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4:33:00 PM EDT
Feeling Happy
I can't believe I've thought about this
Disclaimer: This entry is about an emotionally charged issue and my view points are not going to win me friends on either side of the fence. One side will say I can’t believe YOU were that closed minded, biased, a hatemongerer, and the other side will say that I am a liberal sinner. That being said….I don’t care what anyone thinks. Up until this week, I knew right where I stood on this issue but now, I am finding myself questioning a part of my religious upbringing. This is about me. It is me asking myself "why is that?" It is about my struggle to reconcile logic and theology, which sometimes don’t play nice together. And away we go…..
Southern Baptist Convention Issues Policy Against Interracial Marriages
What would the public reaction be if that headline was published across the country? Can you imagine if any religious group forbade interracial marriages and defrocked ministers who violated that policy? What if an organized religion stated that Caucasians could not marry African Americans and Asians couldn’t marry Latinos? There would be a public outcry and pressure to retract that policy. Certainly there are a few holdout organizations that still promote racial intolerance but for the most part, that is limited to a few. So why is it generally accepted as OK for churches and the government to do the same thing against gay marriages?
I have long been against gay marriages, although I don’t have a problem with someone’s sexual orientation. Why? I don’t know. I was brought up that way. I don’t ever remember formulating such an opinion as a kid, so how did that belief get into my head? Two days ago, I read something in the bible that made me question my "beliefs" in this matter. I haven’t changed my position. I am questioning it.
I have always thought of marriage as a religious institution but it is also a legal institution. I know the Christian stance on marriage but from a purely legal standpoint, what is the purpose of marriage? If it is just to legally record a religious tradition, then it is affecting those who do not follow that religion. It is an issue of legal status and financial tax incentives. Why did the government ever get involved in a religious institution? Is it a hold over from when government and state religion where the same? Who should be allowed to be married?
Most religions have policies against same sex marriages and say that they are morally wrong. The common argument I have heard against gay marriage use the bible as the rationale for the ban. They say, "It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" (I won’t even chase the tangent of intelligent design/evolution). I accepted that without critical thought. If the bible says it than it must be true (not that anyone ever showed me a verse stating the Adam and Steve thing).
Then two nights ago, I’m flipping through the bible and I start reading parts of Nehemiah. I thought that it was the red head stepchild book of the bible. Nehemiah is third string. Everyone knows Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Revelations but no one ever talks about Nehemiah. Nehemiah was always the one that screwed you up when tried to memorize the books of the bible to qualify for that church trip as a kid.
Anyway, I read Nehemiah 13:23-31 which talks of interracial marriages and even killing those who had intermarried. What? I don’t remember THAT in Sunday school. Many white supremacists claim a biblical foundation for this hatred so perhaps this is where it comes from. So this question comes screaming out of nowhere and pops into my head:
If the bible says interracial marriage is wrong but I think that part of the bible is outdated and that interracial marriage is OK, then why should I cling to biblical justification for not allowing same sex marriages. Isn’t that hypocritical? Who gets to pick or choose which parts of the bible are still valid and those that aren’t?
This is the first time I have ever challenged this "belief". The great news is that I am challenging myself, ruthlessly questioning everything. If I am going to have beliefs, by George, I am going to make sure that they are my own and not someone else’s!
Sure, I don't have all the answers but at least I'm trying to ask the right questions!
Next week: "Professing themselves wise, they became fools" (ha ha)
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Bravo CHris....not for the words......for the process for YOURSELF!
As a child I always questioned what didnt "make sense"...I questioned the "Because the Bible says so" and so on. In my lifestyle...do I feel I am morally wrong or corrupt? No. Am I better than others or more enlightened? No. Do I think others are better or more enlightened by their lifestyles or beliefs? Nope.
I truely believe it is of what is inside. SOme seek that "religious" aspect. Some live it. It works for them.
