It recommends the death penalty for adulterers (and in Leviticus, for men who have sex with men, for that matter).

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Dismiss & Mock Bible Teachings Claim homosexuality is “intrinsic” or inherited

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” The Editor’s Desk: Briefly put, the Judeo-Christian religious case for supporting gay marriage begins with the recognition that sexual orientation is not a choice—a matter of behavior—but is as intrinsic to a person's makeup as skin color.

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Dismiss & Mock Bible Teachings Claim homosexuality is “intrinsic” or inherited Try to ignore any principles taught in the book of Leviticus

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” The Editor’s Desk: …Christians…point to certain passages in the Bible to condemn homosexuality and…deny the sacrament of marriage to homosexuals. This argument from Scripture is difficult to take seriously—though many, many people do—since the passages in question [pointing to Leviticus] are part and parcel of texts that, with equal ferocity, forbid particular haircuts. Lisa Miller article: …these are throwaway lines in a peculiar text given over to codes for living in the ancient Jewish world, a text that devotes verse after verse to treatments for leprosy, cleanliness rituals for menstruating women and the correct way to sacrifice a goat—or a lamb or a turtle dove. Most of us no longer heed Leviticus on haircuts or blood sacrifices…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?

Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Dismiss & Mock Bible Teachings Claim homosexuality is “intrinsic” or inherited Try to ignore any principles taught in the book of Leviticus Blatantly ignore Bible definition for marriage

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” …while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman. WRONG! “And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him’…He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man…Therefore a man shall…be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:18-24). Jesus: “He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall…be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mt. 19:4-6).

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Dismiss & Mock Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock Bible Believers, Followers & Teachers

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” The Editor’s Desk: No matter what one thinks about gay rights—for, against or somewhere in between —this conservative resort to biblical authority is the worst kind of fundamentalism. Given the history of the making of the Scriptures and the millennia of critical attention scholars and others have given to the stories and injunctions that come to us in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament, to argue that something is so because it is in the Bible is more than intellectually bankrupt—it is unserious, and unworthy of the great Judeo-Christian tradition…

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Lisa Miller’s Article: Would any contemporary heterosexual married couple—who likely woke up on their wedding day harboring some optimistic and newfangled ideas about gender equality and romantic love—turn to the Bible as a how-to script? Of course not, yet the religious opponents of gay marriage would have it be so. … …no sensible modern person wants marriage—theirs or anyone else's —to look in its particulars anything like what the Bible describes. If we are all God's children, made in his likeness and image, then to deny access to any sacrament based on sexuality is exactly the same thing as denying it based on skin color—and no serious (or even semiserious) person would argue that.

Review of Newsweek’s Dec Review of Newsweek’s Dec. 15, 2008 Issue: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage” Blatantly Misuse, Twist & Falsify Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock the Bible Itself Dismiss & Mock the Authority of the Bible Dismiss & Mock Bible Teachings Dismiss & Mock Bible Believers, Followers & Teachers

What the Bible teaches… Lev. 20:13 Homosexuality= abomination to God; worthy of death Gen. 18-19 Homosexuality is a sin and very grievous (18:20), wicked (18:23, 25; 19:7), worthy of God’s destruction (18:23-25, 28, 31-32; 19:13). Jude 7 Homosexuality is going after strange flesh Result: suffering vengeance of eternal fire, an example 2 Pet. 2:6 Homosexuality condemned as an example to ungodly Rom. 1:24-32 Homosexuality is uncleanness (v. 24), dishonoring one’s body (v. 25), vile (v. 26), against nature (v. 26-27), unseemly/shameful behavior (v. 27), can harm your body with just punishment (v. 27), a serious error (v. 27), worthy of death (v. 32) 1 Cor. 6:9 Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God 1 Tim. 1:9-10 Homosexuals in same lawless class as murderers