Bradley Fowler is gay. He's also emotionally distressed because the Bible casts homosexuality as a sin. Well actually, that's not quite right. Apparently the Bible casts 'the effeminate and men who lie with men'** as a sin, which is one thing, but he's outraged that two bible publishers have trimmed that line down to 'homosexuals' and variations thereof.It went from something like this: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor idolaters, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor...
To this: Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherent the kingdom of God. [Catholic Edition, 2002, Ignatius Press]
Bradley wants $70 million dollars from two publishers for suggesting effeminate men and those that lie with other men are homosexuals.
There's just one problem:
If he manages to get homosexuality struck off the list, and get his $60 million (although he would have bankrupted the publisher long before the first million) then that moves him into the next category. Greedy. Greedy is also unrighteous and the greedy will not get into the Kingdom of God.
I also wondered if his strategy was at risk for other reasons. What if others also mount a lawsuit before his is over?
I'm thinking some men who use prostitutes (also known as fornicators to which even earlier translations lump in with the immoral), some fans of Al Gore (idolaters), a couple of married men with mistresses in tow (adulterers), a man swearing like a trooper (a reviler), a trooper (possibly a reviler), and assorted other characters all get the same idea and interfere with the lawsuit based on the fact they are either higher up in the list or more upset.
This could get ugly. I imagine the adulterers alone could be taking offense that a bit on the side is considered a big no-no by the bible. They should be worried. I think the sin of adultery seems to be mentioned even more than homosexuality in the Bible.
Apparently, even prostitutes are disgusted by adulterers. I say that because just this week, a prostitute was arrested in Auckland for trying to blackmail one of her customers. Seemed he was married and had boasted that he had a good marriage. Such hypocrisy was worth trying a $3,000 blackmail scam by the prostitute, but it backfired because he reported her to the police anyway.
Who knows what the fallout of that is, but I found the whole thing interesting. Presumably, the prostitute herself manages to separate work from relationships, so it seemed just as hypocritical to me that she thought adultery was hypocritical.
Prostitutes weren't mentioned on that particular list, but thieves were. She's on the list for that reason. She still has a chance to scam 60 million dollars if she gets in quick enough.
But before we get too worried, it seems a shame that Bradley didn't read past that line. Following on from there is some good news: And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God.
No, we are all sinners of one sort or another. Being ruled by lust, greed, envy, sloth, anger, gluttony or pride is something we all must learn to fight in the degrees that they prevent us from functioning as good people.
Bradley's fight might seem righteous and holy to him, but I think no amount of money is going to help him find the God he thinks he found when he was in prison.
Related Link: Effeminate lier with men sues the bible
** I went and checked some earlier translations of the Bible, and this seemed meaning to be the closest to the original latin.
Sloth is a problem? Something tells me I'm in big trouble....
ReplyDeleteSomeone said ignorance and apathy were bad, but frankly I don't know and I don't care.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the interview with Ian 'Gandalf' McKellen when he was in NZ. McKellen, an admitted homosexual, owned up to ripping pages out of hotel Bibles that say homosexuality is a sin -
ReplyDeleteAUCKLAND, NZ, August 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - British Actor Ian McKellen who has used the mega-stardom he achieved playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films to promote homosexuality, has admitted to ripping out pages of hotel bibles that refer to homosexuality.
In an August 10 interview on New Zealand's TV1 Close Up program McKellen was confronted by the interviewer questioning the truth of the rumour "He's the one, that when he stays in hotels rips the part of the bible out that criticizes homosexuality."
"Yes it is true," responded McKellen it's even tones. "Its Leviticus 18:22 that I object to, or is it 22:18, I've always got to look it up. Thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman, it is an abomination. And they, I think the punishment for an abomination was being stoned to death," he said.
McKellen added, "I think it's rather obscene and pornographic, and shouldn't be there, so I remove it."
At least some would say he knows what the Bible says about it.
In another aside, I heard an older version of Whitesnake's song, "Here I Go Again" today. The lyrics were slightly different in one place so I looked it up on Wiki...
The song was written by lead singer David Coverdale and former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden. The most notable differences between the original and revamped version are the style of the music (blues vs rock) and a slight change in the lyrics. The chorus of the original version features the lines:
"An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known
Like a hobo I was born to walk alone"
whereas the newer version is:
"Like a drifter I was born to walk alone"
The change was made because even before finishing writing and recording the 1987 album Coverdale had decided to release a new version Here I Go Again as one of the singles. He was afraid an American audience might think he was singing "Like a homo I was born to walk alone" so had the lyrics changed.