This approach to religion generates most of the religious opposition to civil and human rights for homosexuals. Biblical literalism is the basis for the rejection of homosexuals as an abomination to God and therefore unacceptable to God and to God's churches and people. It is the basis for rejecting same-sex marriage and the ordination of homosexual clergy. It is the reason for denying Gay and Lesbian couples the right to adopt children. It is the primary obstacle to opening the mind of America to the facts about sexual orientation and the truth about what the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality.
Legalism is a mental disorder that masquerades as religion.
Suspicion and fear are the chief characteristics of paranoid delusions and legalism. The severely suspicious person creates a rigid legalistic system that organizes and dominates all of life. Any question or attack on any part of the system is viewed as a threat to the person. This personal legalistic system is defended at all cost. When I was a chaplain intern at Central State Hospital, Kentucky, during my doctoral program, I met a patient who was severely paranoid schizophrenic.