Posted by Damon Linker does a good job of laying out the reasons why conservatives believe that opposing same-sex marriage is not akin to racism.
The big deal is that strictures against homosexuality are rooted far more deeply in the Judeo-Christian tradition than racism ever was. Yes, slavery is found throughout the scriptures and comes in for criticism only, at best, by implication. But race-based slavery — and the racism that made it possible and continues to infect ideas and institutions throughout the West to this day — receives no explicit endorsement from the Bible.
Which isn’t to say that those seeking to justify race-based slavery or racism couldn’t, and didn’t, twist biblical passages to make them provide such justification. But the Hebrew Bible and New Testament clearly do not teach (either explicitly or implicitly) that buying, owning, and selling African slaves is next to godliness.
The same cannot be said about the normative teaching on human sexuality contained within the Judeo-Christian scriptures — and even more so, within the interpretative and theological traditions that grow out of them. In dismissing this teaching so casually, Chotiner ends up implying that traditionalist churches and religious communities are the moral equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan.
I’ve heard black folks object to the comparison between racism and homophobia because some still see homosexuality as a choice. That’s demonstrably false.
The conservatives whom I read, who appear to engage critically with their theological tradition don’t hold the old view of homosexuality as a choice. But within the contexts of their religious tradition, they will still view homosexuality as a disordered reality. You can’t choose to be gay or straight – fine. But if the choice was made for you (by dint of biology) that you’re gay, your desires are still disordered.
We’re all fallen creatures and so gays, though born more fallen so to speak, are still deserving of God’s love. Pope Francis has emphasized this point; without changing Catholic traditional Catholic teaching on the permissiveness of homosexual behavior. It’s an important shift in tone because trad Catholics teach that it’s not mutually exclusive to love gays and still disapprove of their behavior. (Love the sinner, hate the sin). A God-fearing homosexual would be commanded, in their opinion, to live chastely. To deny their desires because of that disordered element.
That’s an incredibly restrictive view of how homosexuals should conduct themselves; one with which I do not agree. I don’t think it’s intrinsically homophobic either. But we see why conservatives oppose SSM.
The traditional conception of marriage is not simply to produce babies; after all, elderly and/or impotent people wouldn’t be able to marry then. It is also to provide a forum for people to act on their sexual desires. In their conception, a right-minded homosexual cannot/should not live out his or her desires.
You don’t have to agree with their thesis. But I think it’s instructive to note that opposition of homosexual behavior and SSM isn’t always rooted in idiotic bromides such as “God hates fags.” or “ICCKKKYY!!!” No, that’s wrong on all levels.
Photo Credit: Gayworldsnews.go
