There are a few groups that take the Old Testament and New Testament statements about the evils of homosexuality very seriously. The one that jumps immediately to mind is the Westboro Baptist Church. Of course, the WBC is all about the old time punishment of homosexuality: Death.
Most Evangelicals used to accept this position as valid, but now only a few extremists in the Evangelical movement accept the proposition. I say this because if we look at the number of people who think its ok to legislate against gay marriage, and then look at the number of people who think its ok to legislate against homosexuality, there's a discrepancy. My point is that there shouldn't be.
The first point of Evangelical hypocrisy and (it must be said) stupidity is that it maintains that the Bible proposes a concept of One Man and One Woman (some, like Rick Warren, would tag "for life" on the end of that, but since the divorce rate in this country is so high, I'll leave that alone for now).
The Bible does not state that the institution of marriage is between one man and one woman. Of course, the Christian Right makes the points about Adam and Eve (Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve, and so on), but the truth of the matter is, the Bible happily endorses polygamy.
Jacob (Israel), one of the great Patriarchs in the Old Testament, had two wives, as well as children by two additional concubines.
According to the 1 Kings 11:3, King Solomon had 700 wives. While Solomon's wives are depicted as evil women, the act of polygamy is hardly decried.
The Bible never addresses these as sinful and both are considered blessed figures, especially Jacob. This account of traditional marriage is a failure in and of itself, but is not the largest failure of the argument.
The point that needs to be made is simple: the Bible does not condemn marriage between homosexuals, it condemns homosexuality.
It is true that the Bible openly condemns homosexuality. Moderate Christians can attempt to apologize for this point, attempt to minimize its impact on society, but it's a fact. The Bible says that homosexuality is wrong. It also condemns a lot of other things (like, for instance, divorce), but let's not get caught up in those.
One who accepts the Bible as the literal revelation of the word of a god who created the universe must acknowledge that the Bible condemns homosexuality, and do similarly. This is standard progessional logic.
The Bible is true. (P1)
The Bible is law. (P2, drawn from P1)
The Bible condemns homosexuality as "an abomination." (P3)
Homosexuality is an abomination. (C)
Of course, I reject premise one and, as a result, premise two. That said, it is important to make note that there are those who accept these points, but reject the conclusion on the grounds that it is not desirable.
You can't have it both ways and claim a logical position. This debate on gay marriage is an issue of the failings of those who read the Bible to differentiate between "opposing gay marriage" and "opposing gays."
As someone who hears from many anti-gay rights activists that they don't hate homosexuals, I have to ask "why?"
The Bible says that homosexuality is an abomination. Why don't you agree with that statement? Where's your Biblical support?
And the answer is, there is none, but they don't want to be portrayed as literal, closed minded, hateful, religious fundamentalists, even when the Bible says they should.
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