Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy | Newsweek.com
Excerpt:
Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their
word and define marriage as the Bible does. Shall we look to Abraham,
the great patriarch, who slept with his servant when he discovered his
beloved wife Sarah was infertile? Or to Jacob, who fathered children
with four different women (two sisters and their servants)? Abraham,
Jacob, David, Solomon and the kings of Judah and Israel—all these
fathers and heroes were polygamists. The New Testament model of
marriage is hardly better. Jesus himself was single and preached an
indifference to earthly attachments—especially family. The apostle
Paul (also single) regarded marriage as an act of last resort for
those unable to contain their animal lust. "It is better to marry than
to burn with passion," says the apostle, in one of the most lukewarm
endorsements of a treasured institution ever uttered. Would any
contemporary heterosexual married couple—who likely woke up on their
wedding day harboring some optimistic and newfangled ideas about
gender equality and romantic love—turn to the Bible as a how-to script?
Of course not, yet the religious opponents of gay marriage would have
it be so.
For more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653
