Christian Integrity or Hypocrisy?

Truth be told, as I first began to read this blog post I thought that James White had written it.  Of course, it turns out that I was mistaken and that this was a re-posting of a piece that had more or less been Canerized at a different website.  I would like to comment--and hope to do so as a follow-up piece--but the article itself is enough to think about and chew on for a long time:

Mark Driscoll, Ergun Caner, and the Scandal of Evangelical Integrity | Alpha and Omega Ministries

By the way, if the careers of the likes of Jimmy Swaggart, Peter Popoff, or Charlton Pearson can survive or be revived after media scandals or dissolution of their ministry, why can’t Caner just fess up, lie low for a while, and wait for his public career to be brought back from the dead?  Oh, wait: somewhere along the line I think I answered my own question.

Of 2013 Celebrity Deaths

We have all heard about the death of Nelson Mandela; the mass media made sure of that.  However, one death that has gone underreported is that of Paul Crouch, who died on 30 November at the age of 79.  When I got the news of Paul Crouch’s death the report did not sit well with me or did not seem quite right.  I remember some of the early days of TBN--back when everyone was convinced the Rapture was nearly at hand and Paul Crouch really seemed to believe that he was a part of “the generation that will cheat the undertaker,” to use his words.  Indeed, it seems like he was supposed to keep right on living, but he hasn’t.

Several months prior to this I had inquired about the condition of Richard Eby of Spring Valley Lake.  I first saw the man on a CBN broadcast in the 1990s where he was being interviewed on TV in front of an outdoor location that immediately looked familiar and like the Spring Valley Lake area (which it turned out to be).  As I recall, and to hear Richard Eby tell it, he had an accident, he was killed, the Lord spoke to him, his name was temporarily “expunged” from the Book of Life, he went to hell, he was tormented by spider-like demons, and at the end of the matter he was informed that he would still be alive on this earth at the Parousia.  Now, my inquiry seemed to indicate that the man was still alive at the age of 101 or so.  However, I checked again and it now turns out that he died ten years ago without my hearing about it.  According to one website, as Mr. Eby lay on his deathbed someone asked him about his claim that Eby would be alive at the end of the age; this claim was subsequently retracted as a matter of reading too much into someone else’s words.

Add it all up and there apparently is no special reason to believe that only twenty more years of the trials, travails, pitfalls and miseries of life remain; the average lifespan of human beings cannot be used as an approximate gauge of how much time this current world has left (unless you believe the “prophecy” about Hal Lindsey’s having gray hair at the Parousia).  By the same token, the end of the world could be either three hundred years away, three years away, or something else entirely.  We still do not know the day or hour.

In the News: Harold Camping Changes His Mind and Kirk Cameron Does Not

Curiously enough, both of these guys have more courage and humility than many of their critics and other people in this world. Sources:

Harold Camping says May 21 prediction was ‘incorrect and sinful’ - The Washington Post

Kirk Cameron responds to anti-gay comments flap - Yahoo! News (Reuters)

First of all, when has Ergun Caner, for example, ever manned up about his biography and admitted to having repeatedly done things which are sinful?

Moreover, stop and consider the closing remarks of the Reuters story for a moment. Since Tracey Gold professes to “believe in equal rights for all,” does she also believe that grown men of the NAMBLA ilk should be provided legal “equal rights” regarding their sexual orientation? Presumably, the answer is No. That means that Ms. Gold is being less than honest about the real reasons she supports the LGBT community or she hasn’t thought her words through to even 1 millionth of the extent to which her elder TV brother thinks his words through.

Of course, if Gold is dishonest then the real reasons should seem obvious enough. No one likes to be a pariah or social leper; furthermore, the fallen and rebellious heart of post-Edenic humanity is naturally drawn to a minimalist theory of ethics per John 3.19-20. (If one is to avoid being mindful of God’s law, a replacement for one’s code of ethics must be sought.)

Contrast Tracey Gold's cowardice--or so I believe it to be--with the work of Kirk Cameron over the past several years. Who else in Hollywood and who else in celebrity circles has the guts to go against the grain of political correctness in any way, shape or fashion? If it were the case that Alan Thicke hated Black people, would he also have the guts to call them savages on Piers Morgan’s TV show? No. If Mel Gibson has a low opinion of Jews, would he dare say this openly and with a normal blood alcohol level? No. Modern celebrities and corporations are cowards and wusses for the most part: this is no secret. However, Kirk Cameron stands apart from them not only in his honesty and commitment to God’s law and Gospel, but also in the sheer guts the guy has to continually do street preaching or witnessing as many of us have seen on Ray Comfort’s “Way of the Master” TV show. So Cameron has guts and honesty; I would think more highly of him than most celebs even if I were not a Christian.

Finally, Kirk Cameron has also been accused of being thin-skinned regarding his reaction to people’s criticism of him of late. Kirk Cameron is not thin-skinned--for one thing, he knows he is a laughing stock though that has not stopped him from street preaching and doing the other things that he does. Again, he is not thin-skinned; to the contrary, he is simply telling it like it is when in recent news he points out the BS quotient of those who holler “Homophobe!” or “Hate speech!” at anyone and anything that merely happens to disagree with the idea that homosexuality (the attribute) and homosexuality (the acts) are good things. Terms such as “homophobia” and “hate speech” are in fact the tools of people who are either too lazy, too evil, or too dumb to draw rudimentary distinctions of logic and language or who simply want to bank on the use of emotive, politically-charged words.

In other old news...

From: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1004/23/lkl.01.html, personal comments interspersed as needed:

*********************

«Return to Transcripts main page

CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Christian Singer Comes Out as Lesbian

Aired April 23, 2010 - 21:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LARRY KING, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a Christian singer's shocking admission. She admits she is a lesbian, alienating some of her fans, angering devout followers.

Jennifer Knapp reveals how a God-loving woman rejected church teachings to be true to herself.

Ex-televangelist Ted Haggard who survived a notorious scandal is here with us as well.

Can you be Christian and gay? Should anyone have to choose one or the other?

Next on LARRY KING LIVE.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Good evening. This will not be a dull show tonight.

Jennifer Knapp is a Grammy-nominated Christian music artist. Recently came out publicly as a lesbian revealing that she has been in a same-sex relationship for the past eight years. Her new album "Letting Go" will be released in May. It's available for presale on iTunes.

We welcome Jennifer Knapp to LARRY KING LIVE.

Why did you come out?

JENNIFER KNAPP, CHRISTIAN SINGER: Well, go right for the jugular. As a history in the Christian music industry, I'm very well- known for my faith. I felt like it was one of the most important things that I could do to allow people who I knew might not agree with listening to an artist who has been known as a Christian and yet deal with the fact that they were homosexual at the same time.

There were a lot of rumors circulated around for about seven years. And while I wasn't actually here to kind of answer them, and it's starting to feel a little bit like a lie. So --

KING: Do you think you were living a lie?

KNAPP: Absolutely not. I've been quite open in my relationships that I've had in my private life. It's just on a public level, they kind of needed some -- need to be addressed, I think.

KING: You would be seen with your mate, et cetera -- you weren't hiding somewhere?

KNAPP: No. I mean, well, I was on another continent, so that made it rather convenient.

KING: You were where?

KNAPP: I was actually in Australia for the last five years.

KING: Singing?

KNAPP: No, just being an average Joe.

KING: Why did you stop singing?

KNAPP: Oh, that's a long story.

