The following is a Question about Homosexuality, Politics, and God I posed to a group of my personal friends via Facebook. One is a Masters of Divinity from Duke. The other is a Pastor at a presbyterian Church and represented the church at the recent summit on Gay marriage. It’s my job to ask them tough questions. It’s their job to give good answers. Your insight is also welcome.
The Question
My grandfather was not happy when I voted for a Democrat. A liberal Democrat. A liberal Democrat that wanted to grant gays more rights…
He was upset and let me know that I had put the country in the hands of an idiot whom, considering his stance on homosexuality, was obviously controlled by Satan.
“Just more proof,” he said, “that America is going to hell.”
My grandfather wasn’t the only staunch conservative Christian republican to espouse his disdain for my choice. There have been a throng of others happy to point out the error of my ways: that I’ve endorsed sin and enabled the eradication of God in our Christian founded country.
In fact, many of these people are connected through Facebook and privy to this wall post.
What troubles me about the whole ordeal is how we’re all so sure that granting equality to those with different sexual orientations is going to lead to the destruction of America.
Why is it that granting freedom or pursuing a civil state in which all people are truly recognized as created equal with equal rights is okay as a concept until it pertains to people who want rights different from what we perceive God to want?
Why is it that when the above happens, it’s not equal rights anymore, but the enabling of sin?
When this topic comes up I always hear a connection drawn between what our founding fathers—they are always cited as Christians when the argument is made—and how far we’re straying from the path they trail blazed.
But, if our founding fathers were Christian men, inspired by God, and pursing equal freedoms, then are we not actually right in trying to create a civil state in which all people have it, regardless of sexual or spiritual orientation?
In a nation were there is separation of church and state, is it possible as a Christian to align oneself with a group that promotes equal rights, even if by doing so it protects the right to not be in line with God’s will?
Or, are we Christians justified by God in treating those who chose not to align themselves with God’s will as second class citizens and strip the of their rights?
First, a response from Mr. Duke.
Excellent question. Evangelicalism has made great efforts to fuse Christianity and Nationalism into a single doctrine. Many Evangelicals believe that America was divinely founded and expanded by God under the flag of “manifest destiny.” As recently as a few years ago the conservative radio host and Fox News contributor Glenn Beck was using the term “manifest destiny” to explain how God had founded this nation.
I hope that it is ignorance of history which allows them this view because, as is widely known, manifest destiny was the slogan of 19th century west ward push of European settlers who sought to displace the native occupants of the land – the Native Americans – through force. “Manifest Destiny” was promoted by politicians, newspapers, and church pulpits as God’s will for America. It was carried out following the Civil War by our military who often crushed the heads of native women and children with the butts of their guns and the heals of their boots to conserve ammunition. His will be done.
Many Evangelicals believe that just as God founded the nation of Israel through the conquest of Canaan, so too he founded this country through the annihilation of the American Indians. So, in the eyes of many Evangelicals, America exists under the same divine watch as Israel did in the OT.
Because of this, to allow a federal law that contradicts the Bible would place the United States of America in danger of divine judgment by God. An example of this is when Pat Robertson of the 700 Club claimed that hurricane Katrina was God’s divine punishment of the sinful city of New Orleans.
Does fear of judgment give us the right to dictate how others in our country live? Absolutely not. Our wonderfully wise founding fathers separated the church and the state. This is a brilliant concept that I think many Evangelicals miss. It does NOT impede the church, but rather FREES the church from the involvement of the state. Also, it protects those who are outside of the church from having Christian ideals forced upon them…at least in theory. Of course living in North Carolina I’ve seen that that is not always the case.
My apologies for the time it is taking to get to your question, but there is a lot of history that needs to be explained before we can understand how Evangelicalism came to view Christianity and American politics as an analogous ideology rather than a competing ideology.
The question of homosexual rights is a question of Civil Rights. Most people forget that when Africans were first brought here as chattel it was justified using Scripture. Preachers claimed that the Africans were descendants of Ham, who was cursed by God after the flood “to serve” his brothers (Gen 9:20-27).
It took more than four hundred years, a civil war, and the life of the greatest American prophet Martin Luther King jr before African Americans gained civil rights in 1964. Why did it take so long for us as a nation to let another group of people live freely? Because ignorance is a deep rooted enemy.
The American Constitution is the greatest political document ever penned. It was preceded by the Declaration of Independence which gave all Americans the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It recognized the fundamental truth that all humans have been granted certain liberties by God. Those liberties must be upheld because to infringe upon them is to enter into tyranny.
Now a response from Mr. Prez.
This is an apt question as I just spent an entire week at the PC(USA)’s General Assembly debating mostly about the definition of marriage. I was a commissioner from our presbytery, and I was randomly selected to be on the Marriage and Civil Unions Committee. There were many who wanted the church to perform marriage ceremonies for gay/lesbian couples, especially in states where same-gender marriages are legal. But the Bible uniformly speaks of marriage as between a man and a woman (even in the various constructions of polygamy and levirite marriage). The confessions of the church also uniformly speak of marriage as between one man and one woman.
Now, I embrace the idea that same-gender marriages should be legal. Gay and lesbian couples should have full rights under the law for tax/inheritance/child rearing purposes. If the government is going to give benefits to two people who commit to caring for, providing for, and upholding one another, then that should apply to any two consenting adults. But they cannot be considered Christian marriages. The institution of marriage is a gift of God given in the creation story as man and woman become one flesh–physically and spiritually. The Law upholds this, Jesus upholds this (Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:7), Paul’s letters uphold this, and 2000 years of Christian confession uphold this. No change in the cultural’s view can change what God instituted. There are even ways to honor the faith and love of same-gender couples, but they cannot honor the “becoming of one flesh.”
Put another way, I want my government to fight vehemently for the right of Muslims to gather for prayer. I want my government to fight vehemently for the right of Hindus to build temples on American soil. That does not mean I am any less of a Christian, nor does it mean that I think there should be a space in my church for a Vishnu statue. I want my government to fight vehemently for the right of gays and lesbians to marry, but I do not want to say that God blesses those unions.