Klingenschmitt: Christian Photographers Should Print Anti-Gay Scripture On The Back Of Gay Wedding Photos | Right Wing Watch

"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ."

2 Corinthians 11:13

Such a horrible little man you are Mr. Klingenschmitt, you sir do not deserve to use the title Chaplain. You are a hate fill individual who has no understanding of the message conveyed by Paul in his letter to the Romans. Like your predecessors you have chosen to misrepresent what scripture is teaching. "Death" to those who don't abide by your religious principles? You sound more like the Taliban than a follower of Christ. I can't imagine what it must be like to be so filled with hate that you consider people you've never even met to be "worthy of death." The implication of citing the above verse is very clear, though woefully misguided and taken out of context.

Your obsession with homosexuality and homosexuals makes me wonder, are you a] struggling within yourself thus lashing out b] speaking from ignorance, thus sowing the seed of distrust and cultivating an "us vs. them" mentality, or c] you are spiritually lazy refusing to study the issue for yourself, you just want to be part if the "in" crowd.

If you would like to cherry pick the Bible how about we try this one, Leviticus 21:17-24

Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them. And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

Or maybe you would like to justify these "Christian" photographers in the light of Exodus 20:4:

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or tha is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

But I digress. So let's have a we bit of a looksey at all of Romans chapter one in its proper context, not just one verse,,,

At the time of Paul's writing to the Romans, it was a world dominated by (Roman) Paganism with a different view of sexuality when compared to early Christians. All one needs to do is gander at their Pantheon of gods and goddesses.

On Palatine Hill you will find the ruins of a temple dedicated to the "Protectress of Rome." Cybele is her name, also known as Magna Matar. It was here that Galli priests engaged in what many individuals, past and present, would call an unholy worship of Cybele. This is what Paul was writing about in Romans 1:26-27:

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

Temple prostitution, Gentile idolatry, and more specifically fertility goddess worship. This cultic activity in Cybele's Temple does not equate to modern homosexuality anymore than rape equates to heterosexuality.

One has to bare in mind that Paul was a Jewish legal expert who knew Jewish Law backwards and forwards. His beliefs are based on the Old Testament, Jewish Law and revelation. If you look closely you can see evidence of his expertise in verse v. 23:

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Compare to Jeremiah 2:11:

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

And v. 28:

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Compare to Psalms 106, which speaks of Gentile idolatry which drew Israel away from God:

• Context of the passage, v 14: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
• God giving sinful Israel what they want, v. 15: And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
• Paul's allusion in Romans, vv. 20-21 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

Another way of looking at the context, the entire passage is talking about the Gentiles as a group, Paul is condemning their (the Gentile's) idolatry:

• v. 20: ,,,the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,,,so that THEY are without excuse:
• v. 21: “,,,when THEY knew God,,,”
• v. 23: ",,,changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image,,, "
• v. 24: ",,,God also gave THEM up to uncleanness,,,”
• v. 25: ",,,worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,,,"
• v. 26: ",,,God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their [idolatrous] women did change the natural use into that which is against nature,,,"
• v. 27: "And likewise also the [idolatrous] men,,,
• v. 28: “Even as THEY did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave THEM over to a reprobate mind,,,”

What Paul is focused on, is showing that idolatry is wrong and the people should worship God. To separate verses 26 and 27 from his argument about idolatry is asinine. Paul is describing idol worshipers, plain and simple, not lesbian women and not gay men. In the cultural, historical and religious context of first century Rome, Paul is describing women and men who used sex to worship fertility goddesses like Cybele.

As for vv. 29-32 I am going to borrow an analysis posted by a friend in response to my initial screen capture on facebook:

In context, that verse - Romans 1:32 - is NOT referring to homosexuality, singled out. It is referring to the entire list before it:

"28) Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29) They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31) they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32) Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."

In verse 28 of this passage, in the first sentence, the antecedent of the word "they" does not hail back to Paul's archaic description of "homosexuals." It is in reference to the entire list, and the contextual purpose was to demonstrate that NO ONE was able to be "justified" on their own merits, but that salvation was by grace through faith. Its a spiritual lesson.

I love the way people pluck biblical verses out of context. If you want to understand what this passage really is saying, go read the entire chapter, including the 31 verses prior to the one this nimrod quoted out-of-context.

What Mr. Klingenschmitt is guilty of here is biblical hyperliteralism; it is a false way of biblical interpretation which leads to bigoted statements that he is guilty of here and in other contexts. The Bible (whether you accept it as the word of God or as I do as a history of the Jewish people with no authority in how I lead my life) must be read in the context in which it was given. All scripture is given in a cultural, doctrinal, historical, linguistic and religious context; to ignore context is disingenuous at best, deceitful and malicious at worst. Which by the way, Mr.  Klingenschmitt is part of that wonderful list you so conveniently ignored.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

2 Timothy 2:15

Klingenschmitt: Christian Photographers Should Print Anti-Gay Scripture On The Back Of Gay Wedding Photos | Right Wing Watch

If you have the fortitude to sit through his rhetoric, here is the original video.