Earlier this month, Republican state Rep. Andy Gipson of Mississippi (above) responded to Barack Obama‘s marriage-equality announcement by referencing Biblical commandments calling for gay men to be put to death.
On Facebook, Gipson called homosexuality a “sin,” and gay marriage “horrific social policy” while citing Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 1:26-28.
Just in case you’re not up on your hate-filled testaments, Leviticus 20:13 instructs that “if a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”
Romans 1:26-28, meanwhile, recounts “because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Later, Gipson stated same-sex relationships result in diseases like HIV, confuse children “who need to understand the proper role of men and women” and undermine the “longstanding definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.”
This weekend, Gipson addressed his turn in the spotlight in another Facebook sermon:
“Well it’s been an interesting day to say the least. Here at home I’ve received several threats in one day, to me personally, via email and on the phone, and at least one apparent death threat left on the answering machine to my whole family.
Apparently the Huffington Post (a California-based liberal blog) ran an article falsely stating or implying that my facebook post citing Leviticus 20:13 was to “suggest” that gay people should be put to death. I reject and resent that accusation; I have NEVER condoned or requested the killing of ANY PERSON.
I believe all are created in the image of God, and one of the 10 Commandments is “Thou shalt not murder.” What I did intend and did say is that the Bible clearly defines homosexual conduct as morally wrong – a sin. I cited this and another scripture for the purpose of pointing out that the conduct is sin, in defense of my stance against same-sex marriage.
What I find amazing is that the same people asserting the virtue of “tolerance” will tolerate all views except the view of Scripture – and, as evidenced today, will call and threaten me for referring to a Bible passage! Of course, we are all sinners, all in need of God’s grace. Only Jesus Christ can provide the grace we all need, including the folks who left those hateful messages on my answering machine. I pray for them that they would see and understand the truth.”
Bipolar Bear
Religious arseholes playing word games – there’s a surprise. There’s an infamous Christian politician and minister in New Zealand who did time for fiddling with little girls. After he was arrested, his supporters circulated an email he’d written where he used Biblical passages to defend his actions.
Funny how there’s nothing in the Ten Commandments about “thou shalt not f**k a child”. You think that might have been in there somewhere, maybe before the one about coveting your neighbour’s horse.
Daez
If he is Catholic he probably has no idea what the verse even says other than that his priest references it. I was raised Baptist. I learned the Bible well. I learned it so well that I learned how full of holes it really is. Now I am an aetheist.
MJ
whenever you quote Leviticus 20:13, you have just called for Gays to be killed
1equalityUSA
Rep. Andy Gipson of Mississippi needs to be fired. This irresponsible hate speech could lead to violence against LGBT. He is personally responsible for any bloodshed that comes from this. He needs to lose his position. I blame the churches for taking bits of scripture out of context and using it to propagate hate. I would rather be us than any person who uses God to stir up hatred. This smug, self-satisfied politician is too comfortable, calling on base hatred towards us, and he needs to be removed from office. Queerty…make it so.
Codswallop
Sorry, but when you cite a Bible verse that calls for gays to be killed, you DID just advocate the killing of gays. What’s confusing about that?
And if you cite that passage then turn around and say you would never advocate the murder of anyone, aren’t you essentially saying the Bible is wrong? Yes, you are, so you’ve just admitted that you aren’t quite the Biblical literalist you claim to be, that you interpret the Bible to suit your needs, so what are you doing citing the Bible as the basic of civil law in the first place when you’ve just admitted don’t believe it’s always right?
Michael
Funny how people never quote Leviticus 20:10 to say adulterers should be killed. I mean, give me a flying flipping break. 90% of ever-married persons would be put to death since divorce isn’t allowed unless it’s due to adultery.
I would give an twat who quotes Leviticus to condemn gays this challenge:
Let’s follow Leviticus all the way. If it calls for death, let’s have it but let’s start from chapter 1, verse 1, and if there is anyone left, when we get to 20:13, who thinks gays should be killed per Leviticus, I’ll be the first one to grab the rocks for the crowd.
