Gay Rights in America and how they relate to Christianity, Judaism and Islam

1
Gay Rights in Americaand how they relate
toChristianity, Judaism and Islam

• By Stephanie Dewald

2
Overview

• What are Gay rights?
• Thesis/Introduction
• Core Documents of the United States
• Scripture references that fuel controversy
• Hebrew Bible
• New Testament
• Quran
• Current Events
• Conclusion

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Gay Rights?

• To seek acceptance, tolerance and equality for
  lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
   
•     Heterosexual couples have many more rights
  than homosexual couples including marriage,
  adoption, tax benefits, hospital and jail
  visitation rights, visa and work permits for a
  foreign partner, health care decisions for his or
  her partner, suing for wrongful death of a
  partner, rights involving wills, and access to
  family health insurance
•     Many states have adopted civil union laws
  allowing same-sex couples some of these rights,
  however only one state has legalized same-sex
  marriage.

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What is in question?

•     What role does Christianity, Judaism and
  Islam play in the struggle for gay rights in
  America?
• A persons personal opinions are shaped through
  culture, upbringing, religion
• Religion plays a key role in shaping Americans
  view towards gay rights, and consequently towards
  policy decisions

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Opposition to Gay Rights

• Comes in many forms, however religious opposition
  is often the root of the debate.
• The United States founded by people seeking
  religious freedom
• However religion is an important part of American
  culture
• 85 percentage of Americans identify themselves
  as Christian.  
• Christianity in particular influences our nation
  as a whole.  
• However Christianity shares its roots with
  Judaism and Islam
• Therefore, in reflecting upon the current state
  of gay rights in the US, I find it relevant to
  look into the scriptural references that provide
  religious opposition to same-sex couples in
  society

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The US Constitution

•      The US constitution is a secular document
  stating that "no religious test shall ever be
  required as a qualification to any office or
  public trust" (Art. VI), and "Congress shall make
  no law respecting an establishment of religion,
  or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (First
  Amendment).

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Majority Rule, Minority Rights

• The US is a representative democracy with
  minority rights.  Democratic laws protect the
  rights of all citizens.  
• 1.5 of the US identifies themselves as gay,
  lesbian, or bisexual
• What is considered a right?

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The Declaration of Independent

•     We are not governed by the Declaration,
  however it does set forward many of our nations
  core beliefs and principles.  
•         We hold these truths to be self-evident,
  that all men are created equal, that they are
  endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
  Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
  the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these
  rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
  deriving their just powers from the consent of
  the governed...  Many rights which are not
  available to homosexual couples allow people the
  pursuit of happiness perhaps the most prominent
  being the right to marry.

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Gay Rights Movement Timeline

• 1924 Started by the Society for Human Rights in
  Chicago
• 1948 Alfred Kinsey published Sexual Behavior in
  the Human Male   which said that homosexuality
  was widespread and even common, opposite to
  popular belief.
• 1951 The Mattachine Society was the first
  official gay rights organization formed. This was
  considered the beginning of the Gay Rights
  Movement.
• 1993 Dont  ask dont tell policy is instilled
  in the US Military allowing gays to serve however
  still banning homosexual relations in its
  members.    
• 2004 Gay Marriage is legalized in Massachusetts
• 2005 Civil Unions are legalized in Connecticut
• 2006 Civil Unions are legalized in New Jersey

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Homosexuality in Religious Text

•     The texts of Judaism, Christianity, and
  Islams understanding is based on interpretation.
   The passages we will look at today have two
  major interpretations
• against homosexuality
• or having nothing to do with homosexuality
  (merely misinterpreted)  
• Regardless of the varying opinions, those who
  believe these scriptures are anti-gay have
  provided great opposition for gay rights in
  America as well as the rest of the world. 

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Judaism Genesis 126-28

• Adam and Eve / Creation
• Key Verse God created man in his image in the
  divine image he created him male and female he
  created them
• Key Verse God blessed them saying to them Be
  fertile and multiply fill the earth and subdue
  it...
• Male-Female Relationships blessed by God
• Men and Women Created to Procreate
• On the other hand, some argue that God is above
  Gender therefore being created in His Image does
  not have to do with being male or female

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Judaism Genesis 218-24

• God created woman for man only
• Key Verse It is not good for the man to be
  alone.  I will make a suitable partner for him
• That is why a man leaves his father and his
  wife, and the two of them become one body.
• -Suggests men and women compliment each other by
  nature, and have purpose for one another.

