The Greek philosopher Aristotle said that mathematics was the only universal truth. We have been hearing a great deal about the Bible and what it has to say about gay issues these days. Unfortunately, much of what we hear comes from a small group of fanatical people that take unverified stories written during the Bronze Age as literal truth. The problem is compounded by the fact that they only seem able to take the worst of these stories as truth and practice them, while the few good pieces of advice are completely ignored. The amount of violence suggested (and often carried out) by this group of delusional extremists who claim to follow the “Prince of Peace” is simply astounding, ranging from abortion clinic bombings and vicious assaults on the LGBT community to financing acts like “corrective rapes” in South Africa to promoting the death penalty in Uganda.

Two weeks ago, a Baptist minister suggested beating male children who showed any sign of effeminate behavior. This was his sermon for the day. But simple beatings do not seem to be good enough for some extremists, however. Mississippi Republican State Representative Andy Gipson used his Bible to show that “God” wants gays dead. This is not only a man who represents his religion by using its “holy” book as a guide, but is representing all of the people in his state. While Gipson did not state his comments at the State House or from behind a pulpit, he did write them on his official Facebook page. His first comment was relatively mild, although confusing:

“Been a lot of press on Obama’s opinion on “homosexual marriage.” The only opinion that counts is God’s: see Romans 1:26-28 and Leviticus 20:13. Anyway you slice it, it is sin. Not to mention horrific social policy.”

This argument is confusing for three reasons. Romans also say to obey all government laws. There are no laws requiring Christians to “become” gay and the institution of marriage predates Christianity by several thousand years. Gipson uses Leviticus (Christians just love Leviticus for some reason) and his next post demonstrates why he used it:

“According to Leviticus 20:13, “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.”

Now that is what I would call doubling down on intolerance. Instead of simply expressing his personal opinion, Gipson is calling for the murder of his fellow Mississippians. This elected representative, this man who gets a paycheck to represent the interests of all of the states' citizens, then says:

“To be clear, I want the world to know that I do not, cannot, and will not apologize for the inspired truth of God’s Word. It is one thing that will never “change.”

Gipson is clearly a person who feels that Biblical law supercedes Constitutional law and for a private citizen, this is perfectly acceptable. But Andy is not a private citizen. He is elected to represent the will of the entire state, and not just the interests of the pastor of his church. We have seen these same kinds of statements from Republican presidential candidates Michelle Bachmann and Rick Santorum, both of whom have suggested that our Constitutional laws should be based on the teachings of the Bible. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” You can try all you want, but you can never erase those words from the Constitution.

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