KING: Shorten it.

KNAPP: Well, I'd done about three records. And I got fairly burnt out. I was doing about 150 shows a year for about three or four years. And I just didn't know why I was doing it anymore. I lost the joy of what I was doing. So, I really decided I needed a break.

KING: Did you know early on you were gay?

KNAPP: No, I wouldn't have put it that way.

KING: When -- was there a realization?

KNAPP: Yes, when I fell in love with a beautiful woman. That was a pretty good indicator. But I was -- at the time I was actually involved in sharing my faith in music. I was celibate for 10 years.

So, I really kind of put my own personal desires out the window and kind of put all that to the side. And it wasn't until I actually met someone that was really quite difficult for me to ignore anymore.

KING: Is that someone kind of in the same boat?

KNAPP: I don't know. You'd have to speak -- you'd have to speak to my partner about that.

KING: But did you ask if she had previous -- if this was new to her, too?

KNAPP: Sure.

KING: You had a successful Christian musical career. More than one million albums were sold. You won four Gospel Industry Dove Awards, were nominated for a Grammy. Let's take a look at your music.

Watch.

KNAPP: All right.

(MUSIC VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Do you still call yourself a Christian artist?

KNAPP: I still -- I am a person of faith. It's a long-debated term, the connection of those two terms. I am an artist. I very much as an artist often find myself reflecting my faith in my music, and will probably continue to do that.

KING: Usually, we hear Christian artist, most of the music is of that bent.

KNAPP: Well, there's a particular genre like --

KING: Yes, of course.

KNAPP: There is a retail industry that's specifically designed for that.

KING: Go to the store.

(CROSSTALK)

KNAPP: Yes, it will be the Christian bookstore. And that's a legitimate form of -- there a legitimate group of people that are actually participating within that industry. So, it's not a small thing.

KING: Does what you do, do you think belie your faith since so many in the Christian world regard homosexuality as a sin?

KNAPP: Well, not every Christian denomination belies homosexuality.

KING: But many do.

KNAPP: I can't speak for the statistical analysis for it. But there are many denominations in the country.

KING: But the conservative element. KNAPP: I would say that there is a certain portion of the evangelical community that definitely disagrees with homosexuality being in conjunction of anyone calling themselves a believer. That has been my experience within the evangelical community. However, I've also had a great deal of experience with many other denominations who openly accept the rich diversity of the types of believers that are within their community. And it's been a great honor for me to be in participation with many of them.

[Kwame: When I walk into a car repair shop or a tire shop and have my car serviced alongside other cars that are broken or messed up, the sum of punctured tires, broken water pumps, and worn-out spark plugs does not make for rich diversity. No one will look at this and call it “rich.” And why should they? Such things have a certain design, and deviation from this design (through wear, tear and decay) is not a glorious thing.]

KING: No problem for you to be Christian and gay.

KNAPP: Not with myself personally, no.

[Kwame: And this is lamentable. “How could something so wrong feel so right?”--Not only is that a recurrent theme in musical lyrics, but it is also something that people actually think to themselves. But one’s proclivity toward attraction to this particular person or to this other particular action is not necessarily a good thing. Even queer Christians, as it were, must admit that there are things such as sexual deviance and psychological deviance.

For one, even if we were to concede that the Saul of Tarsus (later named Paul as an apostle of Christ) was an archaic, unenlightened, primitive ignoramus who knew nothing of true loving relationships between members of the same sex (as has been alleged in the past), must we also believe that the man was so ignorant as to misidentify fornication in 1 Corinthians 5.1-2 where people were shamefully reported as taking their fathers’ wives?

And those pedophiles of the world who have real, special feelings for children: shall we say of these individuals what something that feels so right can truly be wrong? If so, why not admit the same thing with regard to homosexuals? And the real, special feelings that Amnon, son of King David had for his half-sister, don’t the reality and sincerity of his feelings mean that his desire for his half-sister were good and natural? After all, no one wakes up in the morning and says, “Today I’m going to be deviant of the sort that if I were not a member of royalty people would be waiting to stone me if I were to act on my feelings.”]

KING: You don't feel that your Bible speaks against it. Or, do you? KNAPP: Well, I think there's plenty of evidence in my exploration of my faith through the sacred text of the Holy Bible that I have definitely recognized that we are somewhat at the handicap of our own interpretations of a sacred text. Let's take for example the original Greek translation of which I am no academic scholar of. Yet, you know, we all know that any time that we read a book or we read any kind of word, that it becomes the interpretation of our life's experience, what we want to bring out of that.

And so, I mean, in the long run, I don't have the greatest deal of problems with it because there are other -- there are not -- I'm not the only person in the universe that's ever, you know, looked at, you know, a different interpretation. We have --

[Kwame: SO WHAT??? Let’s go down the short list of theological and biblio-hermaneutic contorversies that have resulted from handicaps of people’s own interpretations: modalism, Arianism, subordinationism, baptismal regeneration, baptismal justification, Campbellite faith-by-baptism, pedobaptism, mode of baptism, pre-Trib rapture, pre-wrath pre-Trib rapture, mid-Trib rapture, post-Trib rapture, premillennialism, postmillennialism, amillennialism, partial preterism, full preterism, dispensationalism, Covenant Theology, New Covenant Theology, supralapsarianism, sublapsarianism, semi-Pelagianism, monergism, Calvinism, Arminianism, post-Arminianism, glossalalia, Saturday sabbatarianism, Sunday sabbatarianism, one-cup Communism, frequency of the Lord’s Supper, et cetera, und so weiter, and so on. Does this now mean that we are all justified to do whatever the heck we want to do if some “scholars” argue over a given text? You dare make such a mockery of the love of the truth and such a mockery of the word of God?]

(CROSSTALK)

KING: We can read things into any things.

KNAPP: Yes, doesn't make the truth any less the truth or love any less love.

[Kwame: Yet what you have given with the right hand you have taken with the left, Jennifer Knapp. It behooves you to stop with this passive-aggressive nonsense and own up to your subconscious desire to avoid erring on the side of caution as you continue the process of finally making up your mind on whether the Bible supports your homosexual behavior or not.]
KING: What do you fans said?

KNAPP: What do my fans say?

KING: Yes. Have you heard from people?

KNAPP: I've had an overwhelming response in the last couple of weeks since this information has come out.

KING: Support mostly?

KNAPP: It's been incredible. Everywhere from -- you know, the typical Internet kind of -- Facebook, Twitter, and the shows that we've been doing. It's been fantastic.

[Kwame: And if people hit you up with notes or words of encouragement and unconditional support, this is not necessarily a bad thing at all. However, let’s hope that some of these people also are committed to “speaking the truth in love,” which in this case translates to reminding you that love of the eros sort properly obtains between members of the opposite sex only.]

KING: More with Jennifer Knapp, quite a story. The whole show devoted to her tonight. Don't go away.

(MUSIC VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Back with Jennifer Knapp, the Grammy-nominated Christian music artist who has in a sense come out. Her new album "Letting Go" released in May, available for presale on iTunes.

We just played a clip of Katy Perry singing "I Kissed a Girl." Katy used to be a Christian singer and you manage her, right?

KNAPP: For a bit. Yes, I was familiar with Katy when she was a young teenager up and coming.

KING: Now, you say that artists like Katy Perry and Pink help return to music. How?

