Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Marriage is a civil right, so all you Bible cherry pickers: Stop the false proclamations of faith. It's called bigotry

The pix I chose for this post highlights "Love never fails" from 1 Corinthians 13:8. Sadly, so many who quote the Bible fail to get that wonderful quote, but then again, sadly, it seems, so many who quote the Bible fail to get a whole lotta stuff. If you haven't already, please check out Newsweek's cover article by religion editor Lisa Miller called Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy. And if you can stomach it, then please peruse the religious reactions about Miller's thoughtful article which provides ample proof positive that fundamentalists selectively quote the Bible in order to justify their intolerances and that they choose the Bible as the tool to affirm and legitimize those pre-existing prejudices. After hearing that there is serious backlash to Newsweek for "daring" to print this article, Hubby and I sent this actual email:
Dear Newsweek,
Finally! Someone with some sense in their head writes an insightful article about marriage equality!
Thank you Lisa Miller for having the good sense to thoughtfully write it and thank you Newsweek for having the courage to print it.
As a hetero couple happily married for 9 years (and yes, we were married in a church) and as the proud parents of a kindergartner and 20 month old, it is inconceivable to us to want to deny any couple the very same happiness we so cherish and the family unit we work so hard to grow. We adore each other and our roles as husband and wife to one another, so why would we want to deny that joy to any other couple who also loves and cares for each other?
Not to mention the fact that we’re beyond tired of intolerance and bigotry shaping our laws, and being forced to watch the convenient cherry picking of the Bible distort Jesus Christ’s words of love while forcing hatred upon others in the false name of faith.
Love is way hard to come by in this world, so when 2 people are lucky enough to find it in each other, we as a society should encourage that union and allow 2 consenting adults to cement their bond legally according to our civil laws.
Besides, this simple fact does exist: In the United States, legal marriage is 100% of the time a union recognized by civil law regardless if the couple was married in a religious ceremony or in a civil ceremony.
Not everybody wants to, needs to, or chooses to get married in a church, mosque, or temple. But everyone who is legally married in the United States DOES form a legally recognized civil union regardless if a religious ceremony took place when those 2 people were wed.
So, if religious institutions want to ban same sex marriage, then that is absolutely their prerogative to do so, but our government has zero right, zero responsibility, and zero need to ban same sex marriage.
And for those people who want to continue to use the Bible to justify banning same sex marriage, then they had better get down to the business of making sure people stone their disobedient children, own slaves (but only from nations around us!), kill rape victims (but only those who were raped in the city!), force rape victims to marry their rapist (but only those who were raped in the fields!), stop eating shellfish, stop shaving, be banished for having sex with a menstruating woman, stop wearing clothes made from 2 different materials, and punish farmers who *gasp!* dare to plant their fields with 2 kinds of seeds. If not, then they are HYPOCRITES, and as anyone who has read the Bible knows, Jesus had plenty to say about hypocrites.

Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. Fuzzy and Blue from Ohio
Posted by Tina :: 11:00 AM :: 11 Comments:

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