by SaurKraut

Created on: December 16, 2008   Last Updated: December 17, 2008

On December 6, 2008, Lisa Miller wrote an article in Newsweek titled "Our Mutual Joy." It is a pitiful attempt at deliberate misinterpretation and tampering of scriptures in order to fit an agenda. To start out her salvo, Lisa uses examples of polygamy and apparent lukewarm recommendations of marriage, and writes:

"Would any contemporary heterosexual married couplewho likely woke up on their wedding day harboring some optimistic and newfangled ideas about gender equality and romantic loveturn to the Bible as a how-to script?

Of course not, yet the religious opponents of gay marriage would have it be so."

Lisa, of course, starts out of the chute distorting what she can and ignoring what is tougher to use in her diatribe. The truth is drastically different.

Just because the Bible records some cases of polygamy does not mean that it approves of polygamy. The pattern established in the Bible by God (and often repeated) is one man, one woman (Genesis 3:24, Eph. 5:31). Church leaders in the New Testament are to be the husband of one wife (I Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6).

In addition, many Jews and Christians over the years have pointed to the spicy Song of Solomon (a.k.a. the Song of Songs) as a role model of an ideal, passionate marriage. It is hardly the stuff of prudes, as the bride and groom extol each other's physical attributes in great detail. They also discuss the raptures of the physical side of marriage.

And although the apostle Paul himself said (in the New Testament) that marriage was not the first and best choice, it is important to remember the situation at that time, when people were regularly being persecuted for their faith: Marriage and families complicated matters even further (ask anyone who is currently a missionary). And yet we know that at least one of Jesus' disciples (Peter) was a married man. So were Paul's compadres, Priscilla and Aquila.

The New Testament also spells out how husbands and wives are to treat each other. This was unique at the time, as women were almost always regarded by most people as a step-up from the slaves and without rights.

So, Lisa is woefully wrong. She is not merely cherrypicking scriptures to fit her agenda - she is ignoring so many facts that she is in danger of being asked to work on O.J. Simpson's legal team.

Lisa mentions that Jesus condemns divorce, but claims that this was a way to allow men the option to cheat on their wives. She completely neglects The Divorce Clause.

In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus says "It has been said, Anyone

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