Legislated Morality Killed Jesus

How's that for a headline? It combines two major thoughts occupying Christians this week. The first is the death and resurrection of Jesus, this being the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, when we Christians contemplate Christ's arrival in Jerusalem, His betrayal, arrest, and execution. On Sunday we celebrate Easter, the third day when Christ rose from the grave. That's one thing Christians are thinking about. The other thing is gay marriage.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard two different challenges to laws that deny gay couples the right to marry: Prop 8 and DOMA. As is often the case with big Supreme Court challenges, the masses descended on Washington, some in favor of gay marriage, others who want marriage to stay a strictly man-woman arrangement. It's made for quite the scene.

Both sides have been making their case for years, but that's not what I plan to talk about. Not directly, anyway. No, I want to get down to one of the more basic principles behind the desire to uphold laws against same-sex marriage, that the United States needs to legislate morality and use the force of law to enforce God's laws. That rather than base laws solely on the Constitution, we should base laws on the Bible. We can find many examples of Christians stating that they want the United States governed by Biblical values.

Star Wars and the True Gospel

Last year's surprise news that Disney bought Star Wars sent nerds to the internet in droves. Some loved the idea of new Star Wars movies, others denounced the move as a naked cash grab, and many more argued about whether Disney would even do the franchise justice. Those arguments haven't died down (nor will they ever, welcome to the internet) and they will only intensify when the movies actually premiere. So why all the fuss? After all, they're just movies.

Calm down, internet, I was being rhetorical.

Star Wars is more than just a series of movies. It is a cultural force that shaped the last few generations. Even if you've never seen the films, you've no doubt seen their impact. Star Wars is everywhere, influencing modern directors and filmmakers, scientists, and even politicians. Don't think churches haven't been influenced either, as countless pastors have used the saga's themes of good versus evil, sacrifice, and redemption in sermons.

Anti-heroes of the Bible

If there's one thing a geek loves, it's an anti-hero. We like the tough-as nails protagonist who plays by his own rules, takes no guff, and gets the job done even though the authority figures never give him an ounce of support. It's a fantasy of ours because we can relate to being an outcast.

As geeks, we do play by our own rules. We don't do what normal people do, watch what they watch, listen to what they listen to. But unlike the anti-heroes, when we go our own way we catch flack for it. That's why we like seeing people who get away with what we can't and say what we wish we could. We admire people who turn the world upside down, because that's what we'd love to do. That's why we love us some anti-heroes.

How Christians Can be Okay with Gay Marriage

Even when discussing gay marriage I'm still a geek. Oh, my!

So you might have heard President Obama recently announced his support for gay marriage. It’s the first time a sitting President has done this, and it got everyone’s attention. In years past, a sitting President up for re-election would have torpedoed his own chances with such an announcement. But by the looks of it, President Obama didn’t hurt his re-election chances.

I’m not here to talk about the 2012 election, though. What I want to spotlight is the issue of gay marriage and why it’s becoming acceptable for politicians to come out in favor of it. Yes, there are still votes like Amendment One in North Carolina and Prop 8 in California, but overall the tide is turning and America is now more in favor of gay marriage than against it. (50% to 48%)

I have news for a lot of you. Gay marriage is becoming a reality in this nation, and there’s no reversing this trend. It’s going to happen. It might not be this year or next, but by the end of this decade, we’re going to see a lot more states legalize gay marriage, and in the not-so-distant future, be it a Supreme Court ruling like Loving v. Virginia, or a Constitutional Amendment, gay marriage is going to be a reality in this country.

And this puts a lot of Christians in a quandary. All our lives, we Christians have been told that gays are evil, that legalizing homosexual activity, let alone allowing gays to marry, would be the end of civilization. If we let this happen, God would strike us down Sodom-and-Gomorrah-style. So how are we Christians going to deal with this new reality, how are we to behave in a world where gay marriage is becoming the norm?

Bible Questions and Answers

Whenever we enter the political season, politicians like to make hay (and other farm byproducts) by speaking about their desire to legislate out of the Bible. Naturally, this causes many in their audience to ask a lot of questions.

The Bible is not a simple document, and is has a long, proud history of not being a simple document. Not everyone understands what it really says and how it applies to modern life. After all, the context of the Bible is not a world that included the internet, refrigerators, and working knowledge of deoxyribonucleic acid. It can be tough to apply all those old rules and regulations to modern life.

This can lead to a lot of tricky questions. These are bound to come up in conversation, particularly if you happen to be using the Bible as your sole argument as to why everyone shouldn't be allowed to do things you don't approve of. The following is taken from from forwarded emails on the subject, a satirical series of questions about the Bible, aimed squarely at those who want to legislate Biblical rules.

Geeks and Bible Geeks

Any self respecting geek knows a lot of trivia. It's one of the hallmarks of our people. At a moment's notice, we'll regale you with the fact that Zac Efron got his start playing a young Simon Tam on Firefly, whether you want to know it or not.

How is this any different than someone who can quote any obscure verse from Habakkuk? Or someone who knows how many times the number 40 appears in Scripture (86) and the only one of Christ's miracles to appear in all four Gospels. (feeding the five-thousand)