{"id":169,"date":"2012-04-29T08:59:02","date_gmt":"2012-04-29T12:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=169"},"modified":"2012-04-29T08:59:02","modified_gmt":"2012-04-29T12:59:02","slug":"savage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=169","title":{"rendered":"savage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Bible.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just talk about the Bible for a second.\u00a0 People often point out that they can\u2019t help it, they can\u2019t help with the anti-gay bullying \u2018cause it says right there in Leviticus, it says right there in Timothy, it says right there in Romans, that being gay is wrong.\u00a0 We can learn to ignore the bullsh*t in the Bible and what it says about gay people, the same way, the same way we have learned to ignore the bullsh*t in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation.\u00a0 We ignore bullsh*t in the Bible about all sorts of things.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Bible is a radically pro-slavery document.\u00a0 Slave owners waved Bibles over their heads during Civil War and justified it.\u00a0 The shortest book in the New Testament is a letter from Paul to a Christian slave owner about owning his Christian slave, and Paul doesn\u2019t say, \u2018Christians don\u2019t own people.\u2019\u00a0 Paul talks about how Christians own people.\u00a0 We ignore what the Bible says about slavery because the Bible got slavery wrong… if the Bible got the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced wrong, slavery, what are the odds that the Bible got something as complicated as human sexuality wrong?\u00a0 100%…<\/em><\/p>\n

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People are dying because they can\u2019t clear this one last hurdle.\u00a0 They can\u2019t clear this one last thing in the Bible about human sexuality… <\/em>[continuing, as dozens are quietly now walking out..]\u00a0 It\u2019s funny as someone who\u2019s on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible, how pansy-assed some people react.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Such were the words of Dan Savage, an anti-bullying advocate, especially in the gay & lesbian community, speaking at the National High School Journalist Conference in Seattle on Friday.<\/p>\n

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Friends, as said here several times, human sexuality is a tough issue; it\u2019s tough to handle well.\u00a0 The Intramuralist has friends engaged in multiples lifestyles, and as some of us have discussed, this is hard to talk about; people confuse disagreement with disrespect.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n

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What concerns me most about Savage\u2019s words \u2014 founder of the \u201cIt Gets Better\u201d project, an encourager of gay teens to persevere, supported by various celebrities, activists and politicians \u2014 is not his stance on homosexuality.\u00a0 It\u2019s his savage approach.<\/p>\n

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When we disagree with other people, is it appropriate to attack them?\u00a0 Is it appropriate, in a sense, to verbally bully them?\u00a0 … to disparage them or to regard or represent them as being of little worth?\u00a0 Savage not only demeans the people who disagree with him, but also to embolden his point, he denigrates and distorts the source.<\/p>\n

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Choose not to believe in the Bible.\u00a0 Choose this day who you\u2019ll serve.\u00a0 Choose to agree or disagree with it\u2019s teachings.\u00a0 But to suggest that the chances of historical scripture being wrong are \u201c100%\u201d means one also inherently proclaims that oneself is infallible.\u00a0 The lack of humility within that proclamation thinly veils an unfortunate foolishness.<\/p>\n

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I am not suggesting that Savage is right or wrong in his passion regarding the lack of limits on human sexuality; he is entitled to his passionate perspective.\u00a0 He is, however, factually inaccurate in how he presents the contents of scripture, especially, for example, in regard to slavery.\u00a0 The Bible does not condemn slavery; neither does it advocate the brutality and dehumanization that has manifested in the minds of contemporary culture.\u00a0 The Bible teaches against slavery as we know it.<\/p>\n

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I thus wrestle with the reeling discomfort when Savage or any man claims to be more knowing and knowledgeable than God.\u00a0 I wrestle also with the distortion.<\/p>\n

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Friends, I have many flaws.\u00a0 Contrary to not-even-popular belief, I don\u2019t know it all.\u00a0 And there are things within the Bible that are far too wonderful for me, that I cannot even begin to comprehend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But never will I equate my lack of comprehension to a personal omniscience…\u00a0 me, this fairly insightful, witty blogger knowing exactly what is right and exactly what is wrong… me, knowing more or better than God… me, knowing it all… me, being able to claim a lack of comprehension of scripture as a definitive proclamation.\u00a0 I will never proclaim a wisdom all according to \u201cme.\u201d<\/p>\n

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So in those areas where each of us disagree \u2014 where our passions and experience have challenged us in varied manners and ways \u2014 I make one promise:\u00a0 I will never call you \u201cpansy-assed.\u201d\u00a0 I won\u2019t think it either.<\/p>\n

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Disagreement is not the same as disrespect \u2014 and the intentional employment of disrespect and distortion only decreases the validity of one\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Bible.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just talk about the Bible for a second.\u00a0 People often point out that they can\u2019t help it, they can\u2019t help with the anti-gay bullying \u2018cause it says right there in Leviticus, it says right there in Timothy, it says right there in Romans, that being gay is wrong.\u00a0 We can learn to … <\/p>\n

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