Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Sound Words on Newsweek

On the debate over gay marriage, Prop 8, and Newsweek's entry in the foray, Jonathan Dodson has some sound words:
Wherever you are on this issue, you need to be there not by blind conviction but by careful and deliberate analysis of both sides of the issue. I have friends who are for and friends who are against. I have gay friends who think it is ridiculous to use the Bible to support gay marriage and friends who think it is silly to use the Bible to rail against gay marriage. And herein lies one of the key problems, those friends are “using the Bible” not faithfully interpreting it. Whatever your conviction is, if you use the Bible, don’t. Instead, interpret it as you would want your blog, paper, or will interpreted—word by word, aimed at getting the author’s intention, not in sneaking in your bias.

Newsweek offers one reading of the Bible. Get Religion offers another reading. Both pieces are pretty inflammatory and thin on reading the Bible closely. If you read both, I hope you'll be convinced to read the Bible itself. Grab a Bible, turn to the Concordance, and look up “marriage” and “homosexuality.” Then read two scholarly treatments of the issue here and work through some conclusions. Do it with integrity; do it in love, please.

1 comments:

Maria. said...

I read most of this article from Newsweek earlier this week and was stunned about the views expressed about the Bible, even saying that it was living and active but completely denying that with the rest of the article. Thank you for sharing this with others, Ryan.