Remember back in May, when NOM’s Brian Brown challenged Dan Savage to a verbal duel after Dan made accurate comments about the Bible that Brown didn’t like?
Well, that debate finally happened. Zack Ford at ThinkProgress reports:
Savage and his family hosted Brown for dinner in their home, and afterward, Mark Oppenheimer of the New York Times hosted a dinner-table debate over the issue of same-sex marriage. Savage offered an articulate explanation of the many conflicts presented in the Bible, pointing out how it fails to align with the 21st Century Zeitgeist of morality and so serves no authority on the question of same-sex marriage. Brown, immediately citing the shooting at the Family Research Council (which happened the same day the debate was recorded), focused entirely on assuming the status of victim, claiming that the primary consequence of marriage equality is that individuals like him will be labeled as “bigots.”
Watch the full, hour-long debate below. I was so eager to share this video with all of you that I posted it before viewing it myself, so we’ll all be watching it together. (Who’s bringing the popcorn?)
Ford also notes:
For Brown’s point to be valid, there would have to be an actual campaign against the rights of Christians, which of course there isn’t, though there is very much a fight against the rights of gays and lesbians. What is most compelling about the debate is that Brown never mentions the existence of same-sex couples or their children, despite having just dined with such a family and continuing to sit in their household. Instead, he resorts to self-victimization and blatant refutations without any supporting evidence, simply saying “Dan, You’re wrong” time and time again. The few examples Brown cited to defend his arguments, such as the flawed Mark Regnerus study or the Ocean Grove Pavilion in New Jersey, were skillfully debunked by Savage.
Other than provide another platform for the pro- and anti-freedom-to-marry sides to air their respective views, it doesn’t appear as though this debate accomplished much. Dan’s husband Terry apparently felt similarly, telling Mark Oppenheimer of the New York Times:
Brian’s heartless readings of the Bible, then his turns to ‘natural law’ when the Bible fails, don’t hide his bigotry and cruelty. In the end, that’s what he is. Cruel.”
The Savage vs. Brown debate does seem to have accomplished at least one thing, though: getting the pro-equality Oppenheimer drunk. He writes, “Every time they disagreed, I drank some more.”
Okay, I’m going to watch the debate now. Maybe instead of making popcorn, I should pour myself a cocktail…