KNAPP: Well, actually, it's funny about Katy because I was actually living in Sydney at the time and Katy was doing her tour down in Australia. And she looked great. I was really proud of her. I was really glad to see that she was having this success that she was.

And I was just sitting there at home, just getting fat and lazy. I just had the fire burning in my belly. I was just so jealous of seeing that. Just going, man, why am I not doing that? And a little time after that, Pink came through and was doing her tour and her preparation.

It was really hard to just see something that I really loved and I was just kind of sitting in the background going - oh, no, I can't do that. It's too hard. People won't like me. Just -- it really put a fire in my belly seeing people that I really admired to --

KING: How did you come out? What method did you choose?

KNAPP: Come out?

KING: Yes, to announce it publicly. What did you do?

KNAPP: Well, I mean, in particular for the last couple of weeks. I mean --

KING: What did you say? Did you talk to --

KNAPP: Well, I did an interview with "Christianity Today," which is a very well-respected evangelical publication, an interview with "Reuters," and an interview with "The Advocate." I really thought it was important try and share three different walks of life that many Christians find themselves in, just normal everyday people, people of faith, and people who are contending with their sexual orientation in society.

KING: We've looked at a few Christian Web sites. My crack staff has. Here are some comments people have said.

Jennifer must choose between her sexual orientation and her Christianity. She cannot have both. Jennifer does not yet have the spiritual strength to deny her sexual orientation. To say "This is OK, this is who I am," is not acceptable in God's sight.

[Kwame: This too is lamentable. When did the apostle Paul or anyone else in the Scriptures indicate that those who merely are attracted to members of the same sex will not inherit the kingdom of God? Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6.9-10, 1 Timothy 1.10: try them all, and you won’t find support for this idea therein.

Furthermore, I for one am not convinced that it is realistic to scrub away anyone’s sexual orientation entirely, short of miracles. Try taking a person who is attracted only to tall, leggy, blue-eyed blondes and have that person become attracted only to short, round-headed, black-haired, brown-eyed Filipinos. Or try taking a person who is attracted only to tall, dark and handsome men and her become attracted only to short, pale-skinned, redheads. Yeah, good luck making that happen. Better yet, try taking a person who is both bashful and introverted--though these traits will often work against him in life--and turning him into someone who is outgoing and extroverted at all times of every day of the week. None of this seems feasible. Likewise, considering how one act of our forefather Adam apparently had an effect at the genetic level such that all are sinners, even if one sin is ultimately is an efficient cause of one’s deviant sexual orientation I for one doubt that the effects are entirely reversible.]

These people are, of course, speaking for the Lord.

[Kwame: An amusing coda, I must admit.]

KNAPP: I have heard this before.

KING: And you react how?

KNAPP: Well, those are several different hot button topics that are issues within dealing with homosexuality and people of faith. It's amazing to me that -- I mean, it's literally stunning to me that because of in some eye or some way that I might be a failing or a disappointment to you as an individual, that at some point that you have any control over my faith or my belief or what is inspires me to look towards the heavens and look toward God.

So, it's a very -- it's a very challenging situation to sit there and listen to someone make that kind of statement.

[Kwame: Indeed, God never used anyone to preach the gospel of Christ to bring someone to Christ or to bring about repentance on someone’s part. And no sermon on any Sunday morning ever had an effect on anyone’s spiritual or religious beliefs. Yep, it’s just you and God: no medial causes whatsoever.]

KING: The implication is that you chose this, that you had a choice and said, "Well, I'm gay, straight, gay, straight, I'll choose gay."

KNAPP: There are many implications in it and that --

KING: You don't think that, do you? You don't think -- did you think you chose this?

KNAPP: I don't --

KING: You don't know why you are.

KNAPP: -- I don't know why I am. I'm very comfortable with it. I recognize that love is a choice, very much. My sexuality, on the other hand, I'm not so certain about.

(CROSSTALK)

KNAPP: It is what it is and I am what I am, you know?

KING: You say you're the happiest you've ever been right now?

KNAPP: I'm pretty darn happy.

KING: So, you're glad all of this happened? In a sense.

KNAPP: You know, I'm not a regretful person.

[Kwame: Off topic, but shouldn’t everyone on earth be regretful? Doesn’t repentance involve regrets?]

KING: But you feel better?

KNAPP: I feel blessed to be able to fully be who I am. I love being able to be a musician. And part of that process for me as a musician is being open and honest, and to not feel like I have to lie or to hide anything. I don't necessarily want to talk about it all the time but I don't have to hide it either.

KING: We're about to get a little lively. A pastor's take on Jennifer and other Christians who are gay is next.

[Kwame: Flag that last statement from Larry King.]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Jennifer Knapp, of course, remains. We're joined now by Pastor Bob Botsford, senior pastor, Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego.

Thank you for coming, Pastor.

You wrote a blog about Jennifer and I want to read from it, saying, "When a well-known spokesperson of the faith stubbornly chooses to remain in their life of sin, my heartbreaks for them."

Jennifer says she is finally happy she's in a committed loving eight-year relationship, and she's making music again.

So, why does your heart break for her?

PASTOR BOB BOTSFORD, SR. PASTOR, HORIZON CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP: Well, Larry, it breaks for anyone who is caught in a sinful situation. And so I just, you know, felt led to speak. We had a chance to meet a number of years ago briefly. I don't expect her to remember that. But I prayed for her for eight years now. And --

KING: You feel sorry for her?

BOTSFORD: I do. My heartbreaks for what the Bible tells us about this particular choice and lifestyle. And, you know, I care as much, you know, for Katy Perry. I've never met Katy Perry. So, I didn't think -- you know, I didn't even think this would ever come about where I would be here.

But I prayed for a lot of years having been told of Jennifer's same-sex decision and relationship. And so, I didn't say a word to anybody, kept it quiet, did not go public with anyone except the Lord in my prayers for Jennifer until it came public last week in the articles that she just mentioned to you that she gave. And then I said, well, hey, this is not right.

KING: I understand that. Katy Perry has a male fiance.

BOTSFORD: Yes. I think in the whole aspect, you know, of kind of being raised in the church, knowing what the Bible says, coming out as you had said earlier with hip songs like "I Kissed a Girl" and just kind of -- pushing the envelope with all that is one thing, coming out and saying, "I, you know, am a homosexual" and want to be accepted by the church and Christianity that made me famous and gave me a platform of which a lot of people have looked to Jennifer, as I did for many years, enjoy her music, went to her concerts, was a part of crusades that she was involved with. And yes, I don't want people to think that it's right.

[Kwame: Interesting point. But in the next round of dialogue we’ll see Botsford’s being either confused or dishonest. It’s clear that Larry King is asking whether Botsford chose to be homosexual in the sense of being attracted to the opposite sex. A choice to date is not a choice to be straight.]

KING: Pastor, I'll have her respond and we'll let you talk it with each other. But a question that puzzles, you said choice, that she made a choice. Did you make a choice for heterosexuality?

BOTSFORD: I did.

KING: Why did you that?

BOTSFORD: I fell in love with a gal I was dating in San Diego.

KING: But you made a choice to date a girl.

BOTSFORD: Well, I made a choice, first of all, to follow --

KING: How did you know you liked women?

BOTSFORD: How did I --

KING: How did you know?

BOTSFORD: I just --

KING: If she likes girls --

BOTSFORD: Yes.

KING: -- how did you know you didn't like boys romantically? How did you know you liked women?

