Heresy, the Bible, and the American Way

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

For centuries, Christians and others have disagreed about exactly what is the meaning of Jesus, his life, and his teachings.

We have argued over the dinner table. We’ve argued in the pulpit. We’ve heard learned scholars butting heads over their differing interpretations of the gospels. We’ve even fought wars over the true meaning of Christ. And, as a backdrop to all our disagreements, we sometimes forget that Paul wrote in his letters to Galatians to beware of false prophets and teachers. (Galatians 1:6–9)

But if we have studied the New Testament, just a little bit, I think it is easy for us to make some generalizations. I’m not a biblical scholar, but I’ve read the Bible, and I don’t think I’ll be stepping on any biblical toes by saying this, because I think it’s obvious from the New Testament:

First of all, Christ wants us to love God with all our heart and soul. Second, he would like us to love our neighbor.

When I read the Bible I don’t get an overwhelming sense that Jesus was preaching about homosexuality. Out of a book which is thousands of pages long, there may be four or five verses that have something to do with homosexuality. It seems to me that if Jesus truly believed that opposition to homosexuality was an important tenet in his teaching, he would have said more about it. After all, he said plenty about how we should treat one another.

He talked about adultery. He talked about the rich and the poor. But not much, if anything, on the subject of homosexuality. Once again, I will defer to biblical scholars, who continue to argue about whether or not Jesus was completely silent on the subject.

This brings me to Kim Davis. The elected County Clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, has stated that her religious beliefs will not allow her to perform gay marriages. Because of those personal beliefs, she thinks that she is justified in defying local, state, and federal law, up to and including the Supreme Court.

Separating the state from the church

Because of our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom in this country, you can believe anything you want to believe. It’s also a fundamental principle that we are a nation of laws, and that everyone, high or low, president to peon, has to obey those laws—all of them, regardless of your religious beliefs. These two principles are not opposed to each other; they’re not in conflict. They simply address two different aspects of our constitutional structure: personal freedom for the individual, and a common justice system for the group (all of us).

Now, without a doubt, our religious beliefs can interfere with our ability to do certain jobs. So some of us probably shouldn’t sign up for those jobs. If you believe that killing another human being is never justified, then you probably should not sign up to be a Navy Seal or a Marine. If you believe that the life of every living creature is sacred, then you should probably not work as a butcher. If you are Hindu, you probably should not ask for a job in a Christian bookstore.

Equal treatment under the law

Kim Davis was elected to the job of County Clerk. One of the core responsibilities of county clerks is to issue marriage licenses to all residents who meet the legal criteria for marriage—age of consent, not already married, etc. And under the definitive Supreme Court ruling this summer, the gender of two adults wishing to marry can no longer matter—just as, after Loving v. Virginia was decided in 1967, race could no longer be used to prohibit people from marrying.

It has also been obvious for the last five or six years that gay marriage was moving its way toward affirmation by the Supreme Court. Ms. Davis had ample opportunity to come up with a plan that was consistent with her religion and the law of the land, such as recusing herself while ensuring that her deputies would issue licenses.

Instead of coming up with a plan, she has done the equivalent of a four-year-old sitting down in the middle of the floor throwing a temper tantrum. She won’t move. She won’t budge. She won’t obey the laws of the land that she swore to uphold. (Oh, there is a passage in the Bible which tells us to only take an oath with God. [Matthew 5:34])

Kim Davis, in my opinion, has two choices—she can hold a press conference in which she can tell the world why her beliefs are so important to her that she must choose to follow them rather the law, and therefore resign her post. Her second option is to agree to follow the law by allowing same-sex marriages to be licensed by her office.

Blowing down the straw man

This is not an attack on Christianity, though some self-victimizers like to pretend it is. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee asserted on twitter, “Kim Davis in federal custody removes all doubts about the criminalization of Christianity in this country.” That is simply laughable.

It was not all that long ago that some Christians claimed that interracial marriage was not consistent with Christianity. Some even used Bible passages to claim that whites were superior to all other races, and that marriages between races was a sin. For most people today, this belief is laughable, but less than 50 years ago, many Americans believed this, and it was the law in many of our states.

Court rulings requiring equal treatment aren’t an attack on Christianity, but on bigotry. Kim Davis took an oath to uphold the laws of the United States and of Kentucky when she took her job as County Clerk. No one is forcing her into a gay marriage, or to perform one, or to approve of one. The state is simply requiring her to do her job.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world…

As a Judeo-Christian nation, should we have a more charitable outlook toward immigrants? As immigrants pour into Europe from Syria, Liberia and other Middle Eastern nations, we seem to be sitting back and watching events unfold. Germany, Austria, and France have generously opened up their borders in order to try to help these immigrants who are leaving desperate situations in their homelands.

At the very least, we can send some sort of aid to Europe to help with this humanitarian crisis. We could also open our own borders. We are a nation of over 300 million: we can afford to take tens of thousands of immigrants. But, then again, we have presidential candidates getting applause lines for saying we need to send 11 million undocumented “illegal immigrants” (economic refugees) back to the country from which they came.

Was not the story of the good Samaritan all about compassion and how we should treat one another?