NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” — The Real Issues in the Newsweek Debate

The controversy over the recent Newsweek cover story, “A Religious Case for Gay Marriage,” continues. See here for my initial analysis of Miller’s article.

I appeared on National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” program yesterday, along with Lisa Miller, Newsweek‘s religion editor and author of the cover story.

The interview can be heard here. I appreciate Lisa Miller’s candid acknowledgment of the fact that the November 4 passage of Proposition 8 in California had just about everything to do with the timing of the story. Beyond that, I appreciated her explanation of her argument for same-sex marriage. In essence, her dichotomy between those who see the Bible as a document with a “living” interpretation and those who see it as a binding document gets to the heart of the issue. As much as no evangelical I know would ever accept the dichotomy framed this way, she does explain her own perspective well. She believes the Bible contains “universal themes” that should be preserved, but no binding rules that are to be obeyed.

That does clarify the issue. Her understanding of biblical authority (if you can even call it that) allows her to deny the truth status of passages she prefers to disregard.