BOTSFORD: Well, I just personally knew that first of all that I did. I naturally knew that I did. Secondly --

KING: So, she can't naturally know she likes the same sex? She can't naturally know that?

BOTSFORD: Well, I think, ultimately, you have to come back to what truth you're going to base your life on. I don't think that it's wise for any of us to base our decisions on feelings. I want to base decisions on facts.

And for me, the fact has become the truth of God's word. And God creates this wonderful gift of marriage where a man leaves his mother and his father and cleaves unto a wife. He didn't make Adam and Steve. He didn't make Eve and Ellen. He made a man and woman.

KING: He's omnipotent, right?

BOTSFORD: He is omnipotent.

KING: So, he also created homosexuality.

[Kwame: No, Larry, your conclusion does not follow. One’s ability to create something does not mean that he created it. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find any atheists who would use a theodical TANG against God, saying, “God is all-powerful. Evil exists. So based precisely on these two premises, God made evil.” Likewise, you don’t want to say that every signature out there in the world is a forgery just because a skilled forgerer is capable of making the very same signature.]

BOTSFORD: No. I don't believe he did. He's all knowing.

KING: You mean he did everything but that?

BOTSFORD: Well, here's the deal, Larry. He's given to us -- back to your question of choice -- he's given to us a choice. Me -- a choice whether or not I'm going to follow and abide by his word. Jennifer -- a choice as to whether or not she'll abide in her relationships according to his word.

KING: Jennifer, how do you respond?

KNAPP: You're a well-studied man. You have a master's degree in divinity. You're a study pastor, right?

BOTSFORD: I've got a lot to learn.

KNAPP: Well, I mean, I'm saying you've actually studied.

BOTSFORD: Yes.

KNAPP: I haven't gone to seminary. I haven't gone to Bible school. Yet, I'm aware of the fact -- I'm deeply aware of the fact that we're relying on the translations of Greek and that we're translating from a language, you and I, that is not originally our own.

BOTSFORD: Yes. Hebrew, the Old Testament. Greek, in the new.

[Kwame: Can’t forget Aramaic.]

KNAPP: There are a lot of well-studied academics -- both believers and seekers of God and those who are just purely trying to understand what the sacred text means to all of us -- that really put question on how we've interpreted the words, what is it malikos and arsenokitai. There are two Greek words that we have substituted in our English language as homosexuality, which didn't actually exist in my understanding of a lot of Greek language experts in the manner in which we use it.

And my curiosity is how do you -- how do you respond to that knowledge knowing that perhaps maybe we don't have the full understanding of the academics --

[Kwame: You’re joking, right? If you are really trying to understand what the sacred text means, why didn’t you stop first to remember the first rule of thumb of epistemology: the majority opinion of people generally deemed to be experts is probably the correct one. And why did you not stop to remember the second rule of thumb of epistemology: that people should be given the benefit of the doubt until there is incontrovertible evidence that they are acting deceptively? If you had followed these two rules, you should have realized that the fact that all reputable biblical translations historically have offered no renditions of certain Scriptures which favor pro-queer theology means that there was never any evidence that those Scriptures were authored by pro-homosexuality individuals.

Meanwhile, you act as if the biblical case against homosexuality all depends on 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1, which it does not. Where in Leviticus 18 does the word “malakos” or the word “arsenokoites” appear? Where in Leviticus 20 does the word “malakos” or the word “arsenokoites” appear? Where in Romans 1 does the word “malakos” or the word “arsenokoites” appear? Answer: nowhere.

And since you are so bold as to meddle in the affairs of dragons--oh, if only slightly--to raise the linguistic question of the words “malakos” and “arsenokoites,” have you stopped to consider ways in which the “malakos” lexeme was used in Classical and Koine Greek and exactly how this delimits the number of plausible meanings of the lexeme in 1 Corinthians 6.9? Have you stopped to consider lexical parallels of “arsenokoites” in the LXX alongside arguments which seek to vindicate the age-old renderings of 1 Corinthians 6.9 and 1 Timothy 1.10 which come under attack only in a novel fashion?]

KING: In other words, simply put, could your interpretation of a word be wrong?

BOTSFORD: Well, that's a great question.

KING: That's why we asked it.

BOTSFORD: Absolutely. I believe God's word is inspired. I believe that God breathes --

(CROSSTALK)

KNAPP: Am I not inspired by God because I am filled with love for you, for my partner, for my family?

[Kwame: No, you are not.]

BOTSFORD: When God says in his word, this is what love is, and we pervert that and turn it into something that he actually --

KNAPP: How am I perverted?

BOTSFORD: We have taken a love that he designed to be lived out in marriage. That is his sexual outlet for male and females to enjoy union together in the holy sanctimony of marriage. He invented it. Man didn't invent it. It's his institution. And it exists between a man and a woman.

When we change that, that's a perversion.

KING: Let me get a break and we'll pick with more. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Jennifer Knapp and Pastor Bob Botsford.

Do you feel hurt, Jennifer, by what the pastor thinks? KNAPP: No. I've shared my grievances with Bob off-camera. I'm not hurt by his stance and his holding to the Scripture. I highly respect that. And I think the community of believers in the church where he is at is -- are there because that's what they choose and that's their tradition of Christianity that they choose to follow. I highly respect that.

[Kwame: Why? If the identity of their set of beliefs is determined simply by their deciding to embrace these beliefs, then they are fools.]

KING: Do you believe Jennifer is going to go to hell?

BOTSFORD: Larry, God is the judge. I'm just here to --

[Kwame: Meaning that God is the one who will have decided where Jennifer Knapps ends up.]
KING: You're judging her.

[Kwame: And you, Mr. King, are more or less equivocating.]

BOTSFORD: Well, am I?

KING: Sure.

BOTSFORD: I'm here out of love. I don't have a --

KING: You said she's a sinner.

(CROSSTALK)

KNAPP: If I am a sinner and homosexuality is a sin, let's just go on that premise for a moment. But what separates that particular sin out from the fact that I'm angry or mad at someone or that I cheat or maybe, you know -- what separates that out as so grievous to you that we have to sit here and have this type of conversation?

[Kwame: Might I remind you that Pastor Botsford was brought on the show precisely to have that very type of conversation? Didn’t Larry King make this clear earlier in the broadcast?]

BOTSFORD: Well, it's interesting. There's -- sin is sin. You're absolutely right. And we all have sin.

KNAPP: So, why are we -- why am I -- why aren't you in this seat and I'm in the other seat condemning you on national television?

BOTSFORD: I'm not condemning you. Listen, I'm here because I love you. And I told you that off-air, I'll say it on air. I'm here because I'm concerned. I'm here as a family member.

KNAPP: You get my phone number.

BOTSFORD: You calling yourself a Christian still as part of the family of God saying, as I said in the blog, Jen, come home. Come back. Come out.

KNAPP: I will say this to you again on air. I have spiritual leadership in my life.

[Kwame: The blind leading the blind, I would imagine. Who needs that kind of leadership?]

BOTSFORD: Yes.

KNAPP: The pastoral counsel of those who are dear to me, who understand the Scripture as sacred text. You know, also, want to --

BOTSFORD: I'm not sure they do, Jen.

KNAPP: Don't interrupt me. You are not that man in my life. Speak to your congregation --

BOTSFORD: I agree. I'm not saying that I'm you're spiritual authority.

KNAPP: You do not know me, and don't have the right to speak to me in the manner which you have publicly.

