Politics & The Bible

Monday, November 10, 2008

Guest blogger Political Dad on chapter and verse.

I'm amazed how misinformed most people are about their religious faith. Few die hard opponents of California's Proposition 8, the ban on "gay marriage," know the historical context or chapter in the Old Testament that refers to homosexuality as an abomination. For the record, it's Leviticus 18:22. In the passages before and that directly follow, the Lord also lists the following rules that must not be broken:

Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it.

Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths.

Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

Years ago, there was a scene from the the NBC show "The West Wing" where President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) argues my point.

The book of Leviticus is filled with 2000-year-old Hebrew Midrashic laws. There are literally hundreds of examples that do not apply in our modern world. It's simple hypocrisy that religious people point to just one of them as an excuse to discriminate. I'm sorry to have to say it, but it's bigotry, masking itself as faith -- and it's an abomination.

The second half of the Bible tells of the coming of Jesus Christ and his beautiful message: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." It was that idea that changed the world. He spoke of tolerance, justice and love. If you voted Yes Tuesday on Proposition 8, then perhaps you're not paying enough attention on Sundays because you seemed to have missed the true message.

Bigotry is bigotry. Intolerance is intolerance. Discrimination against someone because of who they choose to love is the only real sin.

What do you think of Political Dad's viewpoint? Comment in the momlogic community.

29 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

none of god’s word is a buffet. leviticus or any other book-the greatest gift god created was Jesus Christ so that adam’s decendants would not suffer from the effects of inherited sin forever— you see i HAVE read the bible. christ would never go against anything his father had already condemned centuries before he even came to earth. there is indeed plenty of agrument against homosexuality and marriage just because you don’t agree ( your right and choice) won’t make it any less valid of an argument. you can not speak for every gay “parent” you don’t know what kind of influence harmful or otherwise is being taugt to the young minds in their care. their livestyle speaks volumes about what they feel they owe their creator which should be obedience and loyalty.rather it is ” i do what i want “

- cg

Posted 11/17/08 10:58 AM

This entire topic seems odd to me. We don’t live in a religious state. What the bible says or doesn’t say should have absolutely no bearing on any political decision that gets made in this country.

- Jim

Posted 11/19/08 05:20 PM

cg- What about what it says in the Greek Religions? All the laws Zeus laid down? Are we just suppose to ignore those? Never mind the countless other gods that have been around for thousands of years. America has in it’s constitution that we need to allow for all religions and are forced to respect none. Which creator are we suppose to be “obedient and Loyal” to? And if you say that is it your god, then perhaps you could tell me why?

- DA

Posted 11/19/08 06:16 PM

well, since you asked me i will try to break it down for you keep in mind i throughtly respect your right to your own opinion so my answer will stem from what i know as fact.some of it may be things you’ve not heard before so please try to keep an open mind… the holy scriptures speak of a period of time when the grandson of noah nimrod began building a tower- in defience to god’s command to spread out over the earth- god confused their language and as they left off the building work they carried w/ them all their different religious beliefs. there was just one true god then and there is just one true god now- the “greek religions” as well as many others are part of chrisendom and as such make up the world empire of false religion spoken of in the book of revelation and is called collectively “babylon the great” because at that original tower of babel is where all false religion originated. and so you can ignore or you can seek truth but truth is unchangeble.and we are suppose to show loyality and obedience to the only true god who gave his son as a ransom for all mankind and yes he is my god but even more importantly he is the god of all who do not miss the point of why he sent his son to die for us in the first place.now a question for you: are you familiar with god’s oringinal purpose for the earth? the fact that he has shown such love in allowing his son to die on my behalf is why i know he deserves my devotion, psalms 49:7-8 tells me i could never on my own have provided the ransom that was needed.

- cg

Posted 11/20/08 01:41 PM

cg - The problem I have isn’t with what the holy scriptures say. The problem is that, based on history and mythos, there really isn’t any reason to believe it. Other holy books say (and have said) the same thing… That there god is the one true god and that all others are false. There is no reason to believe for a second that, historically speaking, there ever was an actual tower of babylon and even less reason to think that all the worlds religions were born there. The act of god sending his son to die (who is also god) for everyone’s sins (both dead and yet to be born) not only makes no sense, it’s not proof of anything. Both the greek and hindu religions have gods being put to death by being nailed to a piece of wood and coming back to life so your example just really falls flat for me. Perhaps there is another, more logical reason you could give me? Something that doesn’t sound like a story told around a campfire perhaps?

- DA

Posted 11/21/08 12:20 AM

DA i could tell you that the sky is blue and 2+2=4 - you are still going to believe what you want. i perceive that you are a believer in the trinity and that is where your dilemma is-your not alone millions also believe that god is god his son is god (so far that’s 2 persons i count) and that god’s active force or holy spirit is also god. i’m not a believer in the trinity- the sons of isreal were’nt, noah and his descendants were’nt, jesus christ, his disciples not even the demons that jesus expelled thought that god their god was a trinity. the mere fact that you don’t know god’s original purpose for the earth or that he even had an original purpose when he created earth or everything in it is regrettable purhaps one day you’ll ponder the question “if humans were created to go to heaven after we die, why do we even need an earth or a redeemer?”like i said the world religions originated at the tower of babel because it was supposed to be a religious tower so any thing that came away from there was tainted w/ false religious ideas both the greek and hindu religions are part of that world empire of false religions. god’s advesary (satan) does’nt care what god you woship as long as you don’t worship the true god. campfire tale huh? well i’ll stick to my bible and the truth. but homosexuality is not approved of by god and no amount of propaganda, deceptive reasoning or false stories is gonna make that truth go away.

- cg

Posted 11/21/08 02:37 PM

And thanks DA for “keeping an open mind” like i asked- NOT. just because you may not have heard the truth does’nt make it any less truthful. and ask yourself why are there soooo many different religions? where did they all come from. the term “true god” implies that there are those that are false and not true or the one and only.

- cg

Posted 11/21/08 03:01 PM

This argument someone gave in another comment is the stupidest argument I have ever heard: “Romans 1:26-27 “26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.” This is in the New Testament, the second half of the Bible so isn’t as easily dismissible as the arguments in Leviticus.” In accepting and not dismissing the parts of these phrases that relate to homosexuality you also have to accept the parts phrasing sex as womens natural use - in which case you shouldn’t be on the computer writing comments based on your thoughts (because thinking is outside of your natural use), you should be lying on your back with your legs in the air.

- anonymous

Posted 01/08/09 11:58 PM

God loves EVERYONE - even if you don’t. That’s what we have to remember. Self-righteousness has become a standard among the gay hating Christians who quote the bible over and over. I got news for you, if Jesus had a prostitute in his mix, he would accept a gay person and we don’t know that he already did. We are supposed to love the sinners but not the sin. I see an awful lot of judgement on the sinner and not a lot of love. Unfortunately, it is that view that keeps many people away from the church and I think that’s a tragedy. It is our job to welcome all people to God. Bigotry of any kind by Christians keeps potential souls to be saved away and those souls could die unsaved as a result. I am a devout Catholic and a Democrat. I lived many years as an atheist. I have known a lot of gay people because I was in professional theater. Now, I pray for them and still love them. They were kind to me but a lot of Christians try to shame them and exclude them from God’s love. That is where the sin is, as dad’s article states very well.

- Ellen

Posted 04/30/09 05:52 AM

Comment Page: << 1 2 >>