Thursday, February 12, 2009

For The Bible Told Me So

I heard about For the Bible Tells Me So from somewhere on the internet and I was curious so I netflixed it. When I watched it I kept thinking OMG, YES! Sadly, I think this movie will only be effective when "preaching to the choir." I don't think it's going to swing any votes or change any minds. I find that disappointing. Things won't change until people do. However, I do think it is a great tool for educating some people; people who in their gut just know that Prop 8 was a load of donkey shit and struggle with what the Bible "says."



Not long ago, the Things and I were chatting while driving somewhere. Some of our most bestest conversations happen in the car. Remember this one? Yeah, awesome! So anyway, Thing1 mentions that he and his friends were discussing whether or not gays should be allowed to marry and he could not for the life of him understand why the heck not... UNTIL... someone said "because the Bible says so." Well that brought my little left wing liberal to a complete halt. He didn't blindly change his mind. Instead he said, something along the lines of "I haven't read that part. I'd like to look into it." (no, seriously, he talks just like that) Then he came to me and pretty much said "WTF Mom!" There ensued a long conversation about how I am absolutely not a Bible literalist and how a book written by humans must be influenced by humans. The Bible did not fall from the sky in 10pt Times New Roman print. We talked about the culture of the time the Bible was written, about how word meanings can change from generation to generation and how words don't always directly translate from one language to another. We talked about using all of that information to understand the Bible (hermeneutics) rather than blindly parroting a verse. I think that people get their panties in a bundle over things and start spouting all kinds of -Oh Em Gee, You are so going to hell- crap when it's our personal issues, not The Big G's issues. Besides, if you really do believe the whole "Great All Knowing I AM" thing then how can you even begin to think that you have a clue what HE thinks? OK, so back to the movie. I'm going to have my children watch this movie. I think it will help them understand that just because someone says so (or someone says the Bible says so) doesn't actually mean it is so. Think my children. Think. That's why God gave you a brain.



Recently, I read an eloquent post about how the gay marriage debate is not about religion but is about a person's rights. I agree with Erika COMPLETELY! Marriage in this nation is a business "merger" between two people. Like tax codes applying to a small business, there are laws and regulations that apply to marriage. Now, I'm not saying that getting married can't be a spiritual thing, what I'm saying is that it is not a spiritual thing to everyone. The state doesn't mandate that you must base your marriage on faith. So how can the state say based on faith, you cannot marry? I just don't get it. But don't take my word for it. Read what Erika has to say:




As much as you don’t want to hear it, your ‘Yes’ vote on Prop 8 was not a
vote about what the word means, but a vote which reinforced my second-class
citizenship. Your vote is not congruent with your professed belief in equality.
Your vote rests on the false assumption that marriage is strictly a contract
between God, man, and woman when, in reality, marriage is the vehicle
delivering people to equal rights, responsibilities, privileges, and protections
and you decided that I’m not worthy of a ride. (Need I remind you that you
asked that we focus on what marriage is in present day reality, rather than
on what it was in past contexts.)




I'm not sure how to end today. Maybe that makes sense. To NOT have a pretty little ending. After all, this is far from over.

3 comments:

Bill said...

Well of COURSE it didn't come down in Times New Roman. In those days, it was still Times Old Roman.

Boy, I crack myself up.

Anonymous said...

I'm so totally impressed by your kid's ability to think for himself. This post is awesome. Thank you.

SP said...

He's a pretty amazing kid. It probably helps that we don't think for him. We sit down with him and help him figure out his own answers. When we first started doing that he would say "Why won't you just tell me what's right?"