I have been compelled to largely ignore this issue for a long time, mainly because I’m still on the fence, but Newsweek’s dismal treatment of the Gay Marriage debate in its most recent edition has forced my pen.

Lisa Miller’s column in support of Gay Marriage is not so much about the supposed biblical support for the idea, but an assault on the veracity of the book and a mangling of the core tenets of Christianity itself. There were a lot of messy ideas in Miller’s article, but here are the five biggest:

1. Miller begins the column by listing a string of Israeli rulers who in their time were polygamists, thereby implying that marriage between one man and one woman isn’t all that sacred after all. What she fails to mention is that God clearly did not condone the behavior of King David or Solomon.

2. This failed logic is taken one step further when Miller claims that the Bible supports the institution of slavery, because there is a section which details the proper way to pay for a slave. There is probably no greater condemnation in all historical literature of slavery than the account of the Egyptians’ treatment of the Jews.

3. Miller implies that King David and Jonathan were possibly secret gay lovers. Beyond the obvious libel and her chromosomes, where does she get the balls to make such a claim?

4. She goes on to say that the Bible provides a conceptual sanctuary for anti-Semitism. Mind you, she never cites any scripture to support the claim: but I can only imagine she’s referring to the Jews’ betrayal of Jesus. That is such a stretch that I’m ashamed to even mention the idea.

5. If this wasn’t enough, Miller goes on to completely mishandle the very idea of Christianity later in the article, when she says that Jesus wanted us to be good for our own sakes, and for the world. This is pretty much the worst interpretation of the teaching that I’ve ever heard of. Christ clearly taught that we should be “good” despite ourselves, even if it means poverty, pain, loneliness, or in his case, crucifixion.

If Lisa Miller wants to provide a biblical context for her support of gay marriage rights- which I’m not entirely opposed to- she should first actually read the bible and make some attempt to understand its messages beyond some vague notion of free love and inclusiveness which is more suited for a New Age massage parlor than a religious text of any kind.

Essentially, her argument comes down to this:

The Bible is outdated, dangerous, and should be ignored at all costs, but Jesus loves everyone, so it’s ok for gay people to get married.

I’m disappointed that Newsweek not only ran the linguistically butchered and intellectually lazy article, but they made it their front cover and feature story!

Maybe I’m naive to expect more from Jon Meachem and co, but if they want a serious debate about  gay marriage, they certainly got off on the wrong foot. I realize that every article in the magazine can’t be written by Fareed Zakaria, but they really need to do a better job of selecting their stories, especially when trying to set up such a debate.

The article only goes to show that many proponents of gay marriage can be just as bigoted and ignorant as those making the claim that God Hates Fags. This issue will go nowhere in this country until we take the stupid out of our respective arguments, do some honest research, and really think about it.

I’m still doing soul searching on the issue, and when I come to a more clear consensus, I will post my thoughts. In the mean time…

I will be hosting an essay in support of gay marriage soon from one of my favorite bloggers, Erin Solaro: who I’m certain will do a better job than Lisa Miller.

Feel free to join the debate, unless of course you’re in the God Hates Fags or Fags Hate God crowds.