HRC Back Story

Bishop Gene Robinson made an appearance on the Today show Thursday morning to talk about the "great reward of being a Christian" and his plans to have a civil union ceremony with his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew.  Bishop Robinson, who has just released a new book, In the Eye of the Storm, discusses the theological controversy around biblical condemnations of homosexuality and his decision to serve as an openly gay Episcopal bishop in the face of church opposition and death threats:

“When your life is at stake, you learn that there are things in life that are much worse than death,” Bishop Robinson told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Thursday in New York. “That’s the great reward of being a Christian. Not living your life — that’s worse than death. And if something were to happen to me, I would know that I am doing what I discern God is calling me to do.”[...]

Robinson feels that people who use the Bible to condemn homosexuals fail to understand Scripture. It is called an abomination for a man to lie with another man as with a woman, but, he writes, the Bible also says it is an abomination to eat pork or shellfish, to wear clothing made of two different fibers, or to sow two different types of seed in the same field.

“We’ve often misinterpreted Scripture,” Robinson told Lauer. “We’ve used Scripture to justify slavery; the subjugation of women. And now we’re realizing that what the Bible initially seems to say about same-sex relationships is not actually what we’re talking about today — faithful, monogamous, lifelong-intentioned relationships between people of the same sex.”

Watch Bishop Robinson's interview with Today show host Matt Lauer here: