Adam and Steve

A new play has just opened in New York, right in time for Christmas and Hanukkah. Appropriately enough, it has a biblical theme. In fact, it's a retelling of the entire Bible. The only problem is that it's a retelling from a homosexual perspective. The name of this blasphemous spoof is "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told," and it's a sad illustration of one of the great paradoxes of our society how those who falsely accuse Christians of intolerance are, in fact, the ones promoting intolerance and bigotry themselves. The story opens in the Garden of Eden, naturally—or perhaps I should say unnaturally, because instead of Adam and Eve we get, predictably enough, Adam and Steve. The two men meet and "begin naming everything in the garden, including their own body parts," complete with full frontal nudity. The story staggers forward then to a gay Noah and his ark of lusty animals. And then in the second act, there is a lesbian Virgin Mary, pregnant by artificial insemination. Without doubt all of this is all calculated to mock Jewish and Christian belief—and timed to coincide with Hanukkah and Christmas. But outrageous as this is, the media have uttered hardly a word of protest. In fact, The New York Times gave the play a rave review, complimenting its author, Paul Rudnick, as possibly "the funniest writer for the stage in the U.S. today." Funny, well just imagine for a moment if someone appears to blasphemous spoof mocking the Holocaust, or mocking homosexuals. There would be outrage from the media and from aggrieved classes, and rightly so. My concern, you see, isn't that they're bashing Christianity. It is that this kind of venom directed at anyone destroys civil society. For a society to be civil depends on our respecting one another’s viewpoint. The First Amendment protects the expression of all political views, but was never intended to protect speech that is bigoted and hateful. And a misunderstanding of this has contributed to the degradation of public discourse. Scripture teaches us to love our enemies, to be kind to strangers and aliens among us—those who are different from ourselves. So our duty is to protect the respectful expression of all beliefs not just our own. I wish leading journalists like those at the New York Times would follow this principle, instead of, in their zeal to put down Christians, celebrating so-called works of art like “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.” Now let's be clear at what's at stake here. There’s nothing wrong with homosexuals expressing political views in the public square in a manner that is civil and decent—nor is there anything wrong with our expressing profound disagreement with their views. But sadly, what this play is that what the radical homosexual agenda is: not merely live and let live but is aimed at the wholesale destruction of a belief system which maintains traditional moral standards. There's a lesson in all of this that goes beyond mere Christian bashing. For a society to be free, it must remain civil. And in an ironic twist it is Christians who were thought to be Victorian prudes and bigots who best understand this crucial balance because we see all people created in the image of God. Just another example of why Christianity is so important to society's survival. A thought you might share with your neighbors this Christmas.    

12/23/98