Judging by my social media connections, people seem to really care about what some old duck hunter has to say:
Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”
Personally, I have trouble caring what any given television star has to say on any topic (other than what it is like to be on television) but this interview has caused such a ruckus that I would be remiss not to point out that Mr. Robertson is simply regurgitating the ancient homophobic nonsense which Christianity inherited from Judaism, most notably in this passage from the Pharisee convert to Christianity who would later be known as St. Paul.
I’m well aware of the various arguments surrounding the translations of words like μαλακοὶ and αρσενοκοιται and I’m more than happy to thrash those arguments out in the comments section, but suffice to say that I don’t find the pro-gay Biblical apologists convincing in the slightest. It takes a very special kind of pleading to try to jigger around the translations so as to conclude that a first century rabbi and his radical devotees did not actually condemn consensual same-sex behavior, even though such condemnation was prevalent throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and throughout the culture upon which they were both raised.
Christians need to face up to the fact that they are carrying around a Bible loaded with vile homophobic bigotry, a book which makes it clear that the appropriate treatment for gays and lesbians is to burn them with fire forever, along with all the others who “won’t inherit the kingdom of God.” Until Christians can learn to deal with this, openly and honestly, we are going to be stuck with a situation wherein people act surprised and offended whenever someone openly affirms true belief in that ancient book which believers claim as the definitive revelation of God to humankind. I implore you Christians to please stop cherry picking, stop making excuses, and start to see these profoundly hateful verses for what they really are, then ask yourself whether the author of these verses is worthy of your supplication.
