The NYT did get around to covering the firing of that lesbian/pregnant coach in Nashville I reported last week. Here’s the part that baffles me:
Asked if having openly gay faculty and staff members could create a conflict with the university’s Christian character, Mr. Dickens said, “there could be.”
Here’s the bit I can never work out: what about the other sinners? Homosexuality is not the only sin in Christianity. Are they going to start firing people for greed or gluttony? For not attending church services? The bullshit of targeting homosexuals – and not other “sinners” – seems obvious to me, and I don’t understand why no one seems to understand that singling out one kind of sinner – amongst so many choices! – is where the discrimination becomes apparent.
It’s the same old story. Some of the same people (or their predecessors) currently using the Bible to condemn gays also use the Bible to justify slavery and other ills.
Some fundamentalists will tell you that when Jesus tells people to give up all of their possessions, abandon their families and follow Him, well, those are metaphors, and shouldn’t be taken literally. But those few verses in the Old Testament and in Paul’s epistles about homosexuality? Well, those are the inerrant word of God.
Bigots cherry-pick those parts of the Bible they like, and which justify their prejudices. It’s sloppy at best, and dishonest at worst.
Some people really seem to think of Jesus primarily as a mascot for culture warfare. I don’t know whether there’s really more to their faith than that and they’ve just gotten sidetracked, but they behave as if the Son of God was made incarnate to fight gay people.
Homophobia is doomed by demographics. 30 years from now you’ll have trouble finding anybody who will say out loud that gay people’s rights should be limited. People who are hell-bent on handcuffing Christianity to the anvil before it gets thrown in the river… they either honestly believe that anti-gay is the only really important part of Christianity, or they’ve been befuddled by the sturm und drang and need to take a long, quiet, thoughtful walk. With the DAMN TALK RADIO off. Ahem.
Marcus Borg, who’s a canon in the Episcopalian Church, had an interesting commentary on earlier this year where he pointed out:
I agree with you, JC, that in a few generations, this issue will seem as bizarre as separate water fountains for “white” and “colored” people. But in the meantime, people who support equal rights for everyone need to keep up the fight, because the “culture warriors” are going to continue the battle as long as possible, or until they find some other group to use as a punching bag.