Marriage equality and the Bible: It's simple

President Obama's coming out for same-sex marriage has re-opened discussion regarding homosexuality and the Bible. Can somebody be a good Christian and still support marriage equality? The answer is simple: Yes.

The main reason is not what Obama put forth: that Jesus said we should treat others as we would like to be treated, although that is a nice sentiment. And it's not the fact that, as surprising as this is to some, Jesus is not quoted anywhere in the Bible as having ever said anything about the issue of homosexuality (you'd think that if God cared that much about it, he'd have his son say a word or two).

No, the main reason someone can be a Christian supporter of marriage equality is that no good Christian, even a conservative Christian, does what many claim to do: believe and follow every word of the Bible. Passages we find immoral in the Bible, we can happily and proudly ignore. We can therefore call the homophobic passages in the Bible for what they are -- antiquated B.S.

"You cannot cherry-pick what you like and don't like from the Bible," people calling themselves conservative Christians will say. But let's put this to rest once and for all. Here are some Bible versus that you cannot believe in and call yourself good at the same time:

"Deuteronomy 13:6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 9But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Deuteronomy 13: 13Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; 14Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; 15Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword." (source: www.guidetosalvation.com)

In these passages, God is not saying that He shall punish nonbelievers for these crimes. He is explicitly commanding Christians to murder people and whole cities. Good Christians have found ways to ignore those passages. It follows that if their conscience tells them gays and lesbians should be treated fairly that the anti-gay passages in the Bible should not trump the morality they feel in their gut.

Let's put this another way: People who DO believe in and follow every word of the Bible are not called "conservative Christians," they are called "terrorists" and "murderers." So unless you are such an extreme Christian fundamentalist that you feel fine about bombing cities of non-Christians just because they are non-Christians, ignoring immoral homophobic passages in the Bible shouldn't be that difficult for you.

Credit the Insurance Industry Doesn't Deserve

Imagine someone making this statement: "There are some very nice cars out there you can buy, thanks to the private car insurance industry." You would probably think, "Huh? It doesn't make any sense to credit (or blame) the car insurance industry with the quality of our cars." And you would right. So why the hell does anyone credit the private health insurance industry with the quality of our health care?

The good aspects of our health care system (e.g., specialized care) are good because we're the richest nation in the world with the best universities to train the best doctors, nurses, administrators, and entrepreneurs who develop innovative medical technologies and services. We pay double what most other industrialized countries pay per person on health care. Some of that high cost is due to inefficiencies in our system and price gouging by pharma and medical equipment manufacturers. But much of the reason we pay more is that we have more money and want to have the best health care in the world - at least for those who are insured.

The only job of insurance companies is to spread the financial risk around so that people who need health care can get health care and can do so without being suddenly thrown into financial ruin.

And guess what? The private insurance companies have done a lousy job at their specific task. Instead, they profit by denying coverage to those most likely to need it, resulting in people ending up in emergency rooms more often with serious problems rather than getting treatment earlier at less cost. Ultimately, we absorb those extra costs through higher premiums.and that's why health insurance reform is necessary. Moreover, it contributes to instability in our economy - 62% of bankruptcies are due to medical expenses.

Having a public option like the one proposed by Obama and the Democrats will reduce costs by making sure everyone has access to preventative care and can have injuries and illnesses treated in a timely manner before they become more expensive. It will also increase competition in regions that are currently serviced by only one insurance company. Reducing costs will allow us to extend our high quality health care to everyone in the U.S.

Insurance companies are rightly frightened of competing against a public plan that will not be in the business of taking more money in than they pay out for health care. That's why they're trying to convince us, through their politicians-in-retainer, that THEY are what's good about the American health care system.

But just remember what all Geico contributes to the quality of the Cadillac.

GOP: 2nd Great Depression not enough damage; bring back McCarthyism!

It's not just the clinically insane Glenn Becks of the world that are scaring people to the gun stores in fear of America "going down the road to Socialism." Republicans in the House of Representatives - people who really should have a sense of responsibility - are raising the specter of Socialism against the President and Democrats in congress. Rep. Spencer Bachus has apparently started a secret list of "Socialists in the House of Representatives."

All of this would be funny if it were not for the fact that a lot of people are buying into this fear. On the Young Turks show last night they had a recording of some people talking at one of those Republican/Fox News tea bagging parties (you know, those events where people are protesting the fact that Obama is increasing the tax rates of the wealthiest to nearly 1/2 of what it was during the reign of that commie Dwight Eisenhower). Some were totally convinced that Obama represented the culmination of a 50-year plot to turn the U.S. into a communist nation.

So is this what happens when a political party is completely devoid of ideas? Do they think bringing back the Red Scare will have any effect other than making them look like idiots? Or was witnessing their idiology and policies ruin the economy too much for them to handle and they've actually gone insane? I hope not. An intelligent oposition is good for the country. Unfortunately, intelligent conversation doesn't seem to be on the agenda of the current Republican party.

We are Obama

I'm done celebrating for now. Obama's victory was an historic achievement for everyone involved. Hope beat fear in our nation for the first time since September 11, 2001. That was worth celebrating. And we helped move our nation closer to MLK Jr.'s dream. That was definitely worth celebrating. But now I've stopped celebrating because I remember something someone said at a Democracy for America group meeting in Indianapolis shortly after the 2004 heartbreak. Our group was scheming about what we could do to help bring progressive Democrats back to power, and Tom Hipple, an experienced Indiana pol said: "Hey, don't worry so much about how you're going to get the Dems back into power. Politics are cyclical, so they will be back in power eventually. Worry more about what they will do with that power."

Now I wonder what Obama and the Dems will do and what I can do now to make sure they do help put the country on a better course. We all realize that Obama can't do it alone. As he has said many times, this election is not about him; it's about us. And that means that collectively we are more responsible for making the Obama administration a success for progressive values than he is. He can't bring about positive change unless we push for it because his political capital is worth only as much as congress members think that not supporting progressive values will cost them elections.

Hence, this blog. Why do I think I should blog? Not because I think I have a particularly unique or insightful perspective on today's political issues. But there is a battle of viewpoints out there and quantity is just as important as quality, if not more. Look how effective conservatives have been at affecting public opinion by repeating over and over again the same ridiculous talking points. In the same way, the more progressives talk about and argue for their values, the less strange they will seem to people who have been getting most of their information from Fox News over the past decade. And thanks to the Internet and the Bush administration, we now live during a period of time when people are more passionate about their political viewpoints and are talking and writing about them more than any time I can remember. I believe that this ongoing public discussion is part of what has moved this nation to the left recently. As exposure to values and ideas from the left and right increases so does peoples' realization that progressive ideas are better than conservative ones. Thus I want to do as much as I can to keep the conversation going.