Resources to counter anti-gay "Christians"

If you look at the tabs at the top of this blog, there's one that says "Re: Theology".  It's a permanent page on this site with links to helpful resources to counter those who claim that Christianity has to be anti-gay.

The text of this blog post recapitulates that current page, as it stands today.  If you have additional resources, put them in the comments.  I will update the Theology page accordingly.

Here is a direct link to the theology page for future reference:
http://gaymarriedcalifornian.blogspot.com/p/resources-theology.html

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Tired of getting hammered by anti-gay "Christians"?  First, remember, the majority of Christians are actually pro-equality (despite what the Evangelical right or Roman Catholic bishops claim). And the Bible doesn't address our modern understanding of homosexuality.  (It's not so great on astronomy or medicine either!)  Here are some tools to fight back.

Theological resources for fighting the anti-gay Christians
1) From the Episcopal Church, "Doing the Theology":

• Claiming the Blessing
• To Set our Hopes on Christ
• Same sex relationships in the life of the church
• Holiness in relationships
• Marriage and Blessings, an informative series  from St. Paul's Memorial Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, Virginia

2) Dealing with the Bible arguments:

• What the Bible says, and doesn't say, about same sex relationships (From Soulforce)
• Clobbering the "Biblical" Gay Bashing
• What the Bible REALLY says about marriage
• The Rev. Peter Gomes: Re-read your bible
• From Bishop Gene Robinson: What the Bible says: reading the texts of terror
• Part 1
• Part 2 (Leviticus)
• Part 3 (Sodom and Gomorrah)
• Part 4 (New Testament, Romans)
• Part 5 (Corinthians, Timothy)

3) The book, Reasonable and Holy: engaging same sexuality, by the Rev. Tobias Haller, BSG

4) The workbook, Reconciling Journey: a devotional workbook for gay Christians

5)  Journey towards acceptance: theologians and same sex love (PDF) by  Savitri Hensman is an overview of theological discussion and debate from the last 60 years.

6) God Believes in Love: Straight talk about gay marriage , book by Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson

Testimony from gay Christians.
1) Books

• From Mel White, the autobiography "Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay & Christian in America"
• From Bishop Gene Robinson: In the Eye of the Storm:  Swept to the Center by God

2) Films

• For the Bible tells me so
• Through my eyes
• A fish out of water
• Love Free or Die 

More
Lots more resources on this Daily Kos diary from 2008
Also see the series of posts here on Voices of Faith Speak Out

Voice of Faith: a way forward in things unsaid

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Voices of Faith

Responding to the recent Op/Ed denying Biblical Credibility to the anti-equality side (which I highlighted yesterday), blogger Joel Watts in the HuffPo seeks "a Christian Way Forward on Gay Marriage in the Things Unsaid":

What gets lost in the middle are Christians who believe in the authority of Scripture but hope for a path forward whereby all of God's Creation is honored. 

...I base my affirmation of the validity of same-sex marriages based on the experience of Christian salvation. I do not have the power to categorically deny the love, the companionship, the compassion involved in a consensual relationship of two people in a same-sex relationship. Rather, I affirm the beauty of human flourishing in this rather dark world of ours. ... 

I believe the passage in Luke gives Christians today a certain amount of pause. Let us pause and consider all of the things Jesus could have possibly said -- and yet didn't -- to the Centurion who loved his pais enough to debase himself in front of the traveling Galilean prophet. While Jesus neither publicly affirmed nor denied the Centurion's relationship with his pais, although we may allow a passive affirmation, Jesus praised the man's faith as greater than all of Israel's. Like Amos, who from outside of the Kingdom became a prophet to the Kingdom, the Centurion stands as a testament to what real Faith is supposed to be -- in that he willingly laid down everything he was an officer in the Roman army to save the person he loved. 

But what does this do for the interpretation of Scripture? It beckons us always to stand willing to reform our views and theological assessments when sound scholarship presents an alternative view without going completely overboard and allowing our desires to replace the soundness of a Scriptural viewpoint. Finally, it reminds us that in Scripture, the story is not just about what is said, but often times what is unsaid.

Read the whole thing!

(Those so inclined can read the referenced story in Luke 7:1-10 ).

No, the Bible DOESN'T say that

From the Des Moines register, actual Biblical Scholars correct the misconception:

As academic biblical scholars, we wish to clarify that the biblical texts do not support the frequent claim that marriage between one man and one woman is the only type of marriage deemed acceptable by the Bible’s authors.
...
In fact, there were a variety of unions and family configurations that were permissible in the cultures that produced the Bible.

They go on to cite chapter and verse for monogamy, Levirite marriage (marrying a brother's widow, even if already married), celibacy, proscriptions against marriage across races or nations, and even a call to celibacy. They go on:

This is not only our modern, academic opinion. This view of the multiple definitions of “biblical” marriage has been acknowledged by some of the most prominent names in Christianity. ... 

Accordingly, we must guard against attempting to use ancient texts to regulate modern ethics and morals, especially those ancient texts whose endorsements of other social institutions, such as slavery, would be universally condemned today, even by the most adherent of Christians.

Glad to see actual experts speaking out against the malignant misconceptions.