We can learn from debate over slavery - Strib oped

[question everything]

To many, it feels wrong to stop people who love each other from publicly sanctifying their commitments. Yet Christians base their beliefs on the Bible, and doesn't the Bible condemn homosexuality? So how could a Christian who regards the Bible as a revelation of God's purposes support a gay right to marry?

These questions may not be so hard to answer. They are similar to questions raised in debates about the Bible and slavery that divided white Christians at the time of the Civil War. And the way Christians argued about the Bible and slavery then might be a model for how we deal with the Bible and gay rights now.

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Abolitionists admitted that the Bible's pro-slavery texts are very explicit. But they regarded their meaning and relevance as strictly limited to the place and time of their authorship.

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For example, the shocking behavior of the people of Sodom (Gen. 19), from which the "crime" of sodomy derived its name, consists in an attack on vulnerable travelers, not homosexuality. "Angels" seek shelter in the home of Abraham's nephew Lot. The townspeople of Sodom gather at Lot's door, apparently intending to rape the guests. Lot protests "do not act so wickedly." The Lord destroys the town as a punishment and a warning. The text condemns sexual violence that targets the vulnerable -- a failure of neighbor love. It has little bearing on modern issues of gay rights.

But even supposing these passages did condemn homosexuality: Following the example of the abolitionists, we should still judge them relevant only insofar as they are consistent with the demand for neighbor love.

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David Booth is an associate professor of religion and director of the Center for Integrative Studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield.


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