George
He didn’t call for gays to be killed because Christians typically cite the Old Testament to demonstrate precedent for the New Testament, not to call for ancient Hebrew punishments. That’s such basic knowledge about mainstream Christians that this article is really baffling. And the passage itself doesn’t even call for “gays to be killed” considering Leviticus lists the maximum penalty for crimes in the worst case scenario – treason. Unless the passage says “you will not accept ransom” (e.g. the law against Murder) it was assumed you would just pay a fine. I don’t know if he knows that or not though.
George
Same with the Romans passage too. It’s clear he was just trying to demonstrate that a behavior was sinful, not that the context of the passage should be carried out. I mean, look at the passage in Romans – the whole passage – are you going to tell me that he is accusing gay people of worshiping lizards and birds, too?
“they claimed to be wise, they became fools (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Andy
@George: The point is no one is calling for divorce to be made illegal because Leviticus 20:10 (see above) makes adultery illegal. That’s a double standard.
SteveC
The buybull is a badly written work of fiction, written by many authors, and designed to give meaning to the lives of desert dwelling, illiterate peasants thousands of years ago.
Anyone who quotes the bible as a reliable source for anything, is quite, quite mad.
Soupy
Given the same weight and word count in Leviticus lists quite a few abominations. Eating shellfish for one. Do you think Gipson has never eaten a shrimp? And I do hope that he isolates his wife when she is menstruating for she is “unclean”. And he is only allowed to sell slaves on certain days of the week. The problem with these morons is that they believe that they can pick and choose the parts of the bible that they agree with.
keoki3
Rep. Gipson should also remember this country was founded in order to be free from religious persecution. Perhaps a refresher in Civics 101 is needed here. Let’s start with the separation of church and state, shall we?
Gorbeh
Interesting that he changed “Thou shalt not kill” to “Thou shalt not murder”. Is it murder if it’s gay people? Oh nope! It’s just rightful execution! He sickens me.
Ho Hum
@Soupy: Uh shrimp is not a shellfish, crab is though.
Storm
Join the Leviticus Project: rip that chapter out of every bible you get your hands on and leave the shredded pages scattered around.
shannon
OMG……….HE IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO “HAWT”…………….LOLOLOLOLOL
Aussie Col
I wonder about these translations of leviticus…I got one that just says should a man lay with another as a woman it is an abomination…which has been also translated as gay sex ok…trans sex not. However, the shimp argument is valid because as leviticus doesn’t point out much other than anything from the sea without scales and fins is also an abomination…no shark, lobster, oysters..OMG the soul destroying concept of a seafood platter should terrify the republicans…but then we get into the round haircuts (don’t have them) and NEVER trimming your beard…how many sinners are there that do that evil thing…’shaving’ …Hmmmm Mitt is never seen even with a stubble. It’s all BS anyway because Jesus said only God has the right to judge, he commandede that we love one another (wether friends or enemies), he also was dismayed at public prayer and advocated private, wordless prayer..so Evangelists are on His bad list. Any passages in the Bible that do not agree with Jesus (who also said NO DIVORCE, are false teachings from the false prophets He warned against. Can any Christian tell me of any Man of this earth that over rules Jesus? No! Well STFU!
Patrick Hogan
One wonders if Mr. Gipson would be perfectly fine with a Muslim Congressperson quoting the following verse from the Qur’an (Sura 4):
“They desire that ye should be infidels as they are infidels, and that ye should be alike. Take therefore none of them for friends, till they have fled their homes for the cause of God. If they turn back, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them;”
I’m fairly certain — especially if it was used to defend a political position — that many on the far right (including Gipson) would consider it to be a call for violence against Christians. Why, then, does Gipson seem to think that Leviticus (which is more explicit and doesn’t give the target the option of running away) gets a free pass?
