Newsweek, the Bible, and Trash Journalism by Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D. Associate Professor of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary – Author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics (Abingdon Press; 500 pgs.) and co-author of Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views (Fortress Press)
[email protected] - www.robgagnon.net January 14, 2015 Newsweek, a once prestigious news magazine end of the article, if not before, the careful that sold for $1 in 2010, has published as its reader will see that Eichenwald’s ultimate cover feature for the New Year (Jan. 2-9; bête noire is any Christian appeal to the Bible online Dec. 23) what can fairly be described as as a basis for rejecting homosexual practice as trash journalism. The article, entitled “So sin. Apparently, by undermining the authority Misrepresented It’s a Sin,” is a hit piece of Scripture Eichenwald hopes to undermine against evangelical/orthodox views of the any appeal to a male-female requirement for Bible that offend the leftwing political sexual relations. sensibilities, particularly as regards Already in the first sentence Eichenwald homosexual relations. Its contents ironically states, “They wave their Bibles at passersby, illustrate the title, not by correcting screaming their condemnations of misrepresentations of Scripture but rather by homosexuals”; then goes on to speak of “the advancing them. illiteracy of self-proclaimed Biblical literalists The author of the article is Kurt lead[ing] parents to banish children from their Eichenwald, who is a contributing editor of homes … engender*ing+ hate and Vanity Fair and a former reporter for the New condemnation.” The last two hysterical York Times.