(Editor's Note: The California Supreme Court is expected to rule on the legality of Prop. 8, which bans same sex marriage in California. It is anticipated that the court will uphold the statue, thus making illegal that which was so briefly legal in our state. Much of the objection to same sex relationships is religious and so this piece by Ben Daniel seeks to address that underpinning. Our clergy are blessed to have presided at 10 same sex marriages and remain firmly committed to marriage equality).

On Saturday, August 19, 2006, I delivered the homily at a wedding in Leeds, Maine. It was a happy event: the service was sweet, the food was wonderful, and we danced into the night. The brides were radiant, both dressed in white, both in full possession of the particular beauty common to those in their early thirties, when the loveliness of lingering youth meets the gathering wisdom of nature adulthood. The wedding was memorable, and I'm proud to have played a part in it.

When I returned to California, with the permission of the brides, I wrote about the Maine wedding, first on my blog, and later as a commentary for KQED FM in San Francisco, the nation's largest NPR affiliate. The response to both bits of writing was the same: sincere appreciation from most of my readers and listeners and absolute outrage from others. I am, after all, a Christian pastor who has placed himself under the authority of scripture. So how could I possibly take part in a lesbian wedding?

It's a fair question, and the short answer is this: I don't trust what the Bible has to say about homosexuality.

That's a strong statement, to be sure, so let me come clean by saying that I don't trust most of what the Bible has to say about heterosexuality either. I say this, not because I disdain scripture, but because I love the Bible; with careful, honest, sobriety I've read what the Good Book has to say about human sexuality, and most of it simply is inappropriate for people living in the modern world.

There is no question that the Bible condemns same-sex eroticism. If the rest of the biblical witness provided cogent, moral and just directives for straight people, I might be able-however grudgingly-to accept the biblical injunctions against homosexuality, but most of what the Bible has to say about sex between men and women is not cogent, moral, or just. Some of the sexual behavior commended and condoned in the Bible is repugnant, some of it is criminal, some of it is creepy, and some of it is bizarre.

Read any passage in the Bible that addresses human sexuality, and you will find almost nothing that looks like it would receive the James Dobson seal of approval. Consider: Deuteronomy 22:28-29 which requires that a rape victim marry her attacker (after her dad has been paid off with fifty shekels); the Bible's most blessed union-the marriage of Abraham and Sarah-was incestuous; a strict reading of Jewish law would suggest that women are a commodity and marriage is a business transaction; polygamy usually is a good thing; and the biblical witness never questions the notion that the maidservants of a household should be treated as the sexual property of their masters.

Then there's the whole issue of Levirate marriage set forth in Deuteronomy 25. The Biblical understanding is that a childless widow must marry her late husband's brother, not for love, but so that he can provide sons for her (even though sex between in-laws is forbidden in Leviticus 18:16, but never mind). Levirate marriage is at the center of the book of Ruth, in which Ruth, with no concern for chastity or premarital abstinence, uncovers Boaz' "feet" on the threshing floor ("feet" is a Hebrew euphemism for male genitalia). In Genesis 38, a childless widow, named Tamar, tries to marry her brother-in-law, whom God kills for not consummating the relationship. She then dresses as a prostitute, seduces her father-in-law, and find herself-finally-in a family way.

There's more: the Bible's great and beautiful celebration of human sexuality, the Song of Songs, (a book I love for its earthiness and for how it gives God the voice of a lusty young woman) traditionally is understood to be a love song between Solomon and any one of the countless women in his harem; the prophet Hosea gets married as a sermon illustration; when the Israelites return from exile in Babylon the priests force everyone in a mixed remarriage to get a divorce; in the Gospels, Jesus only words on the subject of sex comes when he forbids remarriage after divorce; and Paul's contributions to the Biblical witness on sexuality include the notion that a woman will be saved through childbearing.

If, as a straight man, I am not willing to follow the Bible's instructions on sex, if as a father, I would die rather than subject my daughters to the Bible's sexual standards, then I cannot, in good faith, expect my GLBT friends to live lonely and unfilled lives on the authority of four or five biblical passages, which seem no better than the rest of the Bible's sexual dictates.

Now, most faithful readers of scripture will argue that one must filter the Bible's bizarre heterosexual teachings through historical and cultural lenses. Words written thousands of years ago cannot be taken out of context and judged by modern standards. The details change in time, but the principles of love, and fidelity, and justice and kindness remain.

Exactly.

I read the Bible's condemnation of same-sex eroticism in the same way I read the biblical mandate that a victim of rape must marry her assailant. It's clear to me that both must be understood as cultural artifacts that must be abandoned. I know of no objective reason to suggest one commandment may be ignored while the other must be upheld.

In the end, I have to believe God trusts humans to work out the social constructs and mores that guide our coupling without using scripture to proof-text our prejudices. The Bible isn't a sex manual, but it does teach us about love and acceptance and compassion and grace. Using these Christ-like principles, it's easy to find room for God's GLBT children in the kingdom-not to mention in the pews of our neighborhood churches. For our time and in our society there is no reason not to embrace and celebrate same-sex relationships as an integral part of life in our communities.

Ben Daniel is the pastor of Foothill Presbyterian Church in San Jose, CA, and is a writer of left-leaning, faith based social and political commentary. His commentaries are broadcast on KQED FM in San Francisco, the largest public radio station in the United States; his website (www.bendaniel.org) enjoys a global readership; United Press International syndicates his bi-weekly columns; his writing has appeared on Beliefnet, theRevealer.com, The Internationalist Magazine, and a wide range of local, regional, and denominational publications. His work has been linked by The BBC Online, Al Jazeera's English language website, and the United Nations. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Swiss Federation of Protestant Churches selected one of Ben's sermons to provide the framework for the official worship service celebrating John Calvin's 500th birthday in Geneva this May. Ben's work has been published in English, Spanish, German and French. Ben and his wife, Anne, have four children.