[Kwame: Why not? Because gays and lesbians are special and, unlike heterosexuals, they are above having people say anything unflattering about them?]

BOTSFORD: Well, I do have a role to stand up for truth.

KNAPP: In your congregation and your community.

[Kwame: And on Larry King Live. Is this not a reason the man was invited to the program?]

BOTSFORD: I'm --

KNAPP: But do not -- I'm asking you not to do that. I ask you not say that you're doing that on my behalf.

BOTSFORD: I'm here as a representative of Jesus Christ.

KNAPP: That's good.

KING: But you are judging. You are judging.

[Kwame: Actually, what Botsford did was to assert that Knapp had done something wrong. But guess what: your repeated “You are judging” remark apparently amounts to a tacit condemnation of something that Botsford has done. You are judging, Mr. King, you are judging.]

(CROSSTALK)

BOTSFORD: This story, Larry, where -- you know, there is -- in John chapter eight, and, you know, everybody comes rushing in, and there's a lot of emotional, you know, heartbeat on both sides of the fence of this thing. And people said, this woman was caught in the act of adultery and the Old Testament says she ought to be stoned. What do you say? And they really try and put Jesus into the corner.

And he very interestingly says, he who is without sin cast the first stone. I have sinned in my life. I'm not sit hearing as one person --

KING: So why single out gays?

[Kwame: Because you brought him on the show to do so, though you somehow forget this.]

(CROSSTALK)

KNAPP: But there's a pretty massive implication that I cannot say that I'm a lesbian and a believer.

BOTSFORD: Listen, Jesus, and the rest of the story is what people are missing out on. I'm not here with stones. I'm not here with bats.

Jesus looks at her and says, "Where are your accusers?" And she says, "They're gone." And he says -- he says, "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."

Here's the difference. Jennifer is wanting to justify the sin.

KNAPP: How did I -- how do I -- first off, that's a -- that's a very big premise. You assume that you and I both agree that homosexuality is one, a choice, and two, a sin. So to say that I have to justify it off that premise is inaccurate. BOTSFORD: Well, based on the sacred writings of what you're saying your spiritual authority --

KING: A break guys, hold it. Former televangelist Ted Haggard has survived scandal, says today that he no longer has homosexual thoughts. His take on all this next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Jennifer Knapp, the Grammy-nominated Christian music artist. New album "Letting Go," released in May, Pastor Bob Botsford, senior pastor Horizon Christian Fellowship, San Diego. Joining us from Denver, Colorado, a previous guest on this show, always good to see him, Ted Haggard, former pastor of the New Life Church. A 2006 gay sex and drug scandal destroyed Ted's New Life Megachurch Ministry, shocked the Evangelical community to its core.

All right, Ted, you've been listening. What are your comments and then we'll get into specifics. What do you think overall here of what we've heard?

TED HAGGARD, FMR. EVANGELICAL PREACHER: Yeah, I think both of them have some good points. I really appreciate what Jennifer is saying and what she is going through. And I think her big premise is that she is on a journey just like every one of us are. She accepts the fact that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, that God is working in us, that we have his scriptures to work with. And it is true people read them differently and people interpret them differently.

And the pastor has a point in saying it is his role as a pastor to try to be salt and light, and represent the word the way it's read. I do think, though, that the important overall message is that we emphasize personal relationship with God, and the core of everything that we say is this wonderful delight in who Jesus is and what he does. He accepts the fact that we've all fallen short. He accepts the fact that there are broad range of sins. We humans say one is more important than another. But he talks about how all of it separates us. And he accepts the fact that we are all on a journey that won't be completed until we see him face-to-face.

So the pastor is right. Let me finish this. The pastor is right in that he sins. And Jennifer is right in that she sins. Both are saved by the grace of god. And it would be good for them not to judge each other.

KING: I don't think Jennifer said she sins. You said you're not gay. You admitted to a gay experience. Do you, Ted, believe that homosexuality is a sin?

[Kwame: Unfortunately, the fact that the word “homosexuality” means two different things in common parlance is either lost on some people or treated as unimportant by others. The word variably denotes homosexual conduct and homosexual attraction, as even Merriam-Webster will testify. The fact of the matter is that the attraction is not chosen by all homosexuals and hardly seems to be a sin. However, the person who chooses to--and this word is appropriate--abuse his or her body by homosexual conduct has certainly done a bad thing.]

HAGGARD: I believe that when people don't fulfill God's perfect plan for their life, they're falling short and they're sinning. And I think people sin all day, every day, and that everybody, regardless of the complex nature of their sexuality or whatever -- everybody needs the grace of God. KING: OK. So therefore, Bob, you're as bad, if that's the term, as Jennifer. Your sin may be different, but just different. Why is hers worse than yourself?

[Kwame: OT, but no one fails to fulfill a divine plan for his or her life. Whatever is decreed to occur will occur. However, modern Christians in the Arminian tradition will take the word “plan” and its underlying concept and turn it into something no more than a set of divine suggestions on how to live.]

BOTSFORD: Larry, I think the difference here, if I can just point out, both with Jennifer and Ted, is this: there -- all of us on planet Earth in the human race have sinned. We have all fallen short of the glory of God.

KING: All right.

BOTSFORD: Jesus came to die in our place to forgive of us our sins, no so that we would remain in a sinful lifestyle, so that we would leave that life of sin that leads to death, and be born again. The whole idea of being a Christian is that what I used to be I no longer am.

KING: But you still sin.

BOTSFORD: I make mistakes every day. But sin isn't ruling my life. Jesus Christ is ruling my life. And when I mess up, I can repent.

KING: So Jesus Christ can't rule her life if she is a lesbian?

BOTSFORD: Listen, if someone is allowing sin -- and sin is called out in the Bible, whether it's homosexuality, adultery, whether it's stealing -- the list is there. Read it for yourself.

KING: Cheating on your income tax.

BOTSFORD: Allowing that to continue to reign over your life is not allowing Jesus Christ to be lord. I'm allowing Jesus Christ to be lord. My role every day is to die to sin, not justify sin.

KING: But he, Jesus Christ, loves her as much as he loves you.

BOTSFORD: He loves everyone.

KNAPP: Not for a moment have I ever sat here and justified my individual path in my life. I am not sitting to try and tell someone that they have to walk the path that I walk. Please preserve that for me. But to call -- go ahead. Ted?

HAGGARD: That is a very, very important point. Because when the pastor says Jesus is lord of his life, that is true. But he is still in process. It could be some other violations that he has. But the core of the Christian faith is a relationship with God, where God lovingly walks us through.

I had three boys come to Christ one time. One was immoral with his girlfriend. The other with a smoker. The other was drinker. One was convicted of the sexual activity. The other was convicted -- or they all had three of those things -- all three of those things in their life lives. But one was convicted of the sex. The other was convicted of the drinking. The other was convicted of the smoking. And as they have gone through the years, just as the pastor described, they have all become different people as they grow. That's happening in Jennifer's life, and it's happening in the pastor's life. Our role isn't just to call out one particular sin and say all these people are in trouble. Our role is to say we're all in a process, and we need to encourage one another.

So Jennifer has a group of believers she meets with. They study the scripture. They can go on that. They can do that process. That process obviously is not going to be Pastor Bob's church. It will be another group of believers which is why we have a diversity of churches.

