Wondrous Ways

Indianapolis Star

Signs spark biblical debate about homosexuality

Church's billboards that contend Bible approves of gays attract vandals and a countercampaign

By Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
April 27, 2007

The billboard claims "Jesus affirmed a gay couple."
A vandal's own statement -- the words "Lie, lie, lie" spray-painted in red -- delivered an opposing view above them.
In some ways, the argument in giant letters above an Eastside street reflects society's ongoing argument over homosexuality -- on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to gay clergy.
The discussion just got more intense in Indianapolis where 22 billboards and 1,000 yard signs went up recently as part of a campaign based on the premise that the Bible approves of gays and lesbians.

THE curious thing--for me, anyway--is that here vandalizing a billboard engenders, in the Star, a debate over "the issues" (including a sidebar exegesis on the relevant Biblical texts, but none on, say, whether defacing someone else's billboard constitutes covetousness, or theft) whereas when two of my wife's former students were caught a couple years ago with paint and a "Bush=Hitler" stencil, having defaced a Bush/Cheney billboard, the only debate that sparked in the pages of the Star was whether they'd get jail time or community service.