Dan Savage rips Christians and the Holy Bible

Militant homosexual activist goes on a tirade against Bible and Christianity. Time to bring The Truth to the so-called "anti-bullying czar."

To begin with, let’s look at the Bible verses that Mr. Savage is referring to. He starts off by mentioning Leviticus. In the Book of Leviticus – named after the Levite priesthood – spends a good amount on what the sacrificial and ritualistic laws for priests should be.  In keeping with this central theme it also, as a matter-of-factly, prescribes what it takes to be Holy; indeed, Mr. Savage just so happened to mention Leviticus (a priestly book) and, in particular, the verses which speak out against homosexuality. Ironically, little does Mr. Savage know that the Chapters that talk about homosexuality ( Chapters 18 & 20) are in a section that the Jews refer to as the Code of Legal Holiness.

So, since Mr. Savage doesn’t state what biblical verse offends him so, let’s look at them both. In Leviticus 18:22 it states:

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination.

And, the second place that the Book of Leviticus speaks out against homosexuality is found in Chapter 20, verse 13 which pretty much states the same thing:

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives.

Now taken by itself, people like Mr. Savage naturally assume that the bible is being judgmental if not discriminatory. But, if one reads THE ENTIRE Chapters of Leviticus 18 and 20 as a whole, then a bigger picture of Mr. Savage’s view of sexual morality is seen and how it is at odds with God’s plan. If in fact Mr. Savage is against this passage, because it denounces homosexual acts then surely, so as not seem like a hypocrite, he must be okay with the following:

-          Incest

-          Sex with a half sibling

-          Sex with an aunt or uncle

-          Sex with the spouse of an aunt or uncle

-          Sex with a Sister or Brother in-Law

-          Sex with a Mother or Father in-Law

-          Being married to two sisters

-          Sex with an animal

You see, what Mr. Savage didn’t mention is that Leviticus Chapter 18 & 20 states that those things are bad as well. Easily seen then is that these Chapters aren’t solely condemning homosexuality but a WIDE RANGE of sexual misconducts not in accord with God Himself. The real question now that can be asked is this: what is Mr. Savage doing to promote incest, sex with a half sibling/aunt/uncle/in-Laws, or with animals? Is he ferociously attempting to legitimize these forms of “sexual expression” as much as he is attempting to legitimize homosexuality to young adults? Well, truth be told, Mr. Savage has denounced bestiality (sex with an animal), as well as incest! Well, well…look who all of a sudden has sexual morals and agrees with God’s word!

Mr. Savage also mentions the Book of Timothy. Found in 1 Timothy 1:9-10, it reads:

… with the understanding that law is meant not for a righteous person but for the lawless and unruly, the godless and sinful, the unholy and profane, those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, the unchaste, practicing homosexuals, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is opposed to sound teaching…

What is this saying? Is it solely condemning homosexuals? No, it’s condemning, once again, a WIDE RANGE of people. But, it’s what the verse is about that is truly telling. Saint Paul is explicitly mentioning that the law isn’t meant for the righteous but, for the sinner. This passage isn’t condemning homosexuals, on the contrary, it is stating that the law is for them! That as homosexuals – as sinners – Christ has redeemed them as well, as Saint Paul continues in his letter to Timothy 13-14:

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.

Isn’t this exactly what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says (see CCC #2358)? That homosexuals deserve respect, compassion and sensitivity and that “these persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter…” How exactly is the Catholic Church discriminating towards Mr. Savage? All She is stating is that he, the sinner (just like me and you) are called to live our lives in total fidelity to Christ and, if not married, whether your homosexual or heterosexual, you are called to live a life of chastity. 

As for Romans, Mr. Savage must be alluding to must be Chapter 1 verses 26-27, which states:

Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.

The magic word in this passage is perversity, since homosexuals will point out that the Bible here calls their lifestyle perverse. But, what isn’t explicitly shown here is the underlying truth of these two verses. In the Greek, the word perversity nor perverse is ever used, and the last sentence of verse 27 literally reads as: “…and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error.”  What this is attempting to show is that God, in verse 26 delivered them up to their passions by withdrawing His Grace and let them fall into their sins and, in verse 27, we see that God – being just and merciful – let them, as sinners, receive just recompense for their sins. After all, the wage of sin is death whether you’re a homosexual or straight, it doesn’t matter.

As for the whole slavery thing, I would suggest you look here for a very clear and in depth explanation about the Catholic Church and slavery.

Lastly, Mr. Savage’s paper thin argument with regards to Deuteronomy 22: 20-21. With regard to a woman retaining her virginity, it states:

…and evidence of the girl's virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her father's house and there her townsmen shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house…

The OT testament should be viewed as a source of moral truth and not a vehicle to transport legal statutes to our time. You'll need to understand God was interoperating with falliable tribal people, using human customs which were not infallible in nature. What is to be gleaned is that adultery is immoral and not what the punishment is for adultery. Whenever you review scripture, you may need to look at each verse of the bible in one (or more) of four contexts, which are literal, typological, allegorical and anagogical.

An excellent discourse about God’s covenant with the Israelites can be found here on Marianne Dorman’s website.

I’ll briefly paraphrase what she wrote, she basically states that Christianity is a religion in which God acts in history to make covenants with his people. Covenants are oaths which a person swears to make another person a full part of his family. Think of the oaths spouses swear at marriage. So God, though covenants, is trying to draw us into his divine life, as adopted heirs. We use to be natural Sons of God in Adam. He broke that original covenant, and now we are now longer natural Sons of God. Again and again, he offered covenants to man. And again and again, man breached those covenants grievously. This history of failure culminates in God's great victory in the New Covenant, in which we become adopted Sons of God in the New Adam, Jesus Christ.

Now, this is important information because Deuteronomy is the finalized form of the Mosaic Covenant. It had to be reformed after a dozen or so enormous breaches on the part of the Israelites sojourning to the Promised Land from Egypt. And, after each breach, new laws are made by Moses to pretty much enact marshal law so that the rebellious Israelites can get under control. These are harsh conditions, and these are a harsh people. You do not turn barbarians into angels over night. And so a lot of laws reflect that harshness. Deuteronomy, being the final form of the Sinai covenant, is the most of harsh of all because it reflects all that had happened since the original Mosaic covenant. The original Mosaic covenant only had the ten commandments! The other 613 Mosaic laws were added after all of these breaches!

However, this does not mean that God advocated those laws. In fact, there are a few verses in Scripture in which God critiques those laws as bad! And Jesus, most famously, said that Moses allowed laws for divorce because of the hardness of the hearts of the Israelites. He corrects that law in the New Covenant when he saves an adulterous woman from being stoned and says, “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”

Remember, Jesus FULLFILS the law and this is a perfect example of Him doing so and an even better example why we don’t stone women today.