KING: And on that note, let me get a break and come right back. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Jennifer Knapp, Pastor Bob Botsford, Ted Haggard. We got a couple of great reads on our blogs. See what Tim Irvin (ph) has to say about his "American Idol" experience. He got the boot, by the way, Wednesday night. And Ray Johnston's story is an inspiring one. He is playing in the NBA one day, in a coma next. All that on CNN.com/LarryKing.

Pastor, do you at all feel bad when you hear stories about people who kill gay people?

BOTSFORD: Absolutely. Yes, that's --

KING: They've gotten messages about how sinful that is that they take it to that extreme. And you add to that, don't you?

[Kwame: About as much as I add to anti-Muslim sentiment when I point out what Attorney General Eric Holder will not admit: that “radical Islam” breeds terrorists and terrorist acts. Of course, Holder’s also a compasionate guy, and seeks to stave off anti-Muslim bigotry by any and all means conceivable, even if this includes his refusal in recent congressional hearings to admit the obvious. And this is the way some people seem to think: ’tis better to sacrifice a greater number of souls in the long run than to lose a few along the way.]

BOTSFORD: I hope not. I hope I don't.

KING: You paint the picture. Your -- in the Old Testament -- I'm not a Biblical scholar -- you can't eat shellfish. Do you eat shellfish?

BOTSFORD: Absolutely.

KING: You're a sinner.

BOTSFORD: No I'm not. There are some things, Larry, that are very important to keep in context here. Although there are verses in the Book of Leviticus that say don't eat shellfish, don't wear clothes that have different materials on it, things that Jennifer has mentioned in the article that she has given in the news coming out -- you know what, God changed his mind on shellfish.

[Kwame: *sigh*]

KING: When did he do that?

[Kwame: Good question. Other good questions could be raised. For instance, why is the homosexual conduct of the Canaanites treated as evil in the book of Leviticus even though they were not bound by the Law of Moses? Or why would Larry King think that Christians or Gentiles are bound by the Law of Moses?]

BOTSFORD: There is a wonderful passage --

LYNN: God changed his mind on mankind. And he gave his savior for one and for all. BOTSFORD: He changed his mind, if I can finish, in Acts Chapter 10, to answer your question, Larry, on shellfish. And Cornelius has this amazing enlightenment, as Peter has this vision of the lord saying eat whatever you want.

KING: Peter may have been hungry. No pun intended.

BOTSFORD: There is this grace that comes upon all of us no longer to live by the law of the Old Testament. But when you get to the issue of homosexuality, he doesn't change his mind on that. It flows over into the New Testament as powerfully as it was in the Old Testament.

KING: Peter gets a vision about shellfish. What if Ted gets a vision about homosexuality that says, since it's not a choice, and as long as a person is observant and good, it is no longer a sin. You will not believe Ted?

BOTSFORD: God didn't use Ted to write the scriptures. And the scriptures that have been written are the scriptures that I go by.

KING: Nothing is being written today?

BOTSFORD: Absolutely not.

KING: Done.

BOTSFORD: In fact, in the Book of Revelation, we're told that there is a blessing upon those that keep what is written in this book, and a curse upon anyone who would add to it or take away from it.

KING: Ted, under that concept --

BOTSFORD: -- wanting to take away from what the Bible --

KING: Under that concept, Ted, your faith does not evolve, right?

HAGGARD: Well, I think what the pastor -- I think the point the pastor makes is a good one, but it's an incomplete one. All of the New Testament is about a love relationship with God that is appropriated for all of us through the lord Jesus Christ and the sacrifice on the cross.

BOTSFORD: Agreed.

HAGGARD: As a result of that, there are ethics, there are rules, there are things that happen. But those rules and those ethics are not the core. The core is the relationship. It's like my relationship with my wife. My wife and I love one another. But if we went to a conference that just taught us all the rules of what a good home should look like, that would be a sterile existence. Or if we learned about love and intimacy and growth and process and going through life together, then those ideas can supplement that.

That's the way the Bible is. And so that's why the Bible says in Romans 1, when it talks about homosexuality, it follows up with the first verse in Romans II saying, hey, be cautious about judging other people about this because you all do the same things. And then he concludes that first paragraph in Romans II by saying -- by saying hasn't it dawned on you that it's the love and the mercy of God that leads to our repentance and our salvation.

So what he highlights there is that we're all going -- the purpose of the holy spirit is to create in us a holy spirit we grow. The purpose of the word of God is to convict us and help us grow, sanctify us. That's all good. But we can't do it to one another like that.

KING: Jennifer, you would say amen to that?

HAGGARD: That's not our role with each other.

KNAPP: I don't have a problem with that at all. I think that leaves room for a great many sinful people.

BOTSFORD: Well, we're all sinful people.

What it gives room for is truth is relative. Cain was given parameters and specifics to he is offer. He chose not to do with that offering what God had laid out. So as much as Ted is saying the rules don't really apply, they apply.

KNAPP: I love you and I pray for you and your congregation.

(CROSS TALK)

KING: Jennifer wants to say something.

KNAPP: I just want to say, I appreciate both your men's wisdom. You guys have, in several different ways. been speakers of the truth in a community that has looked to you. I thank you, and I pray for your ministry. I hope you continue to be a light for the people that you serve and the people who call upon you. That's what love is.

To be here and even though I phenomenally disagree, to encourage you to find the truth that is written in this mysterious and sacred word.

BOTSFORD: That's my prayer for you, Jennifer.

KNAPP: That's all I ask, is that as we all continue on our travels and our journey in this mysterious --

(CROSS TALK)

KING: We'll be right back. Don't go away. We'll be right back.

(NEWS BREAK)

KING: We have just touched this subject. But it is an important one, since so many people are affected by it. I just want to get concluding thoughts. Ted, are you saying it is a choice or not a choice? Sexuality, do we choose whether we are gay or whether we are hetero? Do we choose that, in your opinion?

HAGGARD: I think that is a very, very complex thing that I don't want to get into here. What I do want to say here, though, is that I believe that the Bible is the word of god and it's inspired and inherent. And I believe Jesus was very clear and the scriptures were very clear when they say the command is to love. The command that covers them all, predominant, "love the lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself."

And so -- so, love is the predominant thing. God is love. The scripture says Jesus displays how to do this. Jesus warns religious leaders, strongly, that we must not use the scriptures to point our fingers at other people without letting the fingers point at us as well.

KING: Is that true, in your opinion, Bob? Is that true?

BOTSFORD: Absolutely. Yeah. I agree with that completely, Larry.

KING: Why point a finger at Jennifer?

BOTSFORD: Jennifer is in a position of great influence. A lot of people look to her life. I wouldn't want her example or lifestyle --

KNAPP: You don't want the young teenage girl that's sitting in your congregation, who says, gosh I think I might have to choose between my sexuality and my faith -- you want her to choose faith.

BOTSFORD: I do. I want you to choose faith.

KNAPP: You want her to deny any part of her process, to go through the process of shame without truly discover -- let's say that she doesn't want to choose to be homosexual. At which point does that become honest, because you guilted her into don't be like Jen?

BOTSFORD: I am just coming back to the Bible. Clearly God has an opinion on this issue. I'm just wanting to stand up for the truth of God's word.

KNAPP: I will repeat to you what I said to you back stage, that the next time you want to talk about an example of what you actually need to teach to your followers, please use the words "this is the congregation and how we are going to talk about homosexuality within our church." Don't use my name -- do not use my name as a substitute for the word homosexuality.

