The UCC ad is an attack ad on Catholics and other Christians who support the Gospel understanding of marriage as between a woman and a man. CBS is right to reject the ad as hate speech against traditional, orthodox Christians.

:-) That's funny.

See, I have this minor understanding problem here...

You claim that the Bible supports the notion that marriage is between a man and a woman, which is analagous to the more-specifically worded "marriage is between one man and one woman".

This is demonstrably false and is in fact counter to the Bible, which openly condoned polygamy. In fact, what "traditional, orthodox Christians" condemn in the Muslim (and Mormon, and ...) world today was the cultural norm in the time of Rachel and Leah, the two wives of Jacob.

The simple fact of the matter is, if you believe every word of the Bible is literally true, the following issues arise:

1) Polygamy is perfectly fine.
2) Eating shellfish, pork, and a number of other animals is not.
3) Humanity was created both before and after the animals.
4) Slavery is socially acceptable.
5) Israel was conquered by Joshua's overpowering army. It was then reconquered, while under Israeli control, by the Judges.
6) The value of pi is 3.
7) Females were leaders in the early church (most of Paul's letters) but were unworthy of church leadership (Timothy and later revisions of the Corinthian letters).
8) Jesus never once condemned homosexuality, despite it being common practice in Hellenist territories.
9) The Trinity is not mentioned, and all of Jesus' statements suggest that he is separate from God the Father.
10) Holy Week occurred two different ways simultaneously (John vs. the other three Gospels).
11) The world should have ended in roughly 70 C.E. (and, to the Jews in Palestine, it very nearly did; the Romans crushed a Zealot rebellion in those years and destroyed the temple).

And a host of other historical inaccuracies, contradictions to now-accepted science and mathematics, and moral arguments grounded in regional political squabbles.

That being said, I am and remain a Lutheran. I do not deem the Bible to be literally true, but I take it as divinely inspired but written by flawed humans. Remember that the Crusades and the Inquisition were products of "traditional, orthodox Christians" as well.

You'll notice I said "the GOSPEL understanding of marriage".

Polygamy was endorsed early on in the Old Testament but nowhere in the later Old Testament, nor in the New Testament, of which the Gospels are a part.

Obviously the peoples understanding of moral law developed slowly. The moral vision was brought more into focus with the gift of the 10 Commandments to Moses, but it was only with Jesus Christ that the fullness of the truth was revealed.

Would it be safe to say, then, that you believe we shouldn't base our actions/beliefs on Old Testament misunderstandings, and that only the New Testament text should be followed for guidance?

My personal opinions don't matter much, but I think it's fair to say that for most Christian churches, the New Testament in general and the Gospels in particular are the central basis of doctrine.

I've always wondered: Why do the Ten Commandments, which are the word of God, say specifically that "Thou shalt not commit adultery", but they make no reference to homosexuality? Why, if the Ten Commandments specify that "Thou shalt not kill", do many Christians assume that that admonishment applies only to babies and not to innocents in wartime, or criminals on death row? One would think God could have made himself clearer, or that Christians could be more consistent in their Biblical interpretations.

Additionally -- wasn't Jesus asked what the most important thing was, the Golden Rule, which was "Love thy God with all thy heart, and the second like, love thy neighbor as thyself?"

He didn't say "don't be gay" ... so why don't Christians focus on the first one and nitpick when they've got the big things down?