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Ripping the Bible
In an interview with Details magazine, openly gay actor Ian McKellen admits that when he stays in hotels he finds the in-room Bible and tears out the page condemning homosexuality:
I’m not proudly defacing the book, but it’s a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible. And I’m not really the first: I got delivered a package of 40 of those pages—Leviticus 18:22—that had been torn out by a married couple I know. They put them on a bit of string so that I could hang it up in the bathroom.
Apparently he and his fans leave Paul’s letters addressing this issue alone, including passages from Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy. But the man who’s best known for playing Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and his followers can tear out all the pages they want because . . .
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
back to top46 Comments to “Ripping the Bible”
sin is sin
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Tearing out the pages of the Bible won’t take away the sin, nor will it do anything except condemn the man who does it in his sin.
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I will pray for him today.
I really enjoy his acting ability, and love how he dramatizes via voice inflection.
See, I don’t hate him, nor find him repugnant. I just believe that God loves him more, and that He is calling his name…but he is fighting the Hound of Heaven.
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Does he tear out the last chapter of Revelation?
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I just re-read Leviticus.
A lot of the forbidden relationships are just God’s way of saying us he didnt want all humanity to be one great big Jerry Springer show.
I know a man who married his step daughter several years after his wife’s death. (He hadnt had custody of the girl during the years he was married to her mom). I believe even that practice is barred by Leviticus.
Which brings up the infamous University Baptist Church in Austin Texas. (ubcaustin dot org). A young UT student went to speak to the pastor directly when that student and several other collegiates learned that the church had ordained a man who was suddenly “openly gay” post-ordination.
The pastor asked “Do you keep kosher?” [Werent the dietary rules lifted by God himself in the NT?] If we now deem the anti homosex verse in Leviticus to be passe’–along with all the Levitical injunctions– does that not now free up hetero folks to do all the Jerry Springer-esque perversions which heteros are barred from doing? Methinks yes!
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I know folks who check into the Marriott and deface the Holy book of Mormon.
When you next travel in a muslim country and you check into the Ramadan Inn, I double dog dare ya to deface the Quran, Mr McKellen!
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Now they’ll have to go back and tear out all the passages that condemn destruction of other peoples property. It doesn’t matter which law you break, the wages of sin is death. that’s why we need a Savior.
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According to WMB today, both Dumbledore (see Whirled Views) and Gandalf are gay. Do I have this correct?
Hmm, what about the Wizard of Oz? I don’t recall ever seeing him with a lady friend. Can we get a ruling on this?
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Travis Birkenstock – I do believe the actor was gay who played Gandalf . I am be wrong
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That is one angry, insecure man. I pity him.
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Thorn (4): Not that I know, but he gets really excited about the passages mentioned in Mr. McLean’s blog, and his reputation concerning “editing” biblical passages is well documented.
Hey, it’s easy! You don’t like facing Truth so you tear out the page and Presto! it doesn’t convict you any longer.
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Very interesting.
Many people have tried to destroy the Bible.
One such person ended up with the Bible actually being printed in his house after he died.
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Should a gay person travel to a Muslim nation?
Muslims are just not that into gays.
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Ah the people of the book repeat their bibliolatrous credo – the Bible says the “word of the Lord” will “stand forever,” which must refer to the Bible which must be right, because it says it is.
Pathetic
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Spinoza – why do you post here?
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God’s mercy be upon him and convict him of his need to repent.
“…Unless you repent, you will also likewise perish.” Luke 13:3
NKJV
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So that explains his contempt for the bible. When Lord of the Rings first came out, he was certainly ‘open’ about his disdain for the Bible, but not his homosexuality.
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McKellan has issues. When I check into a hotel room, I ignore the Bible. (I have a perfectly good Bible at home, and I look at it now and then, and it doesn’t seem to have changed since the last time I looked at it, nor does it look any different than as a book of myths and of the best moral/ethical thinking people could do thousands of years ago.
It still amazes me that a book that is supposedly the “Word of God” needs so much commentary, explication, apologetics, and so on, yet inspires so much belief and reverence at this web site.