[Kwame: Probably too late, in a sense. “Jennifer Knapp” may well become a byword pertaining to self-professed Christians who try to justify homosexual conduct.]

BOTSFORD: Listen, I am to be a light in a dark place. There is a lot of justification now. Let's just open up our arms of grace and welcome Jen back into the Christian community.

KNAPP: When was I gone? Where did I go?

(CROSS TALK)

BOTSFORD: For eight years to Australia.

KNAPP: Because I wasn't in your church?

KING: It can't be a sin unless it is chosen?

BOTSFORD: It's not because God says it is a sin.

KING: You can't be a sinner if you are born with four fingers. You can't be a sinner. You don't have a fifth finger.

BOTSFORD: Nothing sinful about having four fingers, Larry.

[Kwame: Ever heard of the doctrine of Original Sin?]

(CROSS TALK)

KING: You can't have four fingers. I don't understand it. You are saying it is a choice?

BOTSFORD: I'm saying Paul clearly says in Galacians (ph) Chapter Two, whatever my life has been up to this point, I have now melt Christ. And Paul says, as a result of what Christ has done for me on the cross, I am to be crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, whether it is homosexuality tendencies, whether it's stealing tendencies, whether it's tendencies of adultery, pedophile. It is no longer I. It's Christ. And the life I live I live by faith. I can't have it both ways.

KING: Ted, we only got a minute left. We are never going to answer this, are we, Ted?

KNAPP: Never.

HAGGARD: I think it is an understanding of roles. I think Jennifer is in right. She is saying you do that with your congregation, but we are not your congregation. I think the pastor is right in that I am crucified with Christ. So let Jennifer go through her process as well, and God is the one who will judge it.

KING: Thank you all very much for an enlightened, interesting discussion. We hope to have you back. Jennifer Knapp, Pastor Bob Botsford, and Ted Haggard. When we come back, a tease from "American Idol."»

[END KNAPP SESSION.]

Miss USA 2009 Controversy: A Compendium

I assume that the reader has some knowledge of the controversy, which started Sunday night, so I will not bother to give the complete background right now.

---------------------------------------------

The deciding question: Pageant judge Perez Hilton: “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage; do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”

The response: Miss California, Carrie Prejan: “...In my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised and that's how I think it should be – between a man and a woman.”

The aftermath: Hilton voted the front-runner Miss California to defeat, Hilton apparently later goes on to curse Miss California on his blog, controversy emerges, sides are chosen, and death threats are made.

---------------------------------------------

After thinking about the matter on Tuesday as the hoopla over the pageant continued, personally, here's how I would have answered if I were Miss California.

Hilton: “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage; do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”

My response: “Given that I accept neither the assumptions nor central premises of ethical minimalism, and given that I intuit that homosexual relations are of no moral equivalence with benign things such as one's being Black or one's consummating an existing marriage to the end of the fulfillment of the designs of chemistry and plumbing associated with such things, and given the controversiality of homosexual relations as reflected in relevant writings from erudite persons in the fields of Darwinism, philosophy, and the time-tested, battle-worn, ages-old traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, if I must err then let me err on the side of caution to say that no one has yet produced conclusive proof that the legal sanctioning of same-sex marriage, if such a thing can exist, is justified by either natural or moral law. Therefore, I do not think that same-sex marriage, as it were, should be allowed.”

And that seems like a fair, well-rounded response to me. ;) It answers the question; it does so in a diplomatic way; and it drags both the Mosaic Law and Islam down into the mud right along with Christianity in a way that challenges people either to gainsay a politically-correct religion such as Islam and show their inconsistency in matters of offense and PCism or to rethink whether biblical ethics is really such an absurd thing.

---------------------------------------------

The next day, Wednesday, we found the following posted at http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1609756/20090422/spears_britney.jhtml:

Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Heidi Montag Tweet About Same-Sex Marriage

Cyrus, Montag mention religion in support of same-sex nuptials.

By Jocelyn Vena

Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears have taken to Twitter to support gay marriage, just days after Miss California Carrie Prejean sparked controversy during Sunday night's Miss USA competition when asked by celeb blogger Perez Hilton if morestates should legalize same-sex marriage.

Prejean stated her opinion that marriage should be between a man and a woman --and in the process has made an enemy of Hilton -- but has also started a conversation among many notable celebrities on Twitter.

"Love is love!" Britney Tweeted to Perez. "People should be able to do whatever makes them happy!"

Miley Cyrus Tweeted similar thoughts, telling Hilton, "Jesus loves you and your partner and wants you to know how much he cares! That's like a daddy not loving his lil boy cuz he's gay and that is wrong and very sad! Like I said everyone deserves to be happy. I am a Christian and I love you -- gay or not. Because you are no different that anyone else! We are all God's children!"

Apparently her comments are right in line with those of "Hills" star Heidi Montag, who is expected to marry the show's Spencer Pratt this weekend.

"God says in the bible that we should love our neighbor and he created us all as equals. I know in my heart that gays and lesbians should have the same government rights that Spencer and I will when we get married. So, yes, this blonde Christian believes in gay marriage and I hope to one day go to your wedding, Perez!!!"

Heidi's and Miley's Tweets have apparently led to a Twittermance. On Tuesday, Montag told Miley, "Let's [meet] up!!!! we should have a bible study!! I love Miley!!!! Jesus loves Miley!"

This is a remarkable article if all the quotations therein are accurate and true to the spirit of the contexts from which they were lifted. It's remarkable because it jibes with a pattern in recent polling and observations which together suggest that the word "Christian" is becoming either meaningless or uninformative. (For example, see http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/260-most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exists.) Yet I leave this matter for another day or another discussion.

On the other hand, it might be fun or informative to interact with some of the opinions offered by the celebrities mentioned above.

1) If I could sit down over lunch and have a word with Britney Spears about the matter I would like to say this: One obvious question that arises from your Twitter comments to Hilton is What if a man and his daughter love each other in an unspeakable way? Should such a would-be marriage be sanctioned by the state? Could it be that there are limits to the idea that people in love should be able to do whatever makes them happy? Come to think of it, is the existence of same-sex marriage, as it were, even logically/analytically possible to start with?

2) Meanwhile, if I could sit down over lunch and have a word with Miley Cyrus, first I'd congratulate her on the being the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, then I'd try to find a polite way of asking when she's going to get a real job (since, you know, child stars have a way of falling apart once they age). But then I'd ask her: Where does the Bible say that Jesus loves either you or unrepentant, lifestyle-homosexuals? Okay, even if you can cite chapter and verse and show that Jesus loves you, where again does it say in the Bible that Jesus loves those who shake their fist at God? Come to think of it, suppose there's a person out there who loves to pass out poisoned candy at Halloween to kill children; even if Jesus loves him, should the state allow such a person to go on poisoning children? Why not? Wouldn't it make this child-killer happy?

3) @Heidi Montag: a) Even if God says that we should love our neighbors, does this mean that paedophilia and incest should be sanctioned by the state, even if this were to involve people who really like each other?

b) Even if God says that all of us were created "as equals," does this again mean that pedophilia and incest should be sanctioned by the state, even if this were to involve people who really like each other?

c) I know in my heart that gays and lesbians already have the same government rights that you and Spencer have. You and Spencer can marry whomever you like, though only up to a point. Both of you are allowed to marry the person he or she loves, but this would not be the case if either of you wanted to marry his brother or sister. This would also not be the case with any gay or lesbian who would want to marry his brother or sister. So at the end of the day both heterosexuals and homosexuals are neither necessarily nor absolutely allowed to marry whomever they might want to marry. That means we're all on legally equal grounds, all of us constrained by strict, old-fashioned, narrow paramters of the law. So rest well tonight, Heidi; rest well, knowing that from the majestic forests of Maine to the burning embers of the once-Golden State both gays and straights are already practically equal in the eyes of the law.

