Defenders of “traditional marriage” like the so-called “National Organization for Marriage”, the American Family Association, and Focus on The Family say that they support strong children, strong families, and strong churches even though they really don’t. So naturally now that Malta and the Phillipines want to legalize divorce, these other pro-family organizations will surely take a stand against policies that would help break families apart, right? RIGHT???!!!
No. Believe us, we searched their websites using “Malta” and “Philippines”—it brought up nothing on their movements for legal divorce. These pro-family orgs have certainly commented on marriage issues in other countries, so why the silence now?
Why?
Let’s let Yale divinity student Jonathan Dudley explain:
How about we take this to the next level?
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Although there is only one uncontested reference to same-sex relations in the New Testament, divorce is condemned throughout, both by Jesus and Paul. To quote Jesus from the Gospel of Mark: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.”
A possible exception is made only for unfaithfulness.
The community most opposed to gay marriage usually reads these condemnations very leniently. A 2007 issue of Christianity Today, for example, featured a story on its cover about divorce that concluded that Christians should permit divorce for “adultery,” “emotional and physical neglect” and “abandonment and abuse.”
The author emphasizes how impractical it would be to apply a strict interpretation of Jesus on this matter: “It is difficult to believe the Bible can be as impractical as this interpretation implies.”
Indeed it is.
On the other hand, it’s not at all difficult for a community of Christian leaders, who are almost exclusively white, heterosexual men, to advocate interpretations that can be very impractical for a historically oppressed minority to which they do not belong – homosexuals.
Whether the topic is hair length, celibacy, when life begins, or divorce, time and again, the leaders most opposed to gay marriage have demonstrated an incredible willingness to consider nuances and complicating considerations when their own interests are at stake…
So let’s stop the charade and be honest.
Opponents of gay marriage aren’t defending the Bible’s values. They’re using the Bible to defend their own.
If pro-family groups such as NOM, the AFA, and FOF really cared about defending the institution of marriage, they’d picket the offices of divorce lawyers, protest outside of divorce courts, and create campaigns against newspapers that support divorce. But they don’t.
They only care about preserving marriage and upholding the biblical values that inconvenience them least. With marriage equality to fuss over, Maggie, Bryan, and Tony would all be out of a job, God bless ’em.
Steve
I wish someone would make this story into national news, just so people get to see how one-sided these organizations really are. Let’s prove it to people that Tony and his band of merry men deserve to be on a Hate-Group list.
alan
@Steve
I couldn’t agree more!!
Hey Queerty by any chance could you convince Rachel Maddow to pick up this story so that it could go national. This hypocrisy needs to be shouted very loudly.
Atlas
Dudley’s essay is quite good, but not ground breaking. Most scholars or religion take the same view, the sensible view.
Joetx
The sad part is, this will be news for some people.
The even sadder part is, this won’t influence one bit those who inflict the most damage by “practicing their religion.”
If there is an afterlife, and a bad place reserved for bad people, I expect it to be populated mainly by so-called religious people.
Ronald
The Philippines remains the only divorce-free country in the world.
Nick Thiwerspoon
NOM = OAGR (Organization Against Gay Rights)
Did a blog post about these drongoes a week or so ago. Let’s not call them the National Organization for MARRIAGE, since they aren’t. Refer to them always as ‘so-called’ NOM. Or OAGR, with you-know-who as the chief ogress.
Chris
“Opponents of gay marriage aren’t defending the Bible’s values. They’re using the Bible to defend their own.”
So true!!
Mangina
It’s about time Philippines are finally legalizing divorce. After decades of unhappy unions, it is about time the country got progressive than still trying to retain conservative ideals. I’m filipino and I can’t begin to tell you stories of friends and relatives who have longed seperated, started other families, and carrying on about their lives still married to their other families. Technically, this is adultery and if MALTA wants to make this an issue perhaps they should look upon the fact that sanctity of marriage is no longer the norm and start changing their view on gay marriage.
Jeffree
Since NOM failed in New York, they should take their show overseas. Saving the sanctity of marriage in other countries might be easier, although they’ll need to realize their salaries will be cut by 85%.
I hear Malta is lovely in the fall.