Yesterday, President Obama came out in support of gay marriage. In an interview with ABC News he explained that his view on the issue had evolved over time and that he felt the need to take an affirmative position.
While the news may come as no shock to many, the most alarming part of his statement (not included in the video linked above) was his use of the Bible to support his position. According to the President:
[Michelle and I] we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and, hopefully, the better I’ll be as president.
In an open letter, Joe Carter has delivered a stern response to the President’s statements.
Considering that you once defined sin as “being out of alignment with my values,” it’s not surprising that you quickly gloss over all that “Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf” stuff (presumably Jesus died on the cross to save us from our misaligned personal values, right?). But your implying that Jesus supports same-sex marriage—and there really is no other way to interpret your statement—is nothing short of blasphemous.
No, Mr. President, Jesus does not support same-sex marriage. Even a liberal Christian like you should not be able to make such an historically and theologically absurd claim with a straight face. The history of Christian thought on sexual ethics from the time of the stoning of Stephen to the Stonewall riots has been consistent that engaging in homosexual behavior is strictly and clearly prohibited by God’s Word.
The rest of the letter is worth a read and can be found at Denny Burk’s blog here.
The problem you’ll run into is that there is a huge number of Christians who agree with Mr. Obama on this issue. I doubt you’d call them Christians, but that’s how they identify themselves and that’s what they believe.
NotAScientist, even if that were the case today it has not been historically.
So?
Historically, Christians were Jews. Then they became Christians. Then they stoned people to death for working on Sundays. Then they didn’t.
There are thousands of different types of Christianity just in America. The President is a different kind of Christian than you are.
So? The types of Christians that disagree with his Christianity, on the whole, were probably not voting for him anyway.
Regardless of theological development and denominational differences, historically orthodox Christianity has been distinguished by certain identity markers (most fundamentally, the confession “Jesus is Lord”), including ethical ones. The historic church, as far as I have read, has been almost unanimous in its understanding of homosexuality as a sin and there is definitely no indication that Jesus endorsed the practice.
The problem I have with mainstream Christianity in America (and the thing that has turned me off from attending church), is the way modern American theology has made the mistake of interlinking religion and government. Separation of church and state is, in my opinion, actually good for the church.
We live in a nation where a large majority of Christians actively spend time, money, and energy fighting against freedom because it goes against their belief. They say they are supporting the “sanctity” of marriage by opposing gay marriage. I’ve got news for you. You can go to Las Vegas, get drunk, and get married by an Elvis impersonator while skydiving, all 100% legal. The divorce rate among heterosexuals has topped 50% now, and even within churches, divorce is fairly common. All the time, money, and energy spent to fight allowing freedom to marry as one wishes could be much better spent on trying to better heterosexual marriages within the church, or heterosexual marriages outside the church through outreach to non-believers.
I used to be a “social conservative”, but no more. I am a supporter of individual liberty, and in order to be a true supporter of individual liberty, you cannot support creating laws that prohibit people from doing things based on personal religious beliefs. I certainly don’t want any laws to interfere with mine, and I don’t want other people’s interpretation of the Bible, God, or anything else to be forced into being my interpretation by creating civil laws that do exactly that. I believe the only way to truly change this country is to change individual hearts through witnessing and testimony, not by the force of law. I don’t remember anywhere in the Bible where Jesus advocated for changing people by using government and laws, and unfortunately, many churches are spending a lot of time, money, and energy trying to do exactly that.