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THE QUESTION
Is there a religious and/or scriptural case for gay marriage?
Religious Case for Gay Marriage
Is there a religious and/or scriptural case for gay marriage?
» Read Newsweek's Cover Story on this issue.
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on December 9, 2008 11:20 AM
FROM THE PANEL
God's Word Is Bigger than Either Side Admits
The issue is never what the Bible says; it's what the readers say it says. Each side should admit that there is a world of difference between insisting on knowing what God thinks and making a good faith effort at acting in light of what one believes God asks of them
Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on December 15, 2008 3:21 PM
Don't Impose Theology on Matrimony
Marriage--gay or heterosexual--should be a right available to every citizen, but never a legal act, ritual, or formal ceremony that any house of worship, denomination, or religious leader should be required to perform in contradiction to their beliefs.
Posted by Welton Gaddy, on December 15, 2008 2:51 PM
Scriptural and Religious Cases for Gay Marriage
You can with some contrivance make a scriptural case against same-sex marriage, but not FOR most things we practice and cherish in other marriages, as Lisa Miller so well pointed out.
Posted by Martin Marty, on December 15, 2008 1:03 AM
Quranic Values as an Inspiration for Gay Marriage
It may be a radical reading to use the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet to justify gay marriage, but to me it is the only one which upholds the fundamental Islamic ideals of fairness, equality of all human beings, compassion and mercy.
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on December 14, 2008 11:38 AM
Text, Context and Pretext
Miller interprets the Bible the way many Christians do--seriously, but not literally. She reminds us that using a text or string of texts to prove a point only proves one point: that the advocate or community brings a presumption about God or the Bible or Christianity to bear on the text.
Posted by William Tully, on December 14, 2008 10:18 AM
Same-Sex Marriage: The Emerging Torah
The Biblical prohibition of same-sex sexual relationships is rooted in three basic rules the Hebrew Bible prescribes for proper sexual ethics. But these rules were not set in stone forever.
Posted by Arthur Waskow, on December 14, 2008 4:18 AM
WWJM? Who Would Jesus Marry?
Yes, there is a scriptural case to be made for gay marriage and that case is nothing less than the all inclusive love of God as taught to us by Jesus Christ.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on December 14, 2008 12:06 AM
Gay Rights: Religious Justification And Condemnation Equally Irrelevant
Faith-based arguments on behalf of gay marriage actually give aid and comfort to the sort of right-wing religious groups that threw volunteers and huge amounts of money into the California battle over Proposition 8, because they legitimize the idea that religious belief is a proper test for determining legal rights.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on December 11, 2008 2:02 PM
There is No Gay Marriage in the Bible
When Jesus talked about marriage and quoted from Genesis 2:24 it is hard to conclude that he was talking about anything other than one man and one woman.
Posted by Leith Anderson, on December 11, 2008 1:23 PM
The Religious Case For and Against Gay Marriage
Everyone simply brings their religious views and their scriptural passages to prove, legitimate, and affirm their already held political and psychological positions. This is religion as apologetics and proof texting.
Posted by Irwin Kula, on December 11, 2008 12:54 PM
Bible Is Inclusive But Insistent
Nowhere in the Bible is homosexual activity praised or advocated. The only mentions of it condemn the practice. On the other hand, the Bible has plenty to say about the marriage of one man to one woman.
Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on December 10, 2008 11:00 PM
No, and Newsweek Should Know Better
Newsweek offers a revisionist argument for the acceptance of same-sex marriage. But it is not a thin extreme of fundamentalist Christians who stand opposed to same-sex marriage -- it is the vast majority of Christian churches and denominations worldwide.
Posted by R. Albert Mohler Jr., on December 9, 2008 2:13 PM
Yes, If You Believe in a Loving, Inclusive God
The drama and pathos that has erupted over gay marriage is not because the Bible endorses heterosexual relationships as the norm. It has erupted because there has been a veil of "nastiness" attendant to sexuality, whether straight or gay.
Posted by Susan K. Smith, on December 9, 2008 1:56 PM
How About the Human Case?
Can a religious case be made for gay marriage? Well--and here's the key thing--yes, if you judge by the fact that there are clergy very willing to marry gay couples.
Posted by Gustav Niebuhr, on December 9, 2008 12:41 PM
The Real Issue is Violence, Not Sex
Let us debate about sex and marriage rather than war and violence. Let us concentrate on the bed-room rather than the war-room. Let us liberals get trapped--as always--on the right side of the wrong question. Does that distraction happen just by chance?
Posted by John Dominic Crossan, on December 9, 2008 12:24 PM
Gay Unions, YES; Gay Marriage, NO
Gay unions should have equal rights, but these should not be confused with equal benefits or with equal dignity.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on December 9, 2008 1:44 AM
FEATURED COMMENTS
loveandpeace: What about this?
Any Gay who is a Christian, can not get married, because it is against their religion.
They can get married if they leav...
diaco7529: Almighty God the one who created life and marriage says very clearly in His Holy that He created and intends marriage to be only as one man ...
ParkerR1: I think the issue is larger than citizenship. IMO the United States has thrived bacause it has had within its constitutional background a "m...
