BlockquoteTo me that is just as bad as
trying to deny LGBTQI people - or anyone else their voice and full participation as citizens.
This is actually what Christian nationalism is trying to do. Ban gay marriage, make it next to impossible to get a no-fault divorce even if it keeps women in abusive situations, etc.
BlockquoteI think its the reason that freedom grew up under Western Civilization.
This is historically inaccurate. If we’re speaking in terms of European settlers, then for the wealthy white elite men in power, this might be true, but not for blacks, Native Americans, women, and most laypeople.
BlockquoteYou have to get it under a Biblically informed civilization then others can follow.
Respectfully, this is such a misguided and oversimplified understanding of Christianity because it presupposes “biblically informed” has a tangible meaning. There are roughly 40,000 denominations because Christians attempt to follow 66 books that are written by different people over centuries with different worldviews and perspectives, and that often conflict with one another internally. So “biblically informed” needs to be defined. When you say “biblically informed,” you’re assuming your own intrepretation of what that even means. Are we talking about men being able to rape women as trophies of war? Genocide? Slavery? Not eating shell fish? Women viewed as property? Death penalty of “witches?” Death penalty for adultrey? Women wearing head coverings?
For example, during the nineteenth century, there was a man by the name of
Bishop John Henry Hopkins 1792-1868 who struggled with reconciling his
experiences toward slavery with his convictions about what he believed the
Bible taught. He was convinced that it was biblical to affirm the institution of
slavery and that to go against such would be a compromise of scriptural truth. When writing about nineteenth-century slavery under his “Biblically informed view of civilization”, he stated:
“If it were a matter to be determined by personal sympathies, tastes, or
feelings, I should be as ready as any man to condemn the institution of
slavery, for all my prejudices of education, habit, and social position
stand entirely opposed to it. But as a Christian…I am compelled to
submit my weak and erring intellect to the authority of the Almighty. For
then only can I be safe in my conclusions.” ( John Henry Hopkins, A Scriptural and Historical View of Slavery, 1864. Retrieved from
The Bible View of Slavery, by John Henry Hopkins.
My point is that there are people who are “biblically informed” who believe that gay marrage is a good thing and then there are people who are “biblically informedd” who believe it’s a sin. The interpretive diversity of the Bible has always and will always be a reality because the Bible is up for grabs so it can be approporiated anyway people see fit.