I feel that my character(whatever my lifestyle) and how I am as a person on the whole is more of the representative of WHO I am...and whatever judgement may be thrown my way. I feel how I have chosen to live, the person I am with stand as a testament for me. Whatever that may be. So be it.
I believe in myself. Thus I am okay with my life. How I live it. WHo I live it with. DOes this mean I have no morals? HELL NO.
deep entry man -
I've been reading you for a while, and think you're a really thoughtful and intelligent guy.
In my church, the one with the six-pointed star above the door, Nehemiah isn't a third string guy at all. I mean, yeah, Ezekiel and Isiah get all the chicks, Jeremiah gets the goth babes... but yes, your last commenter is right. The prophets as a group were largely prophesizing at the time about the immediate present to their fellow Jews. Why those who were chosen for the canon are there is because ON THE WHOLE they had a strong message.
Let's look at life in Judea in about 1000 BCE, then. First, you have this pretty young religion whose tenets are still not exactly solid. It can be a fairly forbidding religion - you are told when to pray, what to eat, what to wear (check it out; there is indeed a provision forbidding you from wearing linen and wool in the same garment) - but it's got a G-d who tells you to not murder, not screw around on your wife, and make sure that the poor are clothed and fed. Meanwhile, up a few miles away, you have a bunch of folks who do what they want, when they want and how they want. Yeah, they've got some child sacrifice things going on... but they've got cult prostitutes!!! woohoo!! screw for baal!!
So, was Nehemiah REALLY against mixed marriage?
p.s. - The Southern Baptist Convention was in fact opposed to what they called "miscegenation" up until fairly recently. -
When I lived in Michigan, my bishop was white, but had a black wife and two beautiful mixed children. Maybe some religions hold on to that passage, but I don't believe most do anymore. So yeah, you have a valid point when it comes to homosexual marriages.
I mean, I know people that aren't religious at all that are married. They had a non-religious wedding at the courthouse. So there ARE marriages that have nothing to do with religion. (What I mean is, there are marriages that weren't necessarily "I stand before God" yadda yadda yadda.)
Marriage and religion do not necessarily need to coexist. So why can't gay people get married?
Ari -
Chris, I am no theological person; just a person who loves the Lord and I'm trying to follow Jesus in all I do.
Here's my thoughts and my thoughts only. I admire you for taking the time to write down your thoughts and for taking the time to read the Bible.
I believe each book in the Bible has to be taken in full context of the entire Bible and when I read a particular passage, I might get incensed about it, but I have to take it relative to the circumstances of that present situation, what it might have been related to past or present or future and why did God allow that particular part to be included in the Bible because I believe every word in it is true and every word is God inspired and breathed.
I got my Bible out after I read your entry and read Nehemiah 13:23-31. You are right; he does say to kill those who had intermarried. But why did he say to kill those? I don't think it was because he hated those people and that's when I have to look at the whole Bible and not a particular passage. The Israelites at the time had promised the Lord they would not marry or give their daughters to others outside of their race (Nehemiah 10:30). The Lord had a purpose for telling the Israelites not to marry people from other tribes. He knew they would drift to the idolatry those people practiced and go away from loving and serving Him because they had done it so many other times throughout their history. He was protecting them, trying to keep them focused on Him and not give in to idolatry.
The Lord loves all people; He hates the sin, but loves people. There is a difference, as you know. I love all people, but I necessarily do not love the lifestyle they may choose to live. I can pray for them, though, and love them and not condemn them.
So I respect your opinion and look forward to reading more thoughts you have on different subjects.
betty
http://journals.aol.com/lv2trnscrb/Ofmini-pawsandmenopause/
12/18/05 3:13 PM
I need to force myself to take the time to research this more thoroughly, if only because the whole thing intrigues me, and I really want it to be alright. As long as we love one another, why should it be wrong whether you are black, white, gay or straight?
Loved this entry. Loved it.
jackie
http://journals.aol.com/sienn