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Last week, Newsweek printed an amazing pro same-sex article titled "Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy" which stirred up a lot of reactions, for and against.
In response to the large amounts of reaction, Newsweek decided it was only right to have two biblical scholars debate the topic, showing both sides of the argument. Bill Wylie-Kellerman, a United Methodist serving as pastor at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Detroit and for same-sex marriage, and Dr. Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy and research at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, against same-sex marriage, engage each other in an email debate.
You can read their exchange on Newsweek, "The Good Book and Gay Marriage".
It doesn't stop there - the comments from readers on-line spark a lively debate among them, including yours truly. It's important to voice our opinions, to let them know that we are many. For those who don't participate in the Christian religion, we will never truly agree to base our government's rule on the Bible and not the Constitution, so for us, this debate is rather moot (sort of). For those who are Christian homosexuals, please speak up even more. We need you. It's time to build bridges.
12/21/24
4 hours ago
I don't know why, but reading this (well, one side of it anyway) made me feel so dirty (or as the one side would have it, "unclean"). I had that same feeling the morning after election day, and I don't get it. I'm not the least bit religious, and I'm not a self-hater.
ReplyDeleteThough, yeah, I likely have some residue, I guess, of the developmental period alluded to in the exchange when lots of budding young gays try to avoid the inevitable.
I hate feeling that residue. But I think I'm more feeling the residue of disgust that I share humanity with people whose actual concept of god is one that's such a hater. Ycch.
I know exactly what you mean. I was raised in a fundamental Christian household, and let's just say, I grew up feeling horrible for my attractions.
ReplyDeleteI still do have what you call "residue." I'm also not religious nor a self-hater. But I think of it like Pavlov's dog: someone says we're sinning (or unclean), and something deep inside us reacts. Not because we agree, but we've been conditioned in this society to think we're gross and perverted, over and over and over again.
Luckily, I've worked through my issues on this and am aware when I feel that residue and what it means. And it's that residue that motivates me to keep this fight up.