My debate Monday night in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Southern Theological Seminary was insightful as to why Evangelicals are increasingly politically marginalized. For the record, I am a fan of Evangelicals because they raise strong, faith-based families, serve disproportionately in the military, love Israel, and try and enrich an increasingly materialistic culture with values. But, for goodness sake, what is this obsession with homosexuality?
I debated my long-time nemesis Dr. Michael Brown, one of America's leading Christian scholars, with whom I have a warm and mutually respectful relationship. It was the best of the twenty-odd debates we did: scholarly, contemporary, fiery, and on both sides ferociously-argued (you can see the debate at Shmuley.com). The subject: Is Homosexuality America's Greatest Moral Crisis? Our audience was nearly all Evangelical Christian, and here is where they lost me.
I argued passionately that Evangelicals had become obsessed with homosexuality. They took a single prohibition in the Bible and elevated it to single moral standard besides which all else pales. I pointed out how in 2004, amid President George W. Bush being the most hated man on earth he still won the election because of Evangelical support. The reason: as the polls showed, 22% of all voters had voted for values. But now, on the day of the midterm elections, the Tea Party had completely usurped the place of the Evangelicals. The only thing being discussed in this election was jobs, money, the size of government, and the national debt. In other words, the economy and money. Not one major values-based issue was even on the table. Why? Because the people who talk about values and are a large voting block -- primarily Evangelical Christians -- had utterly marginalized themselves with their obsession over homosexuality. Forget about the fifty percent divorce rate, the growing sexualization of young teens (Miley Cyrus is now pole-dancing), the collapse of the American economy because of addiction to shopping; no, all the problems in America can be laid at the feet of gays. And if we stop the gay agenda, then America will suddenly be transformed into a family-friendly, spiritually rich, Eden-like Shangri-La.
I could not move them. Try as I might, my audience would not budge. Even when I told them that I came down to Charlotte not primarily for a debate but to plead with my Christian brothers and sisters to recapture their relevance, they stood their ground. They were proud of it. No compromise with sinners. We'll go down with the ship if that's what Jesus wants from us. By hook or by crook, America will be moral. Homosexuality will be stopped.
But didn't Jesus say 'Judge not that ye not be judged'? Did he not say that all are sinners? And was I not saying that they have a right to regard homosexuality as a sin but not to tell gays and lesbians that they have crossed some imaginary line and now can have no relationship with G-d? Did not the same Bible that labeled homosexuality as being in contravention to the divine will not also say that 'It is not good for man to be alone,' and should we not be telling gays and lesbians who have no attraction to the opposite sex that there are hundreds of commandments in the Bible left for them to keep? No, homosexuality represented the fall of American morality and the breakdown of common decency.
The point of no return was when Dr. Brown said that in terms of sinfulness homosexuality was the same as bestiality, incest, and pedophilia. I should have been thrilled at the comparison. Dr. Brown spends most of his time trying to convert Jews to Christianity and I should have welcomed this act of self-immolation. Instead, because he is a friend and, amid our profound disagreements, a refined gentleman, I pleaded with him to come back from the brink. I repeated over and over again that this debate was being recorded for posterity and he would irreversibly damage his credibility with thinking people everywhere if he made the insane comparison. But rather than relent, he instead asked the audience members to raise their hands if they agreed he had come across as an extremist. Amid hundreds of people, only three hands went up. My heart sank. This is a community I admire. I lecture to Christian groups all over the world. We need their voice in the American values debate. Religious Christians are people of inspiring faith. But by supporting the comment that homosexuality was akin to pedophilia and bestiality they too had crossed a line. And it would be difficult to come back.
What is needed are Evangelical Christian leaders who finally change the subject and focus us on what really can be done to save the American family, namely, strengthening marriage, reducing the divorce rate, increasing male respect for women, and pushing for a congressional bill to make marital counseling tax-deductible so that couples who need help can afford it and keep their families intact.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is widely regarded as one of the world's leading relationship experts and heads This World: The Values Network, an organization dedicated to promoting universal Jewish values to heal America. He has just published a book on Jewish spirituality for non-Jews called Renewal: A Guide to the Values-Filled Life. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.
Follow Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RabbiShmuley
Jonathan D. Fitzgerald: The Unfortunate Effects Apocalyptic Beliefs Can Have On Morality
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. " 1 Cor. 6:9-10
If I were a betting man I would say that more than half of the people who say homosexuality is a sin, have ‘sinned’ in other ways described in The Bible. Too many people in the world take a position on a debatable topic and thus rule every other opinion as being wrong before researching it. I know many closed minded people who once are convinced of something, will search for reasons to support it as opposed to doing the research before hand and then taking a personal stance. This type of closed-minded thinking creates denial of the truth, unnecessary ignorance, and kills eagerness to learn. I do not see where one person’s sexual and private life impedes on someone else’s life.
This debate about gay marriage will go on for many years to come based on the fact that the different religions, and people, that make up the diverse community of America, view the idea of ‘marriage’ differently. With that said, the main objectors to same-sex marriages seem to be the most ‘moral and righteous’ Americans. Government is not the objector to legalizing same-sex marriages; in fact, they encourage it. For instance, many governments believe marriages, of any kind, often provide a more secure environment for raising children (Religious Tolerance).
On the terms of homosexuality in general, religious conservatives view, “[it] as recognized as [a] chosen, sexual behavior, unnatural, abnormal, disordered, sinful, hated by God, changeable, and perhaps worthy of criminalization” (Religious Tolerance). Therefore, homosexual people are considered as sinners. In addition, to homosexual ‘behavior’, religious peoples’ view of marriage, “is for procreation, and homosexuals do not procreate, therefore [they] should not be able to marry” as said in Jonathan Rauch’s book. With this in mind, I believe people are forgetting what both marriage and religion are truly about.
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I don't think Boteach is interested in imposing Abrahamic tenets on anybody. If you have an example, please cite. Jews as a group are, in fact, pretty uninterested in telling Buddhists, Hindus or Atheists how they should live their personal lives.
it's not the progay people that are going to be marginalized. Their numbers will continue to grow, as the anti-gay older generation dies out and what's-the-big-deal younger generations mature, and as gay people come out to their friends and families and continue to push the laws in the proper direction-- the end of this idiotic, stupid, wasteful prejudice.
Nor will it be, for the next 10-20 years or so, the anti-gay crowd. Their numbers will decrease, but slowly as above. But they will decrease, and then they will be marignalized, just like racists are today, Racism is alive and thriving. Just not public.
Do you know who is going to get marginalized soonest? People like you, Rabbi. I know you mean well, your heart is in the right place, you try to to good. and compared to some rabbis i can think of, you are a saint.
The Rabbi was saying the evangelicals are the ones who are marginalizing themselves. He agrees with you. But that probably goes against your own sense of ideological purity.
The most likely eventual outcome is that churches will do some rethinking at th exact moment when they're marginalized enough to feel affects at the offering plate. Until then, just more brick walls and more coy evasions.
Here's the problem: you can't have it both ways anymore. The rightwingers will never accept your basic premise. And gay people with a lick of sense won't, either. I'm a law abiding productive citizen of our country. I'm tired of people, even well intentioned people like yourself, telling me I am inferior.
As I've said to you before, the belief that, somehow, gay people are just not the same as straight people is a subtle poison.
"because he is a friend"
"This is a community I admire"
You repeatedly claim to appreciate these mindless haters. I think this qualifies you as a poor judge of character.