(I’m not actually familiar with the Qur’an, but — ironically — there are plenty of right wing websites devoted to exposing how violent it is; it doesn’t seem much different than the Old Testament to me, but I’m perfectly happy to use their homework to point out their hypocrisy.)
Thomathy
He’s another liar for Jesus. Another illiterate one, at that, or stupid, or just a malicious liar. It’s getting so hard to tell anymore. Fuck these religious morons and their deeply held beliefs. That’s a problem with religion and religious thought and ideology, it gives people an excuse to exercise what they believe as though it were an immutable truth, except where it suits them otherwise, and they feel just in plodding all over the rights of others.
Dump religion, religious gays, especially the Christian ones in majority Christian America, because otherwise you’re on the wrong side of this cultural war.
GregR
When two men are together, it is not like the way a man has sexual relations with a woman. Because there’s no woman at all. No vagina. No breasts. Just two men. It is different from the start. Besides when a man and a woman have sexual relations, they’re supposed to be doing it for procreation, not for fun. There’s no chance of procreation with two men, so again it’s not like the way a man has sexual relations with a woman. It’s entirely different. I like how these phony Christians all know the Leviticus passage. They seem to forget to ask themselves, “what would Jesus do?”. He wouldn’t be calling for the deaths of fellow human beings. These people think they’re so righteous, but even in their photos, the phoniness is so apparent and this guy actually looks gay to me himself. That’s probably why he’s so against it. That’s why any man who is against homosexuality is so against it because it’s in them. It scares the crap out of them. They don’t want to be gay, but they have had those thoughts and feelings over the years.
jman
@1equalityUSA: Appologies, but your comments are simply ignorant. The real point here is that a white male state representative disagrees with President Obama over gay marrage.. Obama changed his mind and now supports it.. THis guy simply tried to pull together a couple bible references to better support why he says “no ..it is bad to allow homosexual marrages”… that is it – no more.. Using Leviticus as a ref was a bad call but minor and irrelevent to the real point..
You guys have been duped by the liberal press into a totally different story line… You missed the poinnt and the fact YOU were manipulated.. This story should be about how Obama IS publically and officially anti chritian at least with respect to christian church teachings & doctrine.. SINCE that will hurt his re-election chances, the liberal press changed the point..
The only ones who should be fired are … you people… for not realizing you were spin doctored and far too ST*&id to even realize it.. lol
jgirl
Good counterpoint by Jman. (However not sure what happened with the spelling.)
If we simply look at the part of the story regarding President Obama and his position on gays & the Christian religion, I guess it might be true that many Catholic and protestant followers would be more likely to vote against Obama this year?
Also a country’s solical policy about marrage is tricky. A strong, stable country usually has a stable family structure based on a male & female parent raising children. Why we don’t just keep that as-is and let gays have a “Social Union” or whatever seems a better way forward. Other option is to simply dissolve all marrages with respect to tax and finance benefits. Divorse rates over 50% anyway for something that is supposed to be “until death do us part”? Also, many women or non financially providing member of the marrage union simply get married under false pretenses for the financial support. This is a well known fact. When they are ready, the pre-planned divorse and settlement can set them up financially for life. Again another well known fact the government has failed to deal with correctly.
Suggest we limit government as each time they expand and meddle in thing, they typically fail. The modern USA government’s motto should be “failure is our standard option”…
Aussie Col
@jgirl: @jman: Once more we misinformed apologists for the right wing murderous comments of a political opportunist. He did call for killing of gays because he didn’t qualify the vile false teachings he quoted.
Leviticus & Romans are false because the are counter to the words of Jesus; LOVE for all (neighbours and enemies), and that ONLY God has the right to Judge. Jesus is considered by Christian faiths to be – the Son of God, the last prophet, a manifestation of God (for the Catholics and their Trinity) and the Messiah. He spoke against people that paraded their piety publicly (sorry Evangelists), he broke Religious Laws and embraced the so called unclean and unworthy (so called by the Priests and Politicians of the day.
