by Jared Robbins

Created on: September 30, 2010   Last Updated: October 01, 2010

“Gay marriage shows why we need to separate church and state.” (Moody 1) The words of Rev. Howard Moody resound in my head, not only because I've thought the same thing at one point in time or another, but because I was actually surprised to see a clergyman that shared most of the same beliefs I do about same-sex marriages. Rev. Howard Moody is minister emeritus of Judson Memorial Church in New York City. (Moody 5) He wrote a fantastic article for “The Nation” magazine entitled “Sacred Rite or Civil Right?” Out of all the points he brings up in his article, the excerpt that caught my attention most was: “If we look at the history of religious institutions regarding ‘marriage’ we will find not much unanimity but amazing diversity-it is really a mixed bag. Those who base their position on ‘tradition’ or ‘what the Bible says’ will find anything but clarity. It depends on which ‘tradition’ in what age reading from whose holy scriptures.”(1)

What he says here is very true. Anyone who reads the holy scriptures will have a different interpretation than the next person. One person can read a passage from the Bible and come up with one conclusion, while another person will have a different view as to its meaning. As we will see, all these different interpretations of the various religious texts are what get us (humankind) into trouble. I do have a lot of admiration for Rev. Moody. I understand that it had to take a lot of guts to write an article in defense of gay marriage given his image as a man of the cloth.  He is literally swimming in a sea of anti-gay activists.

He says, “If members of the church that I served for more than three decades were told I would be writing an article in defense of [gay] marriage, they wouldn't believe it.” (1) Where I tend to disagree with him though (and I do not mean any offense by it), is with the entire basis of organized religion. Since religion plays such a major role in people’s opinions, I think it would be best to discuss a little history on the subject.

Whether it be the Old Testament, New Testament, the Koran, the Vedas, et cetera, holy scriptures have the potential to be misinterpreted. What I am about to say is common knowledge, but very few seem to take it to heart. No matter what religious ideology you follow, you must realize that all religion is man-made. Man is fallible. God is not. Man created

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>