In this post I want to address one of the big arguments I hear about why homosexual marriage is against God’s will: “God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman.” I want to play a little game I like called “what does the Bible actually say?” Let us take a look at many examples of God-sanctioned marriages in the Bible that are not “one man, one woman.”

Genesis chapter 16 verses 1 through 4 state:

Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

God, in verses 7 through 15, shows no indication that there is anything improper about what Abram has done by marrying more than one woman. God even appears to Abram 13 years later (at which time he renames “Abram” to “Abraham” and “Sarai” to “Sarah”) and causes Sarah to become pregnant (Genesis 17:15-22). Nowhere does God indicate that Abraham did anything wrong by marrying two wives and impregnating the second wife.

In Exodus 21 verses 7 through 10 the Bible specifically talks about a man marrying more than one wife and gives some requirements for doing so. If a man marries multiple wives, he must still provide all of his wives with “food, clothing, and marital rights (for the sheltered, that means ‘the sexy time’).”

Exodus 21:7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.

I now turn my attention to King David. David was a man described as “being after God’s own heart.” 2 Samuel 5 verses 13 through 16 describe partially the many wives and concubines of David.

2 Samuel 5:13 After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

In 1 Chronicles Chapter 3 verses 1 through 9 there is a list of some of David’s children and the wives they are from. Note that these are not wives married after the previous had died. These are wives David, anointed by God, had at one time!

1 Chronicles 3:1 These were the sons of David born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second, Daniel the son of Abigail of Carmel; 2 the third, Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; 3 the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah. 4 These six were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years, 5 and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel. 6 There were also Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, 7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet—nine in all. 9 All these were the sons of David, besides his sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.

One last reference to King David and his multiple wives is 1 Chronicles 14 verses 3 through 7.

1 Chronicles 14:3 In Jerusalem David took more wives and became the father of more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.

To be honest, I had never really heard of Rehoboam before creating this article. He was, according to the Bible, the husband of David’s son’s daughter “Mahalath.” 2 Chronicles Chapter 11 verses 18 through 21 talk about him and his multiple wives and concubines.

2 Chronicles 11:18 Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. 19 She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. 20 Then he married Maakah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maakah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

My last example of polygamy in the Bible is of King Solomon. In 1 Kings Chapter 11 verses verses 1 through 3 talks about King Solomon’s 700 wives and 300 concubines. Granted, it does also talk about how these women led him astray from God. NOTE though that this being led astray from God is contributed to his wives being foreign. Nothing is ever mentioned that God cares that he married many women, only that he was lead astray by the foreigners.

1 Kings 11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, the Bible does mention 1 time about marrying only one wife. This only applied to deacons in the New Testament (1 Timothy 3). Seriously though, unless you are wishing to become a deacon in a Christian church, there is nothing in the Bible saying that marriage “is between ONE man and ONE woman” for you!

To conclude, there are plenty of other arguments I am sure those against homosexual marriage can fabricate as to why it shouldn’t happen (not that I believe I will find any of them legitimate) but stating that “God intended marriage to be between ONE man and ONE woman” shows ignorance about the very book on which you are trying to base your argument!

1) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
3) Young Adults
4) ???

If I give a blog post the category “tweet” it won’t show up as part of my blog but will instead post part of the message to Twitter with a link to the rest on my blog here!

Social Interactions / Management Skills:

How To Win Friends and Influence People

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

The One Minute Manager

The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey

Science:

The Pluto Files

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

The Selfish Gene

The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution

Psychology of Belief:

How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God

50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith

Skepticism:

Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions

Pirates, Pyramids, and Papyrus

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson

Atheism:

God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Hitch-22: A Memoir

Here is iteration 2 of my walking workstation. I had to add the second monitor because bending over to look at the laptop screen while I walked 2 hours killed my back! Also raising the laptop up made the keyboard uncomfortable.

On another note, the Quick Photo feature of WordPress for iPhone finally works. Yay!

There was a lot of Cosplay that I didn’t get pictures or video of. The one that makes me saddest of is the exceptional Captain Jack Sparrow costume and role-playing that some asian gentlemen did. He played it up with the walk, the demeanor, the attitude, the voice, everything! Having said that, here is the Cosplay I got pictures of.

First, here is Princess Peach and a couple of her friends.

I saw Princess Peach at another point during PAX and decided I needed to get a picture of me with her. At this point I was asking for pictures with a number of the cosplay people, or at least the cute ones.

