"Newsweek" makes a religious case for gay marriage

The cover story for the December 15 issue of Newsweek, "Our Mutual Joy" (by Lisa Miller), takes a close look at religious arguments against gay marriage and what the Good Book actually says (or, sometimes more importantly, does not say) about the idea.

Much like the excellent documentary For the Bible Tells Me So, the Newsweek piece takes a hard look at exactly what the Bible says about marriage, homosexuality, and the place where the two meet. Not surprisingly, the fundamental text is not as anti-gay as many Prop 8 supporters would like us to think it is:

"First, while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman. And second, as the examples above illustrate, no sensible modern person wants marriage—theirs or anyone else's —to look in its particulars anything like what the Bible describes."

Ultimately Miller concludes that not only would conservatives be batty to use the Bible's commentary about marriage as a model for contemporary relationships (unless you want your husband to sleep with servants if you are infertile or marry several people at once, as several of the founding fathers of the Judeo-Christian tradition have done) but that ultimately the Good Book argues in favor of the stability and promotion of love that gay marriage provides.

It's an interesting piece, and a photo gallery of images like the ones above accompanies it. Check it out and discuss in the comments!