Hoisted By His Own Petard!
By L. Russell Allen - Jun 24th, 2008 at 1:41 pmAccording to an AP report, Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson is accusing Barack Obama of distorting the Bible for his own ends:
Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy - chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, “a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application.”
“Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles,” Obama said.
Dobson and [senior vice president for government and public policy at Focus on the Family Tom] Minnery accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament.
Um, wait a second. Focus on the Family is an organization that’s partially dedicated to rewiring gays into God-fearing heterosexuals.
And most God-fearing heterosexuals will tell you that homosexuality is sinful because of a passage in Leviticus:
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth 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, King James Bible
It’s clear that the Torah does not treat homosexuality lightly. But Leviticus is chock full of slavery and incest and all sorts of things that Chirstians no longer find acceptable. Both Dobson and Obama are correct that Leviticus shouldn’t be compared to Jesus’ teachings.
So, the question for Dr. Dobson is:
WHY START AN ORGANIZATION DESIGNED TO PERPETUATE THE IDEA THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS SINFUL!?!?
The only New Testament mention you’ll find of homosexuality is in Paul’s letter to the Romans:
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
~Romans 1:26-27, King James Bible
This passage downgrades homosexuality from an abominable mortal sin to something merely unnatural. Now, I don’t think many contemporary progressives will be down with that sentiment, but it’s a giant step from stoning gays to death. Progress!
If Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament are truly the core of Christianity, why did he start an organization dedicated to making gays ashamed of themselves? Jesus didn’t say a damn thing about homosexuality. He said quite a few things about tolerance and forgiveness and loving thy neighbor.
But if Dobson wants to undermine his gigantic hateful organization to take a potshot at a presidential candidate, then who are we to get in his way?
Dobson says of Obama, “I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said. “… He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.” Well said James, and perhaps you are right. But isn’t that the point Obama was trying to make? That you can in fact take scripture and twist it to fit your own worldview or “confused theology?” Wasn’t this Obama’s point and isn’t this what you have been doing for years James? The idea that the Bible speaks out both (or multiple) sides of its “mouth” is neither new, nor surprising, but it underlines a basic point: USING the Bible to ones political advantage is astoundingly moronic. OF COURSE, you can find a scripture passage that “backs up” or “supports” your belief/opinion, but, for the most part, these provisions are contradicted or made ridiculous elsewhere in the Bible (both Old and New Testament) by another passage. Traditional understanding of the Bible? Try a Rorschach test rather!
June 24th, 2008 at 2:00 pmNever mind the fact that it is physically impossible for a man to “lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman.”
June 24th, 2008 at 3:21 pmLeviticus is all about these rules for keeping the minority population (Jewish people) from disappearing from the face of the earth. They were being killed from all over, so there were these rule set so that wouldn’t die out. So for sex, it meant that sex=reproduction, and homosexual partners could not have babies so it was deemed bad.
So these arguments are really worthless now that there are over 90,000 kids leaving the children and family services each year while all these good James Dobsens’ of the world are too busy bible thumping to provide the tradition family structure that they preach. Awesome.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:11 pmI honestly don’t understand why people take this man seriously. He is, in my opinion, one of the worst things to happen to Christianity in the public sphere in recent history.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:56 am