Howard Dean, Scripture scholar
Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean, who left the Episcopal Church in a dispute over the route of a bike path, and who once identified Job as his favorite book in the New Testament, has weighed in on the Biblical evidence on gay relationships.
"I haven't seen gay marriage in the Bible once," Dean said in the keynote address at a Democratic fundraiser at a Reno hotel-casino, perhaps not the best venue for a disquisition on traditional values.
AP has a story that will have gays, lesbians and their allies wondering whether they are about to be sacrificed to Democrats' desire to cut into the evangelical vote. It includes this paragraph:
Rick Warren, a best-selling author and pastor at a Southern California church, is an example of an evangelical leader who is setting aside "those things that divide us" and doing things "that bring people together — things that really are in the Bible," Dean said. He said those priorities include fighting poverty, global warming and the bloodshed in Darfur.
Warren, remember, is among Peter Akinola's loudest cheerleaders, having written a brief profile of the Nigerian archbishop when Akinola was first named one of Time 's one hundred most influential people.
Warren noted that men like Akinola are "bright, biblical, courageous and willing to point out the inconsistencies, weaknesses and theological drift in Western churches." without ever mentioning that Akinola lobbied for anti-gay legislation that had been condemned by the European Parliament, the U. S. State Department and every major human rights organization.
At the same time, I took Dean's comments to mean "it's a waste of time for evangelicals to fight against this and they're finally starting to realize it and get on with more important matters."
By phrasing it as he did, his feet are stuffed firmly in his mouth, but I think he's pretty accustomed to that position by now.
Posted by Helen Thompson (Gallycat)![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 12, 2007 9:38 AM
"After hearing Dean's observation beginning "If you know much about the Bible -- which I do," a reporter asked about his favorite New Testament book."
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=2988
Posted by John B. Chilton![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 12, 2007 10:46 AM
Howard Dean is on the right track. Anglicans have always been able to "hang together" by foucusing on the essentials, not the secondaries of the faith like human sexuality. Evangelicals are already willing to make common cause with the Mainline denominations on, for instance, global warming.
Howard Anderson
Posted by Howard Anderson![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 12, 2007 11:32 AM
I agree with Helen on this one--this is an example of bad syntax, not bad intent. What Dean was trying to say is that there are many issues discussed at length in the Bible--such as poverty--on which Democrats and Evangelicals can have common ground. Gay marriage is not one of them.
And while Rick Warren may have made unfortunate statements in the past, he is an Evangelical leader who is looking beyond the issues of abortion and sexuality. Indeed, he is one of the Evangelical leaders who agrees that climate change is a moral issue, and he is now focused on increasing attention to the AIDS crisis in Africa (and remember, Warren took great heat from the likes of James Dobson when he invited Barack Obama to his church.)
Neither Dean nor Obama will throw GLBT persons under the bus, but they are wise to recognize that not every Evangelical voter is solely interested in abortion and gay marriage.
Posted by Chuck Blanchard![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 12, 2007 12:15 PM