June 9, 2006--Fanaticism XXXVIII--The Gay Divorcee
Though the Senate has taken a pass on a Constructional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages, it is still up for salacious debate in the House. And we are certain to hear much more about it between now and the November election since everyone agrees that Republicans will keep it around--it is the ideal wedge issue. Worried that their “base” will stay home come Election Day, Republican strategists believe that if they can keep Evangelical Christians furious about he prospect of gay marriages they will turn out in sufficient numbers to keep Republicans in control of Congress.
In truth their real fear is not that Little Jessica will have two mommies. Rather they are trembling at the prospect of Democrats gaining Congressional subpoena power and launching investigations about how we got into Iraq, Katrina, domestic spying, and even that there might be a move on the part of the House Judiciary Committee to impeach President Bush. No kidding.
But even though there will be no Constitutional Amendment I have been thinking more about why homosexuality makes so many people crazy enough to vote for people such as Senator Brownback of Kansas. For certain just plain homophobia plays a role. But setting homophobia and political cynicism aside for a moment, what about the biblical and social issues that concern so many religious and conservative people. How clear and unambiguous, for example, is the biblical assertion that homosexuality is an “abomination”? Or the social concern that it is essential for a child to be raised by a still-married mother and father?
Though this is an immensely complicated and contested subject, the biblical idea that homosexuality is an abomination rests solely on Leviticus 18:22 which in some translations says: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
I’ve highlighted “some translations” because there are many variations in translations and widely differing views about just what this sanction is in fact about. Does it ban all sexual activity between two men; or only anal sex between two men; or just anal sex between two men during a Pagan temple ritual; or between two men in a woman’s bed? And what about sex between women? The Bible has little if anything at all to say about that.
For many who oppose same-sex marriages the concern is not so much about which private body parts are inserted into which God-condemned orifices but rather that homosexuality threatens marriage and child rearing.
First a note about the magnitude of the problem—there are no accurate data about the number of children being raised by two mommies or two daddies. This is impeded by the fact that many states do not allow residents to register the parentage of children conceived and raised by same-sex parents. Thus, we are left with estimates about the numbers. It appears to be between two and six million. A considerable number at either extreme. But the studies about the social and mental health of children raised this way, including the fear that they will grow up with a confused sexual identity or worse be gay themselves, all such studies conclude that there are no significant differences between these and children raised by traditional mothers and fathers—they are equally messed up! Or not.
Back to the politics—the NY Times quotes James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a fervent proponent of the Constitutional amendment, who promises to have his followers retaliate in November against those in Congress who vote against it—they are “going to have to answer for it.” Spoken like a true prophet. (Article linked below.) And when he begins to target individual Senators such as Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, he asks, “Why doesn’t Senator Salazar believe every child needs a mother and a father?”
Excellent question, assuming that this is what the debate is all about—banning gay marriages so every kid can have just one mother and only one father. If that’s the case, then maybe we need a Constitutional amendment banning divorce. With the divorce rate hovering between 40 and 50 percent, with even 30 percent of Baptists divorcing, that assures tens of millions of kids growing up with just one parent, gay or straight.
But if we made divorce illegal, we’d have to put a lot of Evangelical Conservatives in jail—many who lead mega-churchs, head pro-family organizations, father out-of-wedlock children, even sit in Congress and at times in the White House.
In truth their real fear is not that Little Jessica will have two mommies. Rather they are trembling at the prospect of Democrats gaining Congressional subpoena power and launching investigations about how we got into Iraq, Katrina, domestic spying, and even that there might be a move on the part of the House Judiciary Committee to impeach President Bush. No kidding.
But even though there will be no Constitutional Amendment I have been thinking more about why homosexuality makes so many people crazy enough to vote for people such as Senator Brownback of Kansas. For certain just plain homophobia plays a role. But setting homophobia and political cynicism aside for a moment, what about the biblical and social issues that concern so many religious and conservative people. How clear and unambiguous, for example, is the biblical assertion that homosexuality is an “abomination”? Or the social concern that it is essential for a child to be raised by a still-married mother and father?
Though this is an immensely complicated and contested subject, the biblical idea that homosexuality is an abomination rests solely on Leviticus 18:22 which in some translations says: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
I’ve highlighted “some translations” because there are many variations in translations and widely differing views about just what this sanction is in fact about. Does it ban all sexual activity between two men; or only anal sex between two men; or just anal sex between two men during a Pagan temple ritual; or between two men in a woman’s bed? And what about sex between women? The Bible has little if anything at all to say about that.
For many who oppose same-sex marriages the concern is not so much about which private body parts are inserted into which God-condemned orifices but rather that homosexuality threatens marriage and child rearing.
First a note about the magnitude of the problem—there are no accurate data about the number of children being raised by two mommies or two daddies. This is impeded by the fact that many states do not allow residents to register the parentage of children conceived and raised by same-sex parents. Thus, we are left with estimates about the numbers. It appears to be between two and six million. A considerable number at either extreme. But the studies about the social and mental health of children raised this way, including the fear that they will grow up with a confused sexual identity or worse be gay themselves, all such studies conclude that there are no significant differences between these and children raised by traditional mothers and fathers—they are equally messed up! Or not.
Back to the politics—the NY Times quotes James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a fervent proponent of the Constitutional amendment, who promises to have his followers retaliate in November against those in Congress who vote against it—they are “going to have to answer for it.” Spoken like a true prophet. (Article linked below.) And when he begins to target individual Senators such as Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, he asks, “Why doesn’t Senator Salazar believe every child needs a mother and a father?”
Excellent question, assuming that this is what the debate is all about—banning gay marriages so every kid can have just one mother and only one father. If that’s the case, then maybe we need a Constitutional amendment banning divorce. With the divorce rate hovering between 40 and 50 percent, with even 30 percent of Baptists divorcing, that assures tens of millions of kids growing up with just one parent, gay or straight.
But if we made divorce illegal, we’d have to put a lot of Evangelical Conservatives in jail—many who lead mega-churchs, head pro-family organizations, father out-of-wedlock children, even sit in Congress and at times in the White House.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
1:35 PM
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