Here’s what Lisa Miller wrote:
Religious objections to gay marriage are rooted not in the Bible at all, then, but in custom and tradition (and, to talk turkey for a minute, a personal discomfort with gay sex that transcends theological argument). Common prayers and rituals reflect our common practice: the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer describes the participants in a marriage as “the man and the woman. But common practice changes — and for the better, as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.” The Bible endorses slavery, a practice that Americans now universally consider shameful and barbaric.
And here’s the response of C. Ben Mitchell, director of The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and associate professor of bioethics and contemporary culture at Trinity International University:
Such sweeping a statement as “Religious objections to gay marriage are rooted not in the Bible at all, then, but in custom and tradition” is breathtakingly dismissive of an ancient text, taken to be authoritative for millennia, and attended with interpretive traditions that, until the sexual revolution of the 1960s, went virtually unchallenged on this particular topic. This smacks more of propaganda than accurate reporting.
Throughout her essay Miller mistakes the Bible’s inclusion of a practice as a recommendation of that practice (e.g., polygamy and slavery). Just because slavery is mentioned in the biblical material does not constitute an endorsement. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul’s instruction to Philemon not to treat Onesimus as his slave, but as a brother in Christ was simply revolutionary (Philemon 1:1-6).
The slavery practiced by the Hebrews was as different from other Ancient Near Eastern forms and from American chattel slavery as chalk is from cheese. For instance, slavery among the Hebrews was not based on race, but was largely an economic arrangement. A Jewish slave sold to another Hebrew because of his inability to pay his debts was to be released after six years. A Hebrew who sold himself into slavery was released during the Jubilee year. A slave could be bought back at any time by a relative. Moreover, in the New Testament both Paul and Peter insisted that slaves be obedient to their Roman masters. Masters were urged to be kind (Ephesians 6:9), and slave trading was condemned (1 Timothy 1:10).
But what does slavery have to do with homosexuality? It is hardly an apt analogy. Not only so, but the nuptial principle of monogamous heterosexual marriage is as old as the book of Genesis. It does not have its origins in the Book of Common Prayer. Furthermore, the principle rules out practices that everyone except the most radical ideologue would find abhorrent. For instance, the principle that marriage is restricted to one man and one woman eliminates bestiality as an option. Because the nuptial pair are to come from different families, the principle proscribes incest. Presumably Miller would agree that bestiality and incest are wrong. But why? Is it merely public disapproval that keeps these practices from being beyond the pale? If so, the likelihood is high that these mores will change in the not too distant future as well.
We must agree with Miller, however, that the Bible has influenced cultural practices tremendously down the ages. The Bible’s support for the dignity of every human being; the sanctity of every human life; the prohibitions against abortion, infanticide, and wife abuse have clearly informed the Western way of life — and thankfully so. The biblical work ethic, the encouragement of innovation, and economic freedom are also rooted in the Bible, as are property rights, principles of fair trade, and even the freedom of speech and of the press which provides the vehicle for Miller’s ludicrous claims.
Most relevantly, the Bible has provided the basis for the basic foundation of Western civilization: the family, marriage, and the limited powers of government under a constitution. All of us are beneficiaries of a great inheritance. We should protect these gifts from our forebears with great care. What we do not value, we will not protect, much less nurture.