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RANDOM #18
…inspires so much belief and reverence at this web site.”
AND around the world.
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Random @ 18 – It’s not the apologetics that are the problem. It’s the apoplectics.
Besides, Ian is wasting his time. There’s no need to tear out the pages. Inserting a proper translation and exegesis will do rather nicely. http://www.religioustolerance.org
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Thomas1 11.02.09 AT 7:20 PM
Random @ 18 – It’s not the apologetics that are the problem. It’s the apoplectics.
Besides, Ian is wasting his time. There’s no need to tear out the pages. Inserting a proper translation and exegesis will do rather nicely. http://www.religioustolerance.org
–
as long as the translation (which is not proper) says it is ok to be gay
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Perhaps we should place bookmarks and post-it notes at those passages in hotel Bibles everywhere we stay.
Naw. If anything, I would direct readers to verses that express eternal hope for those who repent (homosexual or not).
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I have some suspicion that McKellen may be critical of pro-lifers for allegedly being “single-issue thinkers.
But McKellen himself may be far too obsessed on his single- issue.
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The Bible is like a 3D hologram.
You can rip it and shoot holes in it, but if you move your head to the side you can look around the hole and the message is still there, but with slightly reduced resolution.
Every place that advocates marriage or provides examples of marriage or talks about Adam and Eve or speaks against sex outside of marriage or against perversion like Sodom and Ghomorrah all say a similar thing.
You’d have to put the book through a shredder to meddle with the message of the need for salvation for a sinful world. And even then, the act of shredding the Bible illustrates the very message you are trying to destroy.
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Destroying property that is not yours is what you do when you no longer have a conscience.
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This is exhibit #496,93,827,475,639,294,785,673 in the case of people (apparently on the social left in this case) not being willing or able to disagree respectfully with others and not being tolerant about differing points of view getting exposure.
This guy is intolerant.
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I used to be a Gideon and deplore destruction of property and disrespect for other people’s religion. Other than that, it’s a non event. If the Gideons know about it, they would replace the Bible.
Buy when a traveler reads the Bible, he usually knows what he’s reading about. I used them often when I traveled.
If a person sees somethong cut out of it, he will likely be more curious about what it was than otherwise. So, it calls attention to the scripture passage.
It could be counter productive for their agenda.
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A Bible without some page in Leviticus in it is STILL the greatest, most fantastic read ever made available to human beings throughout all of history. There is so much more to the Bible than it’s clear and straight warnings against homosexual perversion.
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Two scriptures come to mind:
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (New American Standard Bible)
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
John 3:20 (New American Standard Bible)
“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
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#8: And Abraham Lincoln. There’s an entire Wikipedia page about it. Oh, and Shakespeare.
Dumbledore isn’t gay. Rowling said Dumbledore was gay. There’s a difference. She’s done writing: thankfully we can ignore her. As a reader, I don’t have to care what her interpretation of her fantasy novel is. She didn’t write it into the books. Ian McKellen being gay has no bearing on Gandalf, also thankfully. Not that that stopped the Internet at large, I’m sure.
About the thread: Why is he tearing pages from the Bible? That implies that he’s okay with the rest of it. I didn’t think he at all claimed to be Christian, liberal or otherwise.
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Cool way of looking at it, Xion.
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Maybe he doesn’t like the words of GOD that talk about homosexuality – it’s a common thread throughout those who feel that homosexuality isn’t a sin.
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Victoria: I lose count of the times I have argued about homosexuality. God says it’s a sin. It’s a sin. I’m just confused as to why McKellen cares whether the Bible says homosexuality is a sin: why doesn’t he just ignore the Bible or toss the whole thing out? Is he advocating a “censored” Christianity?
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TJS
People don’t IGNORE the Bible, nobody does, that’s why we have a large group here on the blog who come back day after day to debate what they don’t understand.
He cares because it bothers him, his sin has pricked his conscience, and it doesn’t feel good.
