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Why, why, why, do I keep looking at the Beliefnet news feed? It only angries up the blood. Rob Kerby has become such a thorn in my side, I need to set up a tag just to track the lunacy.
That said, this was only a mild irritation. But since I can't leave comments on his news feed posts without being moderated down the memory hole, I'll have to respond from my own, ahem, pulpit.
So. What is this Christianist bigot blathering about today? Gay marriage of course. It is the topic du jour, isn't it. After first, quite rightly, rejecting the loathsome comments of Pastor Worley, he goes on to explain why it is a Christian duty to remain politically engaged in the fight against gay marriage. Says Kerby:
One very simple reason is that marriage is a ceremony most often performed by ministers.
Well, Rob, you just said it yourself. And I don't know how to tell you this but "most often" is not the same as "always." People can be married by various legal authorities such as justices of the peace, judges, and court clerks. State laws vary and it always comes back to the state laws. In fact, in some states, even clergy have to be certified by the state in order to marry people, and all marriages have to be registered by the state. The reason the marriage battle is being fought out at the state level is because marriage is a matter of state law, not religious doctrine. It's just that the states are good enough to recognize religious wedding ceremonies in addition to other marriages.
Kerby goes on:
Marriage was designed to reflect the gospel, the message of good news, which all ministers are entrusted to preach.
See, this is so Rob Kerby. In his myopic world view, marriage was invented by Christians. Note that in the previous statement, he doesn't even acknowledge rabbis, imams, or any other religious leaders as conducting marriage ceremonies --- only ministers. No one can be married unless they're Christian married. Marriage didn't even exist, apparently, until there was Christianity. Not even Jews were married. And I think it goes without saying that he wouldn't consider all those Native American marriages that included same-sex unions.
And on:
The Bible is explicitly clear that God designed human sexuality and marriage and that His idea for marriage is a union solely between one man and one woman as described in Genesis 2.
Except, no. That isn't clear at all. The Biblical view of marriage includes a whole lot of polygamy, not to mention female slavery. So no. But I've already covered this painful reality here, here, and here.
Okay. Just needed to get that of my chest.
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