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Genesis 194-26

• Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
• Where are the men who came to your house
  tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have
  intimacies with them
• The Lord rained down with sulphorous fire upon
  Sodom and Gomorrah

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Why is it interpreted as against homosexuality?

• Many Christians can argue that the wickedness of
  the men in Sodom is explained through their
  demands for homosexual acts. Because this was the
  primary event that drove Lot and his people away
  from the city, it is argued to reveal the reason
  the people of Sodom and neighboring cities were
  wicked
• It can be argued that Lot believed they wanted
  the men for sex because he offered his virgin
  daughters as an alternative.  

15
Arguments by Christian Websites

• Abundantly clear the homosexuality was the
  primary evil although the people of the city
  committed many other sins, homosexuality was the
  cause of their destruction
• Another argues that there is no scriptural
  evidence that the city was connected with
  homosexuality. It argues the primary evils were
  pride and inhospitality.    -Nomadic
  environment Hospitality was a matter of life or
  death
• Statistics show an average of 1.5 percent of the
  US population is homosexual males. Therefore it
  is not reasonable to infer that the city had a
  majority of homosexual males not the primary evil

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Judges 194-30

• Very Similar to Sodom and Gomorrah
• man offers shelter to another male traveler. When
  they returned to the mans house, a gang of men
  came to the door demanding he bring out his guest
  for them to abuse. Like Lot, the man offers his
  concubine instead who is then raped and killed.
• Key Differences
• The mob accepted a female in replacement for the
  male
• The people of Gibeah were not punished by God
  (however killed by Hebrews)
• It can then be argued that they were not punished
  by God  because they did not engage in or prefer
  homosexual conduct

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Judges Cont

• Conservative Belief This is another story in the
  bible, separate in location and time to Sodom and
  Gomorrah. Shows that homosexuality and rape is
  immoral
• Liberal Belief This is another version of the
  Sodom and Gomorrah story. However it is not in
  reference to homosexuality.

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A Few Facts about the term Sodom

• Modern term Sodomy traces its roots to the story
  of Sodom
• US Law  -By the end of 2000 the 47 US States
  had repealed Sodomy laws prohibiting homosexual
  conduct, 37 of which repealed Sodomy laws all
  together.-By 2003 all anti-homosexual laws were
  revoked due to Lawrence v. Texas  
• The Hebrew root for Sodom translates to burnt
• The Hebrew root for Gomorrah translates to
  ruined heap

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Leviticus 18 The Sanctity of Sex

• Leviticus 1822You shall not lie with a male as
  with a woman such a thing is an abomination.  
• Leviticus 2013If a man lies with a male as
  with a woman, both of them shall be put to death
  for their abominable deed they have forfeited
  their lives. 

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Leviticus 920-25

• Moses became drunk and lay naked in a tent.
• Ham saw his father naked and told his two
  brothers
• His two brothers covered his body without looking
  at their father
• Moses Woke up and cursed Ham
• This section has been argued to be an example of
  homosexual activity because one man saw another
  man naked.  However, the verse is vague as to why
  Moses was angry with Ham
• good example of varying interpretations

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Christianity The Letter of Jude 17

• Revisits the story of Sodom and Gomorrah
• Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns,
  which in the same manner as they, indulged in
  sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural
  vice-serve as an example of undergoing a
  punishment of eternal fire
• Similarly, these dreamers nevertheless also
  defile the flesh, scorn leadership, and revile
  glorious beings..
• To defile To make unclean, dirty. To violate the
  chastity of
• Liberals may argue that Jude does not clearly say
  what type of sinful sexual behavior is being
  referred to, therefore it cannot be attributed to
  homosexual acts
• Conservatives may argue that Jude is referring
  directly to the homosexual activity in the story
  of Sodom and Gomorrah as unnatural vice and a
  defiling of the flesh

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Further Examples of Sodomite references

• 1 Corinthians 9-11-Mentions that the kingdom of
  God is not to be inherited by sodomites-Reference
  s the Story of Sodom and Gomorrah previously
  discussed1 Tim 8-11-In warning against false
  doctrines, Paul says to Timothy that the law is
  good and meant for the unrighteous person,
  including sodomites

23
Mark 1-12

• Although it is discussing why divorce is immoral,
  it also revisits the story of Adam and Eve
• ...God made them male and female. For this reason
  a man shall leave his father and mother and be
  joined to his wife and the two shall become one
  flesh
• Reinforces the HB

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Matthew 199-12

• Some are incapable of marriage because they were
  born so some, because they were made by others
  some, because they have renounced marriage for
  the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can
  accept this ought to accept it
• To say they are incapable of marriage because
  they were born so could imply they are
  homosexual, therefore cannot marry because it is
  viewed as an abomination.