The reason they come here is to challenge the Christian Believers about the Gospel. Don’t think for a moment they aren’t concerned about their sin or souls.
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Victoria has a point there in box 35. A very good one.
Also, I might add, how many pages do I “rip” in my day-to-day actions? Someone like Ian may be closer to the truth than we might first think. If he could ignore it, he would as Victoria says, but there is conviction there.
I know my actions and words often tear out more than just one page.
OH
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While we are looking at the sin of homsexuality, lets read and contemplate I Cor. Cpt. 5 & 6. While we are about it, I think it would be good for us to take a good look at scripture and comprehend ALL the acts that will close the door to God’s kingdom. Sodomy is only one of many. I think that while many of us concentrate on the one, Satan is busy planting a harvest of tares among the wheat. As believers, should we not be showing more concern for the household of the faith? I think so!
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Dumbledore isn’t gay. Rowling said Dumbledore was gay. There’s a difference.
A very strange statement.
Dumbledore isn’t a real person. He is a character in a novel.
It is rather strange and arrogant to say I understand a fictious character better than the author who created this imaginary person.
I suppose it is possible, but it is a weird thing to say and believe.
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While we are about it, I think it would be good for us to take a good look at scripture and comprehend ALL the acts that will close the door to God’s kingdom.
I have asked if it is better to live in the (probable) delusion that we will live after we die, or if it is better to come to terms with the probably recognition that the life we live is probably the only one we have.
I have speculated that the answer is different for different people. A possible downside to clinging to the Christian belief is that one spends one’ life in torment and doubt over whether one will actually go to Heaven or might instead go to Hell.
The quote above sounds to me as if it comes from a person closer to self-imposed torment than a person in confidence and consolation.
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As long as he doesn’t touch Leviticus 15. That’s important guidance for a hotel stay. Clean towels and sheets daily please.
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As I said, Satan is busy planting tares among the wheat.
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Who would have guessed that Ian McKellen advocates censorship. Because no matter what we think the Bible teaches, the issue here is that McKellen doesn’t like what it says there and he doesn’t want others to be able to read it.
It’s not an issue of interpretation. It’s an issue of control.
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Man
Stood up
In the muck,
Curled up his lip
In glorious grand defiance,
Shook his fist at God
And said ‘Clear out, old Fellow,
I am going it all alone now,
I don’t need You – don’t want You – scram,
I’ll do it my way now, if you please’.
God stopped, looked around, and leaned way over, squinting
At the tiny figure in the muck,
Stood back up, sighed, thought a bit,
Casually shook stars and galaxies like
Coins in a shoe box,
And said “Okay then,
It’s off to
Hell with
you!”
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Roger Parino:
It is agreed that homosexuality is just one sin among many. If it appears to be a hot button issue it is because no one else is claiming that robbery, drunkenness, incest, idolatry, or suing other Christians are blessings, the way they were formed genetically, and something they will continue to do proudly while asserting the rightness of their behavior, and something they spend considerable time distorting Scripture to support.
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Drill (43): I am reminded of something C S Lewis wrote: There are only two kinds of people, those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’
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#38: You are obviously not very well versed in fiction and entertainment.
Fact 1: Rowling didn’t make Dumbledore’s sexuality canon.
Fact 2: Even if she had, I could ignore it. It’s a fantasy world. It happens all the time. Anyone here watch Star Trek: Voyager? Then you’ve probably joined me, the characters, and the writers in pretending that the episode “Threshold” never happened. Many people pretend that the entire series never happened.
And Enterprise… well, all I have to say is that by a strange numbering fluke, only Season 4 was ever aired. Oh, and Riker and Deanna observing the crew in a holodeck? Trip pointlessly killing himself? Crazy talk.
If you’re more of the Star Wars persuasion, perhaps you’ve at least met people who refuse to believe that Lucas ever produced the prequel trilogy. And if he did, he certainly wouldn’t have messed with canon by having Luke born first. Or Padme dying due to Plot Convenience. Or Kashyyyk having an inhabitable surface.
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