“People want biography. People want memoir. They want you to tell them that the story you’re telling them is true. The thing I’m telling you is true, but it did not always happen to me.”—Dorothy Allison.
Stories that Could Be True—Collection of poems by William Stafford.
*****
This is not the final word. I’m convinced that, as long as the Church exists, there never will be a final word on the topic. You all know my opinions on the matter, if you’ve read my blog at all, so I’m not going to bore you with a defense. First, the numbers:
OK, folks. I understand these statistics are ultimately “meaningless”. The more people who like something does not make it more correct or incorrect. I got enough of the Logic Bug in me to understand this. Almost 2 years ago, I posted a blog about this topic. That day, I was angry. Christians were attacking a close friend of mine and in an overnight snarl, I wrote out my thoughts. It was probably not the most intelligent thing, blogging-while-angry is about as brilliant on the Decide-o-Meter as driving-while-drunk. But I did it anyway.
I soon realized two things. Gay marriage is a hot-button topic for Christians. Duh. I’ve never had a more active post, before or since. It made people angry, and viscerally so. People who I admire, and whose company I enjoy, deleted me from Facebook as a result. In the interest of being fair, I should admit that I also got dozens of private messages thanking me for taking a stand. I wasn’t completely alone in my desperate thoughts of equality. I realize many of my friends stand with me.
The second thing I learned: In my fit of blogging pique, I described the Bible as a “musty old tome”. Boy, oh boy! More people deleted me from Facebook for that one statement than *ever* did my stance on Gay Marriage. I got a message from one former subscriber who said “you did irreparable damage to the Kingdom of God.” Really? God can’t defeat little-ol’-me and my 800-word post where, once, I said the Bible was musty?
Anyhow, I was struck by a thought today as I reminisced. The question for Christians isn’t “Do the LGBT folks deserve the same rights as others?” They’re asking a completely different question: “if Christians accept gay marriage, is the Bible still inerrant, and as a consequence, is God still God?” It’s not about gay marriage at all, when it comes to it. It’s about inerrancy.
This fight has been fought many times, as we’ve dismantled our cultural fences for, first foreigners, and then slavery, and then women. Read the Pentateuch. Little by little, come to accept (like it or not…) the Bible as a NON-inerrant work. We Christians no longer hold to Jewish food restrictions. We kind of unintentionally pick on impoverished people, but aside from them, but today, no group is rejected and denied status more vehemently than those who differentiate themselves sexually.
I believe that LGBT folks are the last group Christians are allowed to marginalize as the “People of God.” I don’t think we recognize it as such, be because we think ourselves, we good citizens of the 21st century world, as beyond bias and marginalization. A wise friend told me once, we all have bias and prejudice, whether or not we choose to admit it. I’ve tried to remember that every day. Is the sanctity of our holy Book worth the pain it causes yet another group of folks?
Take it or leave it. Argue if you like. I know there are lots of facets I haven’t covered, but I’ve tried to limit myself to around 500 words. Blessings upon you all, and espeically you who I’ve offended or hurt with my thoughts and actions in the past.
The B-I-B-L-E!
Yes, that’s the book for me.
I stand upon the Word of God–
The B-I-B-L-E!–A Children’s song I learned years ago.
I’ve read the Bible perhaps a dozen times in my life. I rarely open it now, and when I do, it’s the Greek or Hebrew texts sitting on my shelf.
Brian Jane's Blog. 