Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother.*

A brief comment on this article from Newsweek:
Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does. Shall we look to Abraham, the great patriarch, who slept with his servant when he discovered his beloved wife Sarah was infertile? Or to Jacob, who fathered children with four different women (two sisters and their servants)? Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and the kings of Judah and Israel—all these fathers and heroes were polygamists. The New Testament model of marriage is hardly better. Jesus himself was single and preached an indifference to earthly attachments—especially family. The apostle Paul (also single) regarded marriage as an act of last resort for those unable to contain their animal lust. "It is better to marry than to burn with passion," says the apostle, in one of the most lukewarm endorsements of a treasured institution ever uttered.
What intrigued me wasn't really the article. Nothing new, really...although nicely put together. It was when I reached the end:
Due to the high volume of traffic, we have had to temporarily suspend the comments function on this story. We regret the inconvenience, and will have it restored as soon as possible. Thank you for reading.
There's a shocker for you. I can't believe a bunch of people on the internet can't have a rational discussion about this one such that the comments function of the story remains active. Shocked, I tell you. Just shocked.

*I didn't make that up. But I must ask: It dishonors your father? What, you think Mom's okay with it?