Wonderful op-ed in today’s L.A. Times on fundamentalism of all stripes. Mr. Harris starts out by arguing that even a constitutional ban on Gay Marriage wouldn’t satisfy those who believe in writing the Bible into American law:
Leviticus 20:13 and the New Testament book of Romans reveal that the God of the Bible doesn’t merely disapprove of homosexuality; he specifically says homosexuals should be killed: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death.”
God also instructs us to murder people who work on the Sabbath, along with adulterers and children who curse their parents. While they’re at it, members of Congress might want to reconsider the 13th Amendment, because it turns out that God approves of slavery — unless a master beats his slave so severely that he loses an eye or teeth, in which case Exodus 21 tells us he must be freed.
The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is how this directly echoes Jeb Bartlett in Season Two of The West Wing:
I’m interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, and always clears the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath, Exodus 35:2, clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police?
That aside, Harris continues:
As a man believes, so he will act. Believe that you are a member of a chosen people, awash in the salacious exports of an evil culture that is turning your children away from God, believe that you will be rewarded with an eternity of unimaginable delights by dealing death to these infidels — and flying a plane into a building is only a matter of being asked to do it. Believe that “life starts at the moment of conception” and you will happily stand in the way of medical research that could alleviate the suffering of millions of your fellow human beings.
President Bush likes to quote the Gospel of St. Matthew when discussing homosexuality: “I am mindful that we’re all sinners, and I caution those who may try to take the speck out of the neighbor’s eye when they got a log in their own,” he has said.
Indeed. And it is therefore impossible for us to entrust this vital War on Terror to a political party that is so tied to it’s own brand of religious fundamentalism, for they, too, have a mighty big log in their eye when it comes to the subject.
It’s time for us liberals to quit bitching from the sidelines and get in the game. As secularists, only we posess the moral clarity to create a true global democracy. Because a war on fundamentalism is too important to be left to the fundamentalists.
Now Playing: Episode 349
Troops needed in Afghanistan end up in Iraq, Obama punts on the FISA bill, and finally: the Supremes rule on the 2nd amendment.
Links Mentioned: The hunt for Bin Laden … the new Army Iraq report … the FISA bill … the Prof references Chinua Achebe and The Lives of Others … the Genarlow Wilson aftermath.
I don’t think he had a lot to fight for because the issue is that he put his lover on the payroll. He’s not a pansy for folding, he just knew when to call it a day. Ethically speaking he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. I mean, come on, he was cheating on his wife and got his lover a gig for 100k a year.
This isn’t about being gay, it’s about him putting his lover on the payroll. At least Lewinski was an intern.
With how hyper the republicans are about bashing the dem’s I have a feeling that the republicans would be just as happy to jump on this if his lover were a woman.
It’s just Derbyshire then wouldn’t be able to make his little “eiuw” comment.