"Stop Arguing About the Bible and Homosexuality"

Thought-provoking article by Candace Chellew-Hodge, "a recovering Southern Baptist," and a pastor at a UCC church in South Carolina. Chellew-Hodge points out parallels in the way the Bible was and is used in the present struggle for LGBT rights and the abolitionist movement of a generation ago.

If you think making a pro-gay argument from the Bible is difficult, try to make an anti-slavery argument from it. There is precious little in the Bible that can be made to speak against the owning of another human being as property. Not that the abolitionists didn't try. They did – valiantly.

...

And so it will be with gay and lesbian Americans. We will not win our rights by having the best biblically based argument. We will never triumph in that arena – but we don't need to. As the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison so boldly proclaimed, "Nothing in regard to controversial matters ha(s) ever been settled by the Bible," and neither should it.

Of course, I don't agree with everything Chellew-Hodge writes. My own confrontation with the Bible's support of slavery, broad proscription of death penalties, genocide, and subjugation of women has left me why dubious of the authority of the Bible. I don't feel I hold the Bible in as high esteem as Chellew-Hodge does. I'm curious to know what you guys think.

hat tip: Ex-Gay Watch

Fail Blog

ROFL You gotta check out failblog. Absolutely hilarious photos and videos "of owned, pwned, and failed moments". Here are some gems:


And, yes, I should be finishing up my dissertation edits right now. But I'm not :-P

Wedding Memories

Oh my goodness. Where to begin? C and my special day was absolutely wonderful. The weather was perfect, the food was absolutely marvelous, but what made it so special was the people. I was overwhelmed by the friends and family who came from far and wide to join us for our wedding. Canada, California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Iowa, Washington--people came from everywhere to celebrate with us!

We were moved to tears during our wedding ceremony and overjoyed at our reception.

But why tell you all about it myself? Here is what some of our friends had to say about the wedding:

My Big Fat Gay Wedding Recap by Pomoprophet
The Big Fat Gay Quaker Wedding (parts I, II, III, and IV) by Selly

and you can find the marvelous recipes created for our reception by our brilliant chef friends over at Razzie's Food for Thought. So far, Razzie has posted his recipes for the Spanish Gazpacho, the Island Coconut and Sweet Potato Stew, the Strawberry-Spinach Salad, and the Georgia Pulled Pork BBQ with Mustard-Vinegar Sauce we enjoyed at our reception. Not only was this food postively mouth-watering, but the presentation was stunning. I've never seen a more elegantly set table!

Oh my goodness. Such warm, wonderful memories! We're still waiting on some of the photos from our photographers.

And we're still waiting to leave on our honeymoon. C and I decided to postpone honeymoon plans until after my defense. We leave on July 23rd for Seattle and Glacier National Park!

Married, Defended, and Couldn't be Happier :-)

Wow! The most stressful, wonderful, and emotionally full month of my life has just past. It began one month ago with a beautiful Quaker wedding surrounded by joyous loved ones and ended this morning with a dissertation defense surrounded by four engineering professors.

I am a husband.

And I just completed graduate school.

Words cannot express how happy I am about the former and how relieved I am about the latter!