Vote the Bible?

I was driving around the west valley today and saw a sign that proclaimed, "Vote the Bible". Not surprisingly, it was next to a sign that encouraged one to vote "Yes on 102", with 102 being Arizona's "one man, one woman marriage" ballot proposition.

I know what the author of the sign meant by Vote the Bible. They believe that the bible sanctions their bigotry (anti-gay laws), our country's imperialism (military), and allows the government to invade our privacy (right to choose).

Now, I obviously don't take my moral cues from the bible, but if I did, would I get the same ones? These people seem to care less about the teaching of Jesus and more about using the bible to justify their prejudice. Christians have been overwhelmingly aligned with modern conservatism. One of the heroes of modern conservatism is Ayn Rand, an utterly godless woman, against equality, who preached the value of selfishness. What does that say?

From the bible:

... gospel of Luke chapter 6, verse 30; Jesus tells us "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask for them back." Jesus tells us in Luke 6:33 "But if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that? For even the sinners do the same." In Matthew 5:42 Jesus tells us to "Give to him who asks of you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away." A certain rich man approached Jesus and asked him what he must do to obtain eternal life? The savior answered first that he must keep the commandments. The rich man replied that he had kept them all from his youth. (Luke 18:18-21) However, the wealthy man was not ready for what Jesus told him next. "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me." (Luke 18:22)

Sounds like if people truly took the bible literally, they'd be socialists.

Even the supposed condemnation of homosexuality in the bible is called into question - "... the same holiness code in Leviticus that prohibits men from lying with each other “as with a woman” also forbids the shaving of beards and the sowing of two kinds of seeds in the same field."

Sounds like a bunch of hypocrisy. People see what they want to see in the bible. Vote for who you want to vote for, but don't tell me it's because the bible told you to. If you hate gays and don't want to share, at least have the balls to be honest about it.

This great clip from The West Wing says it all:

Gay Babies

A leading Southern Baptist and evangelical acknowledged this week that he believes there may be a biological basis for homosexuality. When I first saw this, I thought, "Great!" See, even religious leaders cannot deny science. Maybe this means that other contentious issues will be able to be reasoned logically by groups of differing religious beliefs. Then, I read on ...

"... However, Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was assailed even more harshly by gay-rights supporters. They were upset by his assertion that homosexuality would remain a sin even if it were biologically based, and by his support for possible medical treatment that could switch an unborn gay baby's sexual orientation to heterosexual.

"He's willing to play God," said Harry Knox, a spokesman on religious issues for the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group. "He's more than willing to let homophobia take over and be the determinant of how he responds to this issue, in spite of everything else he believes about not tinkering with the unborn ... ""

Oh, yeah. This guy's a real winner. He successfully managed to piss off both his own (Conservative Christians by suggesting that homosexuality may be biological) and everyone else (by suggesting that we can change orientation).

And the irony of advocating messing with unborns is apparently lost on him:

"... but he would endorse prenatal hormonal treatment — if such a technology were developed — to reverse homosexuality. He said this would no different, in moral terms, to using technology that would restore vision to a blind fetus. "I realize this sounds very offensive to homosexuals, but it's the only way a Christian can look at it," Mohler said. "We should have no more problem with that than treating any medical problem.""

The good doctor should know that you don't have to treat it medically. If you are really worried about having a gay baby, just check out this site:
Is My Little Baby Going to Go Gay?

My personal favorite:

9. A boy must not use brightly colored crayons or any crayons from any colors of a rainbow. Christian parents should remove and destroy any suspiciously colored crayons from their boy's box of Crayolas. This needs no explanation, as we here at Landover Baptist are all familiar with Mr. Crayola's so-called "alternate lifestyle," and his reason for putting "Pansy Pink" and "Engorged Penis Head Purple" into his boxes are quite obvious. A boy must also draw in straight lines. Some curves are fine, but if you suspect your child of "doodling," and see that he is using more curves than straight lines, please call your Pastor immediately.

Too funny.

"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision." -- Lynn Lavner