Gay Man Discovers Homophobia in the Bible, Files Lawsuit
A gay man from Michigan is suing two bible publishers, claiming that they sell and distribute a translation of the Bible which has caused him emotional distress and violates his constitutional rights. Bradley LaShawn Fowler is seeking Zondervan for $60 million and $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing because their Bibles explicitly call homosexuality a sin in 1 Corinthians 6:9. In a standard King James translation, the passage reads, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind." Fowler is alleging that the publishers "manipulated" the translation by changing "abusers of themselves with mankind" to "homosexuals."
Of course, that's not an unusual reading of that particular passage. Many other modern translations say the same thing. For example:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders...
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals....
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites...
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality...
And so on. It looks like if Fowler is serious about his cause, he has a lot of suing ahead of him. Maybe the truth is that although liberal Christians wish otherwise, homophobia is a congenital part of the Bible that can't be neatly excised.
Fowler says that by calling homosexuality a sin, the Bibles published by Zondervan and Thomas Nelson have caused periods of "demoralization, chaos and bewilderment," and made him ostracized from his family. He sees the issue as being not one of legitimate translation, but of the publishers deliberately imposing an anti-gay agenda by changing the text of the Bible. He claims that Zondervan Bibles published in 1982 and 1987 used the word "homosexuals" in the text, while those before and after those editions don't. However, a Grand Rapids television station checked several editions of Bibles published by Zondervan, and says that all versions since the 1980s have said "homosexuals." For their part, Zondervan claims the case is ridiculous (and for once, we have to agree with the Christians on this); according to a spokesperson, they neither translate the Bible, nor do they own the copyrights to the translations that they publish.
Email
Print
Comment
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Comments
I don't know that it's so ridiculous
I'm not sure how much emotional distress it could really cause, but I don't believe that a deliberate mistranslation of a passage with a direct agenda of condemning people who were only born as God intended should be let to slip by. I wonder what the Hebrew or Latin texts of the bible actually say. Has anyone gone that deep into it?
Beyond that, of course publishers own the copyright for the translations they publish: They couldn't publish it otherwise. That would be copyright violation. Even on public domain items, publishers are still responsible for the editing, the layout, the cover design and the pagination, all of which is intellectual property. Mislabel a verse or misspell a name and you'd have a bonfire and a bankrupt publisher. Incite hatred towards gays, and apparently even the most liberal among us think it's ridiculous to pursue a suit because, "Hey, of course they hate us."
Interesting.
Where you see a deliberate mistranslation...
... I cannot help but see systematic homophobia. I mean, we are talking about Paul's writing here, and the guy isn't exactly known for his liberal views on anything heaving to do with sex or women, let alone homosexuality. So, if anything, I'm kinda happy that instead of hiding his views behind pretty words, they're out in plain language for everyone to see.
Publishers do not hold
Publishers do not hold copyright on any works they publish, as a rule. They merely have publication contracts with book authors (the translators, in this case); the authors keep the copyright on their works, and the contract allows the publisher to publish on the condition that the authors receive advances, royalties, etc. The laid-out version would be treated as a derivative work, I suspect, meaning that copyright on that version is held jointly.
I suspect that "homosexuality" is a perfectly valid translation in that context; it's the source material, and the religious groups which insist on treating it literally, that are at fault here.
I'm sure printing errors have occurred in many editions of the Bible without causing publishers to go bankrupt! That's just silly.
LOL, yes, I too am capable of hyperbole
I suppose it is dangerous in any serious argument to make a snide remark with no basis for the purpose of metaphor, so, no, I'm not personally aware of people dancing around fires fueled by misprint bibles while rejoicing at the news of newly penniless publishers committing suicide.
Still, I do stand behind the fact that the permissions necessary to publish any work is a form of copyright ownership, which protects the publisher should anyone try to plagiarize their work, but also bindsthem legally to the document should a case of libel or defamation arise, as it has here. Basically, I guess I'm just trying to say that it's not as frivolous a suit as even carnal nation is making it out to be, and also I'm surprised this site is not more supportive of the cause. All opinions welcome, I guess.
reply to homophobia case in the Bible
I own one of the original english translations and it has always said that no practicing homosexual shall be allowed to enter the Kingdom of God. Every buried translation that has been unearthed by archiologists has matched current translations showing that there has been no mistranslations of the Bible from the beginning of the writings. It also shows that the words have been translated the same through out the generations from the beginning of time. Especially when they date these translations to be as old as the Earth. False bible translations are an urban legends nursed by the godless and the discovery channel that spreads confusion rather than facts. This man is not fighting against publishers and Bible translators but he is fighting against God and desparately trying to justify his sinful behavior. All are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. However the saved realize that they are sinners and seek the help and salvation of God. Where as the unsaved do not because they have too much pride to ever recognize that they need help to over come their sinful behaviors from God so they usually die in their sins. No God does not create sinners we are the ones that commit the sins: greed, lust, pride, vanity, lies, murder, adultery, divorce, fornication, pedifiles, and yes including even homosexuality, etc, etc. We also distort his original purpose for our lives. However he can recreate us when we turn to Him and admit that we have fallen into sin on our own. God allows sinfulness to persist so that he can show how awesomely he can recreate a person after they humble themselves and come to him for help. God Bless and I hope that you all find the Way.