Andy's Blog

Did you see the most recent attempt of James Dobson trying to prove his political prowess? In a 27 minute segment, Dobson accused Obama of "deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology." Jon Stewart put it a bit more comedically.

Now I am not a blind follower of Jon Stewart theology. The truth is, the Old Testament and New Testament talk about homosexuality, so the issue can't simply be written off as if Leviticus is the only place this is discussed. And I did listen to Barack's whole speech back in January and it was brilliant.

But I am not here to discuss political speeches or debate Jewish comedian exegesis. What I think needs to be addressed is what I think Dobson's legacy will be: dividing our culture to the point where sincere and loving relationships are impossible except in cases where you agree with every opinion.

This past week I met someone who I thought might be a new friend here in Atlanta. We both shared a huge interest in aviation. So I was excited since most of my friends make fun of my aviation curiosity. I could tell from his Facebook page that he was gay. But didn't think anything of it.

So we started talking online and he instantly wants to know about the radio show I produce. He asks are we right wing. I say nope. We are moderate. Next question, "so do you think all homosexuals are going to hell?" Thank you James Dobson.

I, of course, try and explain my thoughts on the issue; probably not very eloquently. But I could tell, it was a loss cause.

Nevermind that last weekend I said on the air one of the three celebrities I'd like to have coffee with is Ellen DeGeneres.

Nevermind that I have defended gay marriage from a legal perspective in other blogs.

Nevermind that I have had lunch with a porn producer.

Nevermind that I sincerely consider Erik of AllenHuntShowSucks.com a friend and genuinely care for the dude.

Thanks to the Dobsonion worldview, a Bible-believing Christian and a homosexual just can't be friends.

It brings me back a little to high school. There was a gay boy at my high school named Jason (not real name). Jason was a year younger than me, and while I am sure there were other gay individuals at Homestead, he was the only one who was "out." I primarily met Jason because he was good friends with my girlfriend Theresa.

I liked Jason. He was a good guy. I can remember one specific night when I was at the school after 10pm working on the yearbook by myself in the pub room. Jason was there for something related to show choir. I don't know what brought him to the pub room that night, but we had a great conversation. Towards the end, I remember saying, "you know Jason, we aren't very different." To which he replied, "No Andy, I don't think that is the case."

The truth is, most of us aren't very different from one another. We just choose to allow the few differences to get in the way. Thanks James.

Well it is in the news again, so I figured I better comment on it. Like the image to the left of this, Jesus said marriage is between one man and one woman. And I agree with this wholeheartedly. I do believe, the God-honoring, morally acceptable relationships is between a heterosexual male and a heterosexual female that have been bonded in the holy act of matrimony. So thus far, I have all the right-wing conservatives on my side, right?

Well here's where it gets interesting. I support same-sex civil union (whether we call it marriage or not, is just a matter of semantics). Why? Do I think it is right? No. Do I think it is necessarily good for our culture? Probably not. So why do you support this? Because Jesus said...

We recently had Shirley Phelps Roper from the wickedly world famous godhatesfags.com and for organizing the picketing of soldier's funerals on the radio show I produce. I was proud of Allen for sticking up, on theological grounds (which no one else in the Media can do), and saying with a loud voice, you don't speak for us. His point, and I agree with him, is that if you are going to have godhatesfags.com, you need to have godhatesdivorce.com and godhatespornography.com and godhatesstealing.com and godhates-dare I say-gossip.com.

And this is my point with Christians today. We scream, at the top of our lungs that we do not want homosexual marriage on moral grounds, this of course effects 2% of the population. Yet we do nothing to make divorce illegal, which effects 50% of the population. We need to be a consistent "political group" if we are going to be a political group - or else the world will continue laughing at us like they already do. We either need to take the perspective that we are going to be a "God-honoring" government in all aspects of law (including divorce), or concede to the fact that we are not a Christian nation. We will never be a Christian nation. And ultimately God does not call us to enforce a Christian nation, but rather seek change in people's hearts on a one-on-one basis, not through sweeping laws that will force God's law on those who don't want to follow it.

When I was doing my senior thesis on Globalization's effects on the Middle East/West Relationships, I came across an interesting quote that speaks to the dilemma of today's current political environment. This was said by a Muslim friend of Phillip Yancey. "In the Qur'an, I can find nothing to teach us how to be a minority religion, while in the New Testament I can find nothing to teach Christians how to be a majority religion." And that is why I think we are struggling as a political group. The past elections showed that Christianity has a lot of power in this democracy - maybe more than any other single force in this country. Yet Christianity was not founded on these grounds. We were small. We were persecuted. But yet we thrived. If Christianity can thrive in a culture as oppressive to their mission as Rome was before Constantine, I don't think Gay Civil Unions are going to truly be the downfall of Christianity in America.

Jesus said to live righteous and holy lives. Jesus said to turn the other cheek and love your enemies. Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves. But ultimately, Jesus said, I give you the choice to do otherwise.