The same people who compiled the Bible that Phil Robertson thumps included, in the early Christian church, included and condoned not only gay marriage, but gay married saints, Sergius an Bacchus from the 4th century -- which is coincidentally, contemporaneous with the oldest Bibles in existence. There are well documented examples gay marriage rites and liturgy in Christianity, including in the Roman Catholic church, into the 18th century.
If you look at the branching example below, Sergius and Bacchus were accepted and venerated by all of the churches of their day, and by those that further branched, until relatively recently (the last couple of hundred years out of some 2000). Even in the later branchings of Christianity, there is no consensus among religious leaders, theologians and other scholars of Christianity in support of the stance taken by Robertson.
Further, as we see from Robertson's own conduct on his television show, where he eats the shellfish that are prohibited in the same book of the Bible, Leviticus, as where homosexuality is condemned, and where Robertson clearly does not follow other directives, he is a 'cafeteria Christian' who does not embrace all of the Bible, fully and equally, but only those parts which he can use to support his worst prejudices. They are 'worst prejudices', because they do harm to others, however much he claims otherwise. You don't love people when you unfairly and inaccurately call terrorists, murderers, whores, perverts, and worse.
Yet ignorant jerks like Robertson has the hubris to believe only he, and those like him, far further removed from the historic figure of Jesus and the events of the New Testament than the early Christian Church, want to redefine God and religion in the image of their ignorance and bigotry.
Giving credence to Phil Robertson, giving him and his views equal standing with more legitimate Christian authority is like giving believers that the earth is flat rather than spherical equal credibility with astrophysicists and leading scientists in the earth sciences.
Sincerity of bigotry does not transform bigotry into anything other than what it is - bigotry. Phil Robertson and those like him hardly belong on the same chart as the one in this example; because they appear to have missed entirely the point of the core teachings of the faith. In doing that, it looks from this perspective, it looks a lot like Phil Robertson is using religion to further his own ambitions and ideology, not Christianity.
from Being Liberal, via FB
