A few words on President Obama and same sex marriage:
First I don’t think it should be necessary for any president to have to speak on something so polarizing unless he/she plans on pursuing policy to either push for or fight against said topic. George W. pursued legislation against gay marriage. So his personal opinion mattered. Unless President Obama plans to push legislation, (and so far he hasn’t indicated that he would) I don’t find it necessary that he had to speak on it.
That said the most important thing is how voters will respond.
I’ve heard much about how his stance one way or the other will affect the election. Here is my opinion:
If a person were to make a decision to vote for a president or not for the sake of one or two social issues alone, that person is stupid. First of all, it’s not a president’s primary job to lead social change, but to lead the country in terms of protection, preservation and advancement of the nation he/she leads. If there are social issues that directly or indirectly affect the economy, our security, or prevent us from our best chance as Americans then the President should lead on those. This is not to say that the gay rights issue doesn’t fit those criteria. But again, it will only make a difference if The President pursues policy, not simply his opinion. President Obama said he would turn back DADT in his campaign. It wouldn’t have mattered if LBJ thought Black Americans should have a civil rights bill in his heart but refused to press the power of his bully-pulpit.
I’ve heard comments from Black Christian folk who say that they are either going to vote Republican this November or not vote at all simply because of this issue. Again, that is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.
Number one, regardless of how you feel about gay marriage, there are just too many variables that will affect everyone’s lives whoever becomes president. Whether gays are allowed to get married or not, it’s only going to change the life of the gay community. It won’t prevent a straight person’s ability to marry whom they want. Meanwhile we still have the economy to deal with, Supreme Court justices, foreign policy etc. All of which will have a bigger impact on the country. Gays getting married will not help nor prevent you from getting a job.
Number two, I saw Roland Martin say on CNN last night that it will be interesting to see whether black conservative preachers will lean towards their “political or prophetic voices” when speaking to their congregations. (Martin is an ordained Baptist minister) I thought to myself, “WTF was that supposed to mean? You mean to tell me that if the president is for gay marriage alone that is a deal breaker?
For all the biblical talk about Adam and Steve, Mitt Romney is a Mormon. According to the Institute for religious research, Christianity and Mormonism differ on several central core doctrinal beliefs concerning the person of Jesus Christ.
http://www.irr.org/mit/is-mormonism-christian.html
By their standards, this should trump anything above one moral issue.
Also Romney was for gay marriage not long ago. He’s only changed his public opinion since courting the Republican nomination.
Does that mean that Christians should stay home and not vote for anybody? Again that would be stupid.
Regardless of who you choose to vote for, you need to vote for someone as opposed to not participating in the process. And it would be wise to not isolate anything in particular, but to look at the totality of the policies the candidate would pursue and based on those policies if the nation as a whole is going to be better off.
I challenge you not to be fooled by this idiocy no matter what a preacher says. I mean what the hell is Eddie Long going to say about it?
Nearly every person who acknowledges an aversion to homosexuality does so on the basis of what he or she believes the Bible has to say. In their mind, there is no doubt whatsoever about what the Bible says and what the Bible means. Their general argument goes something like this: Homosexuality is an abomination and the homosexual is a sinner. Homosexuality is condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, if we are to be faithful to the clear teachings of Scripture we too must condemn homosexuality. Needless to say, this premise is being widely debated among evangelicals today and seriously challenged by biblical scholars, theologians and religious leaders everywhere.
It rarely occurs to any of us that our reading of Scripture is profoundly colored by our own cultural context and worldview. In light of the post above and since I happen to speak and write on this topic, I thought you might find some of these posts of particular interest and relevance. I would particularly recommend the following:
“Genesis 19: What Were the Real Sins of Sodom?
“Leviticus 18: What Was the Abomination?”
“Romans 1: What Was Paul Ranting About?”
“Romans 2: Paul’s Bait and Switch”
“Genesis 1: Turning the Creation Story into an Anti-Gay Treatise”
“Why No One in the Biblical World Had a Word for Homosexuality”
“Exegesis: Not For the Faint in Heart”
(Links to these and more may be found by simply clicking the link below and then selecting the “Archives” page.)
-Alex Haiken
http://JewishChristianGay.wordpress.com