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The Letter to the Romans

• Written by Paul to the Christians in Rome
• longest and most systematic unfolding of the
  apostle s thought
• Arguably the most anti-gay section of the bible
   

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Letter to the Romans 124-32

• God handed them over to degrading passions.
  Their females exchanged natural relations for
  unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural
  relations with females and burned with lust for
  one another.  Males did shameful things with
  males and thus received in their own persons the
  due penalty for their perversity
• Furthermore, Paul states that They are filled
  with every form of wickedness, evil, greed...
• Flaws of Pauls writing His interpretation of
  what is natural for men and women        -ex 1
  Cor 1114 Paul writes that it is degrading
  according to nature for men to wear their hair
  long

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Islam Quran 415-16

• If any of your women are guilty of lewdness,
  take the evidence of four (reliable) witnesses
  from amongst you against them and if they
  testify, confine them to their houses until death
  claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other)
  way.
• If two men among you are guilty of lewdness,
  punish them both.  If they repent and amend,
  leave them alone for Allah is oft-returning,
  most merciful.
• Strongly suggests that homosexuality is wrong, as
  well as the different treatment of men and women
  by Allah

28
Quran 780-84

• For ye practice your lusts on men in preference
  to women ye are indeed a people transgressing
  beyond bounds.    And his people gave no answer
  but this They said, Drive them out of your
  city these are indeed men who want to be clean
  and pure!
• Surah 2754-56 almost identical 
• In reference to the story of the city of Sodom
• Lut (Lot) and his people fled from the city and
  homosexuality

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Current Events

• In January of 2004 the Jewish Community Relations
  Council, which represents the majority of the
  Jewish community in Boston, has voted in favor of
  same-sex marriage.      The Jewish Community
  has been in support of civil liberties because we
  understand that discrimination against one group
  leads to discrimination against  -Rabbi Barbara
  Penzner, Reconstructionist Judaism

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Current Presidential Candidates

• Both Democratic candidate John Edwards and
  Republican Candidate Mitt Romney announced their
  opposition to Gay Marriage
• Both also state they do not want to be
  interpreted as intolerant of gay rights
• Appealing to a majority of citizens and religious
  groups who may share this view

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Republican Candidate Mitt Romney

• "What you look for in a leader is someone who
  will welcome and treat with respect people who
  made different choices and have different beliefs
  in their lives and have differences. I have
  nothing but respect and feelings of tolerance for
  people with differences from myself and feel that
  way with regards to those who are gay,"
• Will push to make a constitutional amendment to
  ban same-sex marriage
• Claims he is a better candidate for gay rights
  than a democrat
• States that his stance against gay marriage is to
  protect children from being raised by gay parents

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George Bush Constitutional Amendment to Protect
Marriage

• Cited that 8 years previous (1996) Clinton signed
  a Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage in
  federal law as between one man and one woman.
  However in 2004 Massachusetts passed a same-sex
  marriage law
• The union of a man and woman is the most
  enduring human institution, honoring -- honored
  and encouraged in all cultures and by every
  religious faith
• Marriage cannot be severed from its cultural,
  religious and natural roots without weakening the
  good influence of society.
• Bush one of the most openly religious Presidents
  in HIstory

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Conclusion

• Majority rule, minority rights are difficult to
  achieve when the majority shares one view.  Our
  leaders play a key role in providing citizens
  with equality, therefore it is important to have
  leaders who will fight for equality, even if the
  issue does not fit with their personal beliefs.
   A persons personal beliefs are often shaped by
  their religious views since religion in itself
  guides people on how to live, as well as what is
  right and wrong.  Therefore religion will be
  likely to sway policy makers in their decision.

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Conclusion

• The different interpretations of the scriptures
  are important to discuss because of the great
  affect they have on society
• The US should strive for a more clear cut
  division between Church and State

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Websites Used

• http//abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?sectionpolitics
  id5338422
• http//www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20
  040224-2.html
• http//www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/01/
  16/jewish_group_oks_same_sex_marriage/
• www.Religioustolerance.org
• http//www.alinaam.org.za/library/homos.htm
• www.Bible.Org
• http//www.biblebb.com/files/HOMOSEX.HTM
• http//www.narth.com/docs/muslim.html
• http//www.ilga.info/Information/Legal_survey/Summ
  ary20information/homosexuality_in_the_quran.htm