Speaking of the Mario Brothers’ world, I found Mario and Luigi enjoying some pizza for lunch on the last day of PAX. I figured it was fitting so I had to get a picture.

While walking around the exhibit area I found these three Robins.

Sadly, what convention would be complete without at least one appearance by everyone’s favorite bear! I saw a few other Pedobears, but this was the only one I had my camera out so I could get a picture.

Here is yet another reason I need to look into getting a TARDIS. Granted, I can’t help but look at a TARDIS dress and think it’s advertising “You’d be surprised just how much is packed into this seemingly small dress.” As much as I try, that thought just will not leave my mind. I think I’ll take my chances though. I wish I had found her again so I couldn’t have gotten a picture with her. Oh well.

I have to be honest, I have no idea what show the people in this next picture are from. I just thought they had nice costumes so I asked them for a picture.

This is probably my second favorite cosplay picture from PAX. Although I never saw Felicia Day at PAX, here is a lady who did a really nice job of dressing like Codex from “The Guild.” I couldn’t NOT get a picture with her.

My favorite picture is definitely of me with the two hot nuns! They were at a booth for the upcoming Frima Studios game “Nun Attack.” Unfortunately, I was only able to get a picture when there were two girls at the booth. I had seen 3 working at various times. Somehow I will learn to live with only getting this picture!

Last, but not least, we have two good looking ladies dressed as Sub-Zero and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. They were posing in various fighting positions so people could get pictures. My picture didn’t turn out to good, but the short video I took turned out nicely.

A friend sent me this song last night. I have listened to it at least 40 times so far! I could not find a good place online that had the lyrics correct, so here they are as best as I could hear in the song.

Brothers and sisters, have you heard the news?
The storm has lifted and there’s nothing to lose.
So swap your confirmation for your dancing shoes,
Because there never was no God.
Step out of the darkness and onto the streets.
Forget about the fast, let’s have a carnival feast.
Raise up your lowered head and hear the liberation beat,
Because there never was no God.

There is no God,
So clap your hands together.
There is no God.
No heaven and no hell.
There is no God,
We’re all in this together,
There is no God,
So ring that victory bell.

No cowering in the dark before some overbearing priest,
Not waiting until we die until we restitute the meek,
No blaming all our failings on imaginary beasts,
Because there never was no God.
No fighting over land your distant fathers told you of,
Not spilling blood for those who have never spread a drop of blood,
No finger pointing justified by phantoms up above,
Because there never was no God.

There is no God,
So clap your hands together,
There is no God,
No heaven and no hell.
There is no God,
We’re all in this together,
There is no God,
So ring that victory bell.

And I know you’re scared of dieing man and I am too,
But just pretending it’s not happening isn’t gonna see us through.
If we just accept that there’s an end game and we haven’t got much time,
Then in the here and now we can try and do things right.
We’d be our own salvation army and together we’d believe
In all the wondrous things that mere mortals can achieve,
Well I’ve known beauty in the stillness of cathedrals in the day,
I sang “Glory Hallelujah! Won’t you wash my sins away?”
But now I’m singing my refrain and this is what I say,
I say there never was no God.

There is no God,
So clap your hands together,
There is no God,
No heaven and no hell.
There is no God,
We’re all in this together,
There is no God,
So ring that victory bell.

Here are a few pictures of the my room with two queen beds.

The TV and desk provided such a nice setup that, even though I was only there for the evening, I decided to set up all of my computers to see how it looked. I want to get a setup at home that is somewhat similiar to this, although I have two additional computers there (an iMac and a Windows 7 desktop).

Finally, here are a few pictures of the lobby, restaurant, bar area. It is much more open and lit than previous. I really liked that there were a number of lounge areas, each with their own TV. The lobby also provided a number of large spaces/tables for meetings, socializing, or working. The previous lobby area was relatively dark and closed off and the previous restaurant was not appealing to one who wanted a light meal before heading to bed early for the next day’s flight. Note that the following photographs were taken at 4:30am as I was leaving for the airport.

Overall, I found the Courtyard Marriott LAX much more inviting than previous. The rooms have always been comfortable, but now the lobby/bar area is so much more appealing.

I’ve had a chance to play with it a little and so far I am really impressed with it. Here are some pictures and a short video I took to test it out.

I wasn’t originally making this video to post online, but someone asked me to so here it is. Some of the sudden movements are so that I can see how well the camera handles objects moving quickly in the frame. I am really pleased with the video!

Let’s add some shots I took outside at night it almost total darkness (with only the camera’s flash for scene illumination).