WTH? Simply claiming something is so doesn’t make it so.

It’s long past time that we demand hard compelling evidence where religion is concerned. “It’s written it in a holy book” would be laughable if so many people didn’t take it seriously and use it to bludgeon those they don’t like. It’s no wonder Martin Luther condemned and warned against the use of “reason.” It cannot support religion.

Timothy– a bigger problem with that is this. What if G doesn’t give you the gift? The Catholic Church maintains that celibacy is a charisma, a literal gift from G. and not everyone is granted that charisma, nor the priesthood, or all the other charisma.

As for Yearey’s article, it’s interesting and something I hadn’t read about before (despite the discussion of McCain’s ever-changing claims about his religious affiliation). I guess it kind of good that McCain’s pastor isn’t a frothing anti-gay bigot, just a mild-mannered “love the sinner, not the sin” type. His article is still full of pretty harsh condemnations of homosexuality, and to be honest, I’m not conviced he doesn’t subscribe to some version of the “gays can change” theory. For instance, what exactly is he referring to in in this paragraph:

“We eventually located help in a church that had sensed God’s calling to provide redemptive help. Their sense of mission saved my young friend from much pain and heartbreak. The solution was not simple, but something good continues to happen in Mark’s life. It took commitment, encouragement, prayer, and relentless family support to reach a redemptive conclusion.”

What was that “redemptive conclusion?” Celibacy? Conversion? Eunicure? He never says, but the incredible vagueness of that description is kind of unsettling.

Even if Yeary’s not a super anti-gay crusader, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that policy-wise McCain’s still on the wrong side of virtually every significant issue of concern to the LGBT community. To his credit he voted against a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, but beyond that he remains the worst candidate in the race on gay issues.

There’s no question that he hasn’t ever been and won’t ever be an “unwaivering ally of gay equality,” the question is how bad would he be? While he may not have any personal inclination to use gay issues as a political weapon, he’s still the candidate of a party that has had no hesitation about using just such tactics. I’m not the slightest bit confident that he won’t stoop to attacking the Democratic candidate (whoever it ends up being) on gay-related issues. The guy’s got to convince those doubters that he’s a “real conservative” after all–no better way to prove your social conservative bona fides than to hate on the gays.

Some other observations that cloud this is-so-clear condemnation.

The passage, often quoted as condemning homosex, actually refers only to men, and probably only to anal intercourse, which is how a recent meeting of conservative rabbis interpreted it. To call it a clear condemnaiton of homosex is to engage in wishful thinking– wishful, bigoted, hate-filled, judgmental thinking, to be precise.

The KJV, which is the one usually quoted, was based on documents which were only 300 or 400 years old at the time. I don’t know enough about the history of these documents, and whether they still exist, but i can say that relying on documents which are copies of copuies of copies 1200 years after the fact is not a very valid historical process, especially when you are able to trace the changes, inconsistencies, and mis-translations.

The same word abomination in this passage is also used to describe the eating of shrimp, and refers to idolotrous practices. In other words, the word “abomination” does not mean what WE think it means, nore does it mean to us what it meant to King James, and since it is a latin translation of a hebrew word, may mean even less than that.

The failing that I see with the whole reparative therapy movement is that they are trying to force people to fit into their interpretation of the Gospel of the 1st century, instead of articulating the Gospel in light of today’s reality.

And I really hate the use of the term “culture war”. The Nazis had a similar phrase, Kulturkampf. Raises my hackles, that does. I daresay that most gay people simply want to be left to live their lives in peace with the same rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that anyone else has.