Even Faith Must Respond to American Society’s Evolution

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

Can we talk for a moment about the American sense of humor asit pertains to gays?

I know it’s not the most burning issue of the day. Everybody’sworked up this week about President Donald Trump’s impending impeachment andhis latest foreign policy outrages, and the televised Democratic presidentialcandidates debate, and all the big shots lining up to testify before Congresson the Ukraine business.

But in the midst of all this turmoil, we got a chance for agood old national laugh the other day, and I hear some people worry that maybe itwas a laugh at our own expense – or at least Elizabeth Warren’s expense.

You heard about this, right?

Warren, the Massachusetts senator who’s among the leadingcontenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, was asked at CNN’s forumon LGBTQ issues how she would respond to anyone who told her, “I’mold-fashioned and my faith teaches me that marriage is between one man and onewoman?”

You could see the twinkle in Warren’s eyes as she formed herresponse. And the twinkle revealed a marvelous piece of American history. Itsaid: We don’t have to be uncomfortableabout this subject anymore. We don’t have to hem and haw about our feelings. Wedon’t have to reach for ancient biblical admonitions in order to frame ouranswer.

Not anymore, we don’t.

“Well,” Warren said, “I’m going to assume it’s a guy whosaid that. And I’m going to say, ‘Then just marry one woman – I’m cool withthat.’”

That answer alone was pretty cool, but then she upped herlittle joke with an even better one.

“Assuming,” she said, “you can find one.”

And here’s where we come to questions about political winsand losses when it involves sexuality.

By the afternoon following Warren’s remark, her little jokehad generated more than 12 million views on Twitter. Laughter resounded acrossthe country. But mixed with it was a warning from political pundits: religiouspeople might be offended, and this could cost Warren at voting time.

Or not.

Polling by the Pew Research Center says 61 percent ofAmericans support same-sex marriage. That includes 74 percent of millennials and44 percent of Republicans. Those are numbers calculated to give any politicianthe courage to take a stand, and maybe even make jokes.

But for all the cultural distance America has covered overthe past decade or so on sexual issues, this is about more than numbers.

Recall the premise of the original question: “My faithteaches me …” about marriage and sex. In other words, was Warren’s joke dismissiveof some people’s religious beliefs? And was she offending people who may agreewith same-sex marriage, but don’t like the tone of condescension toward peopleof faith?

Maybe, but ultimately even faith has to respond toevolution. And thankfully in America, we’ve had a cultural evolution involvingsexual minorities finally enjoying the same rights and same respect as allother human beings.

Would we tolerate anyone saying, “My faith says a whiteperson shouldn’t marry a black person”? Hopefully not. Nor should we hinder anyperson’s right to love and to marry.

Religious faith has its place in the world – a reveredplace, to millions, including a former Sunday school teacher named ElizabethWarren.

But the beating of the human heart has its revered place aswell. And just as America’s secular laws have belatedly acknowledged the rightsof gays, religious beliefs are changing as well.

And here and there, it’s not such a bad thing to tell a jokeabout it, just to cool everyone’s fevered brows.

A former Baltimore Sun columnist and WJZ-TV commentator, Michael Olesker is the author of six books, most recently “Front Stoops in the Fifties: Baltimore Legends Come of Age” (Johns Hopkins University Press).

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