Step 2: Determine if the text accurately reflects the will and actions of God, or whether it is simply a measure of the author(s)' beliefs which may be contrary to the will of God. Among many dozens of examples of the latter, most religious liberals reject the belief that God actually:

• Sent a flood at the time of Noah that wiped out almost the whole human race in the most nearly complete genocide in history.
• Ordered the genocides of entire tribes of people, from the elderly to the newborn.
• Established laws requiring non-virgin brides, homosexuals, and persons who practiced minority religions to be stoned to death, etc.

The first creation story in Genesis 1.1 to 2.3 is obviously a religious myth. That is, it is a story of profound spiritual meaning, but is not a description of real events. It is not an actual record of God's activities. God did not create the world, moon, sun and stars circa 4004 BCE. The universe came into existence about 14 billion years ago in a "big bang." The sun was formed billions of years later, and the earth coalesced about 4.5 billion years ago. God did not create humans out of mud. Rather, we evolved over hundreds of thousands of years from an ancient mammalian ancestor that we share with the apes and lemurs.

We can conclude again that the first creation story in Genesis is myth and does not necessarily represent real events.

Step 3:Determine if the injunctions are still valid today: We must determine whether the text is still applicable to North American Christians and Jews in the 21st century. It may have been only intended for the guidance of ancient Hebrews; it may be valid for Hebrews at all eras; it may be valid for Christians and Jews of all ages and locations; it may be binding on everyone, everywhere.

Requiring everyone to marry a spouse of the opposite sex and produce children may have been a reasonable expectation for ancient Hebrews. They were a small country continually being attacked by neighboring tribes. A high birth rate was sorely needed to recruit sufficient soldiers into their army. But in today's world, this situation is reversed. The human race is threatened by overpopulation. We need to reduce the world's population, either by lowering the birth rate among committed couples, or by persuading more people to remain single. If there were a way to increase the number of homosexuals in society, this would be a third method of lowering the birth rate. However, there appears to be no way to alter the percentage of gays and lesbians. The injunction for all women and man to enter into opposite-sex marriages and produce children is therefore contraindicated today. If Genesis 1:28 were followed, the earth's population would spiral out of control; pollution levels would rise; and the quality of life of the earth's inhabitants would drop precipitously. An additional consideration is that Paul contradicts the Genesis passage. In 1 Corinthians 7:7-9, he recommends against single and widowed persons marrying.

Although there are eight types of marriages and families described in the Bible, the Bible is silent on same-sex marriage. Whether same-sex marriages should be legalized should be decided on human rights grounds, after considering the benefits and disadvantages to society as a whole.

The points of similarity are so many and so precise that the only reasonable explanation is that "P" copied the earlier Babylonian story, making certain substitutions -- e.g. changing polytheistic references to the "Gods" into mention of the single deity, Yahweh.

The author of the Babylonian myth clearly lived in a pre-scientific era. So did the Hebrew copyist "P." However, human sexuality was not seriously studied until the late 19th century CE. The term "homosexual" was first used by a Karoly M. Kertbeny in private correspondence in 1868. It is only in the past half century that human sexuality researchers and mental health therapists have determined that homosexuality is an unchosen, unchangeable sexual orientation that is normal and natural for a minority of adults. It doesn't make a lot of sense for 21st century humans to blindly follow an ancient creation myth created over 3100 years ago and give it the status of divine revelation.

Equal rights for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals -- including the right to marry -- are a human rights issue. In the U.S., with its tradition of separation of church and state, we cannot allow a three millennial old Pagan myth to dictate public policy.