---------------------------------------------

And since that time on Sunday night we've all heard of death threats to one of the Miss USA judges (Alicia Jacobs, former Miss Nevada USA) and we've all read the back-and-forth discussions on whether Miss California actually answered the questions she was given, or whether Miss California was set up to receive one particular question, or whether Miss California's answer was inoffensive enough even for a non-affirmatory answer concerning same-sex marriage. (Hmm, difficult to see how such an answer could fail to offend someone though.)

Miss California is on record as having stated that she anticipated receiving a question pertaining to same-sex marriage before the pageant began Sunday night. For the record, judging from transcripts Miss California also really didn't answer the entire set of questions posed to her. Sure, she doesn't think that same-sex marraige (as it were) should be sanctioned by the state, but she never really says why she believes this, unless the way she was raised is a stated reason. Of course, if her upbringing was in fact given as a reason, so be it. However, if her objections to the sanctioning of same-sex marriages ultimately are based on a biblical belief that such things are bad, then one would hope that in the future her answer to a Perez-like question will sound a lot more like something the apostle Paul, or Greg Koukl, or Derrick Bright might say. Biblical ethics deserves a good defense, for this set of ethics is correct.

---------------------------------------------

Next post: Other subjects, and also any needed clarification of what I wrote in my joke response to Hilton's question above. After all, I've already had at least one person so far label it as a bunch of meaningless babble and as a convoluted answer. :D

Prop 8 Supporters Un-American/Misinformed

A few weeks ago, Tom Hanks said that supporters of Prop 8 were Un-American.

“The truth is this takes place in Utah, the truth is these people are some
bizarre offshoot of the Mormon Church, and the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a
lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told Tarts. “There are a
lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like
to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states
in America, but here's what happens now. A little bit of light can be shed, and
people can see who's responsible, and that can motivate the next go around of
our self correcting Constitution, and hopefully we can move forward instead of
backwards. So let's have faith in not only the American, but Californian,
constitutional process.”

Thankfully, Hanks later apologized , but only after the Mormon church responded with this:

When informed of the "Forrest Gump" star's comments, Kim Farah, a
spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, told Tarts, "Expressing an opinion in a free and democratic society is as American
as it gets."

Bill McKeever, a rep for the Mormonism Research Ministry,
added, "Personally, I find it un-American to tell people that they
shouldn’t vote their conscience. Hanks said he doesn’t 'like to see any
discrimination codified on any piece of paper.' Considering that just
about every law discriminates in some form or another, makes this comment
ridiculous. Hanks’ comment shows that he very much believes in discriminating
against people with whom he disagrees. I may not agree with Mormon
theology, but I certainly defend their right to express their opinion."

And a few days ago, Samual L. Jackson resonds with this:

"I wouldn't go so far as to calling them un-American," Jackson told
Foxnews.com. "I'd just call them misinformed."

Unfortunately, most actors aren't really interested in more than giving a soundbite, so he offers no reason for his statement. And apparently 70% of Californians are misinformed. Does that even make sense? Doesn't have to, I suppose. That's a perk of celebrity staus.

Bob Hope on Democrats

This old movie clip was pretty clever. Enjoy. About 30 seconds.

Matt Damon Speaks About Governor Palin

---In the spirit of silly celebrity comments, here is Matt Damon. Below the video are the Hot Air comments from their blog post. Also, the comment about dinosaurs and if she banned books...a simple google search to snopes.com or factcheck.org would have cleared that up. Dennis Prager said it well when he suggested that celebrities stick to entertainment. They are enjoyable as celebrities, but say silly things when talking politics.



We cannot afford the possibility of an Alaska hockey mom with no experience having to face down Vladimir Putin, which is why we must elect an Illinois suburban dad with no experience who’ll definitely and immediately have to face him down. Who’s already embarrassed himself with the weakness of his response to Putin’s incursion into Georgia.

The odds he gives for McCain surviving his first term are also off, of course. Exit question: He sneers that Palin was picked for “political purposes” and nothing more. Remind me again, which important policy proposals landed trial lawyer turned first-term senator John Edwards on the national ticket four years ago? And whom did Matt Damon endorse at the time?

Hatred From the Celebrity Left

Chevy Chase said Monday he wants Tina Fey to go "even harder" on Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin than she did in her "Saturday Night Live" skit this past weekend ... and that he wants Fey to "decimate" her.

"I thought it was extraordinary how well she played her and much she looked like her. I'd just like her — personally I felt we didn't need the Hillary stuff — I'd like her to go even harder," the former "SNL" star told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show. Click here for the whole story and link to the Chase interview.

---He did not seem to be joking. But this is not surprising coming from the Left, since the Right thinks their opponenets are wrong, whereas many on the Left think their opponents are evil. What do you think?

D.

More Silly Celebrity Political Silliness

Lindsay Lohan and her all-but-confirmed girlfriend Samantha Ronson are the latest Hollywood celebrities to take aim at Republican vice presidential hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin, bashing the candidate on homosexuality and other issues Sunday on Lohan's MySpace blog.

"I really cannot bite my tongue anymore when it comes to Sarah Palin," Lohan writes, urging people to vote for Sen. Barack Obama. "Is it a sin to be gay? Should it be a sin to be straight? Or to use birth control? Or to have sex before marriage? Or even to have a child out of wedlock?"

Lohan included a portion of an Associated Press story stating that Palin's Wasilla, Alaska, church was promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

"Is our country so divided that the Republicans' best hope is a narrow minded, media obsessed homophobe?" she asks.

Lohan also blasts Palin on abortion (Palin is pro-life).

"Women have come a long way in the fight to have the choice over what we do with our bodies ... and it's frightening to see that a woman in 2008 would negate all of that," she writes.

---I don't think it is YOUR body that gets killed by an abortion, but that is a topic for another day.

Lohan also urges Palin to know her place — "Don't pose for anymore tabloid covers, you're not a celebrity" — and even quotes Pamela Anderson:

"In the words of Pamela Anderson, 'She can suck it,'' she writes

---Just because we can say whatever we like (because of freedom of speech), sometimes we should show some restraint. This goes double for some celebrities.

D.

Congratulations and Here's Your Sign

Celebrities are weird. Stop naming your kids strange names. This does not help them in life.

Congrats to Gwen and Gavin! The rockstar couple gave birth to their second child yesterday--and it ain't no holla-back girl. Both mom and son are doing fine. But the burning question is when you already have one kid named Kingston, do you try to top it or go with something more traditional for baby No. 2? Drum roll, please! His name is...Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale.

I suppose it is better than Peanut.

Matthew McConaughey is Weird

Though it is probably good for growing plants and trees, this is still kind of strange.

Matthew McConaughey says the birth of his son will help bring a little joy to
others in the world someday. The actor kept the placenta from the July birth of
his son and plans to plant it in an orchard, he said in a cable news interview.

Um...OK...

Being a Celebrity is Tough

"A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized." Fred Allen

Very observant comment, it seems.
Derrick