Kristof: God and Sex

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/23/opinion/23kristof.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

So when God made homosexuals who fall deeply, achingly in love with each other, did he goof?

That seems implicit in the measures opposing gay marriage on the ballots of 11 states. All may pass; Oregon is the only state where the outcome seems uncertain.

Over the last couple of months, I've been researching the question of how the Bible regards homosexuality. Social liberals tend to be uncomfortable with religious arguments, but that is the ground on which political battles are often decided in America - as when a Texas governor, Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, barred the teaching of foreign languages about 80 years ago, saying, "If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for us."

I think it's presumptuous of conservatives to assume that God is on their side. But since Americans are twice as likely to believe in the Devil as in evolution, I also think it's stupid of liberals to forfeit the religious field.

Some scholars, like Daniel Helminiak, author of "What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality," argue that the Bible is not anti-gay. I don't really buy that.

[George_S]

1. When I suggested a compromise in another thread

I got thrashed pretty good. Some replies were rational though. The other side is not rational at all and that must be taken into account. The word "marriage" is very personal to many people for various reasons, and insisting on calling it "gay marriage" is obviously counter-productive to the cause. The wingnuts are winning this one because of that one word: marriage.