Op-Ed: Shrimp Cocktails and Gay Marriage, The Biblical Case against Prop 8

The Bible is a very complex and challenging book and not even those who have devoted a lifetime to its study can say for certain exactly what it all means

It was written, compiled, redacted and rearranged by myriad of writers and editors over a period of centuries. Small wonder, then, that there is a bit of confusion as to some of the details. A state of confusion when approaching the Bible is natural and perhaps even essential to a full appreciation of its meaning since, by the very act of trying to figure out what it all means, one engages in an internal dialogue between oneself and the text, deriving far more value than if one were to simply read it with a mind furnished for a contemporary novel or how-to book. One thing that theologians and average believers generally agree on, however, is that not all of what is written in the Bible is still applicable to modern society. For example, if a father were to attempt to sell his daughter as a sex slave to another man there would be more than a few raised eyebrows -- there would also be a rather unfriendly visit from the police!

"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment."

Exodus 21:7-11 NLT

As for the numerous Biblical references in favor of slavery, since the Civil war they have fallen rather out of favor, and today are seldom seriously advocated in polite society. Furthermore, even very devout Christians seldom advocate stoning to death their fellow parishioners for adultery or women for failing to be virgins at their wedding. So the believer is faced with a dilemma. Should they abandon their faith, or should they keep some commandments while relegating others to the status of historical curiosity? Most choose the latter approach and simply ignore those of the Bible's verses that cannot or should not be applied to modern society -- but how to choose? One method is to recognize the centrality of Jesus' teachings to Christianity and to compare all other passages in the Bible to His teaching, rejecting those which are found to conflict with His message. Which brings us to California’s Proposition 8 which outlawed gay marriage in the state -- at least for the time being. Many of those who oppose gay marriage cite the half dozen or so passages in the Bible, out of the more than thirty thousand verses, that portray homosexuality as a sin in justification for their vote. Prominent among these verses is Leviticus 8:22 which states:

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Lest there be any doubt Leviticus goes on to say:

"If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them."

Leviticus 20:13

That would seem to settle the matter, but does it? Few Christians today still advocate killing gay people, but they do selectively use the text to deny them equal rights before the law. So already they are picking and choosing which commandments to follow and which to ignore. But why stop there? The same Bible book, Leviticus, uses the exact same language to forbid the eating of shellfish:

9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.

10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:

11 They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcasses in abomination.

12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Leviticus 11:9-12

Does that mean that if one has a shrimp cocktail that one has damned one’s soul to hell? And what shall we do about some other of the other things that Leviticus brands “abominations” or worthy of death?

If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.

Leviticus 20:9

Very few “family values Christians” today would advocate killing their children for disrespect. Nor are these folks passionately denouncing the sin of shaving or going to the barber:

Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

Leviticus 19:27

It would appear, then, that a very great deal of the book of Leviticus has fallen into disuse in today’s Christianity, so why cling to the anti-gay verses and ignore the others? What would Jesus do? Well, fortunately, He has nothing bad to say about shrimp cocktails or shaving but neither does He say anything against homosexuality. In fact, He generally avoids the entire matter of sex, licit or illicit, and advises others to do the same. One day the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery and ask him what they should do. They want to stone her to death according to the Law of Moses as spelled out in Leviticus:

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Leviticus 20:10

Instead, Jesus tells them that only he who is without sin may cast the first stone. Since he is the only one present who fits that description and He chooses not to cast any stones the matter is pretty well settled. He looks down and writes something in the dirt. By the time He looks up again all the men had quietly left and only the woman remained.

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

John 7:53-8:1

You will note that he dismissed her without any condemnation or threats as to the consequences if she does not take his advice. As for the men who were prepared to judge the sins of another, Jesus had told them in no uncertain language to mind their own business. This last part cannot be emphasized enough. Throughout the Gospels Jesus takes a very anti-authoritarian, anti-judgmental approach to morals that all but directly repudiates the entire book of Leviticus with its interminable list of dos and don’ts and its minute judging of every aspect of other people’s lives. He warns his followers not to judge others, that is God’s job and God does not appreciate man trying to do his work for him. If they do judge others then they are in danger of being judged themselves, and not in a good way. He also urges us to love one another not in spite of our failings and shortcomings but because of them. We are even to love our enemies and those who we believe are sinners and treat others as we wished to be treated ourselves. None of this bodes well for the supporters of Proposition 8. There is no warrant in the Gospels to judge others as sinful or to try to legislate morality. On the contrary we are to mind our own business and concentrate on removing the log from our own eyes before we presume to remove the splinter from someone else’s. We have enough sins of our own to worry about without daring to worry about those of others. So what would Jesus do? Well I believe He would ignore the pitifully small handful of judgmental verses condemning homosexuality in favor of the vastly larger number of His own teachings that stress love, compassion and acceptance of other people, despite their faults and “sins.” He would point out that worrying about other people’s sexuality was never an important issue to him. And He would welcome one and all, sinners and saints, into the loving embrace of marriage, regardless of their race, religion or sexual orientation. Now, I believe I will go have a shrimp cocktail.