As for the social policy BS you spout; this is the old argument that was used about black & whites marrying and women getting the vote. Marriage has changed, women were the chattels of men; only men were able to divorce, not women; those brides that are no longer virgins are no longer stoned to death; 2nd marriages are considered adultery (in the Bible).
There are 10 countries and several states in the US that have equal marriage, and it has been happening since 2001 and none of those countries has had major social breakdown over this issue. Canada having shown the quality of their humanity now for nearly 11 YEARS and divorce rates have fallen. Not 1 gay marriage has affected any straight marriage in any way. Gay people are getting married now, right this minute and is it affecting you in any way..NO. Only YOU can affect your marriage, only YOU can bring the sanctity of your marriage into question.
Lets see what straight marriage has given us; Rush Limbagh, Donald Trump, Letterman, Britney and Kim K. How about drive through ceremonies in Vegas officiated by Elvis impersonators. How many more examples do you want?
Right wing apologists make me sick and I wonder how you would pass the Lords judgement..per the Book of Samuel- 1 Samuel 16:7 (NAB)
But the LORD said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.”
The comments posted by Andy Gipson enable the haters to bully kids, to picket funerals and lead to children dying, and it’s all about privilege nothing else. The time is coming when this privilege will no longer be available to you and your kind. Get over it.
1equalityUSA
Dear Aussie Col, Thanks for countering the haters while I was away working so that I could pay taxes to a government that doesn’t represent me to the fullest under civil law. It’s so annoying to have to repeat things constantly to turds that get on the internet and spout the B.S. they’ve parroted from their preachers and parents. Queerty-ers, sorry for having to repeat myself for jgirl & jman. I hope they don’t get married and have jchildren that go on to hate, but here goes:
Love is more difficult than hate. Wherever healing is, Christ is. You can tell what quality of spiritual soil one’s roots are planted in by the fruit that one bears. The fruits of the Spirit are love, patience, kindness, goodness, and truth. You know it when you see it and so will Christ. Love, above all else, is the objective. The fruits of the Spirit are easily recognizable. As for the man who is a weak believer, welcome him (into your fellowship), but not to criticize his opinions or pass judgment on his scruples or perplex him with discussions. One (man’s faith permits him) to believe he may eat anything, while a weaker one (limits his) eating to vegetables. Let not him who eats look down on or despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains criticize and pass judgment on him who eats; for God has accepted and welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on and censure another’s household servant? It is before his own Master that he stands or falls. We will be given the same measure of mercy that we’ve shown to our brothers and sisters. Love, above all else, is key to being in Christ.
Jgirl and jboy, The entire time that Jesus roamed the earth, not one mention was made of gays. Jesus never said one word about gays the entire 33 years. Jesus never talked about gays, nor are gays mentioned in the Ten Commandments, nor in the Summary of the Law. No prophet expounds upon gays. It really wasn’t that concerning in early churches. Being judgmental is the worse offense. That’s spoken of so often that it would seem to be the more important lesson for us. I understand this your concern. Jesus must not have shared this concern, as He never spoke about gays. (Never.)
Much has been learned about how the human psyche and physiological effects can alter one’s sexuality. Perhaps, all knowing Jesus was so quiet about this subject because He saw what rabbinical Paul (Saul) could not see. People have always been gay and always will be. It’s not unusual. When we leave these temporal bodies, flesh will cease, gender will cease, the only thing we will have will be a spirit, defined by how we treated others. Love endures. You’ve been commanded to love, not point fingers in judgment. The mercy you’ve shown to others will be meted out to you accordingly. This jpeople have no business judging others, especially when they are so Biblically illiterate.
Now I must go work to pay taxes to a government that discriminates against me. Tyranny, taxation without representation.
Aussie Col
@1equalityUSA: My pleasure; it’s my favorite sport.