Be As You Are.* Dance With Cowboys. And Fuck 'Em.
Honestly, what do you expect from a genteel type like me after a front-page article like this? I'm literally shaking over my Cheerios.
Yes, I was raised Catholic, so this is no surprise. But it's no less depressing. I've got to say, I completely agree with Elton John's comments last week: "Organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings . . ."
3 Christian Groups Move To Condemn Gay Sex
BALTIMORE, Nov. 14 -- Faced with rising public acceptance of same-sex relationships, three U.S. Christian denominations** are taking strong measures this week to condemn homosexual acts as sinful.
The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, meeting in Baltimore, declared Tuesday that Catholics who minister to gays must firmly adhere to the church's teaching that same-sex attractions are "disordered." Catholics with "a homosexual inclination" should be encouraged to live in chastity and discouraged from making "general public announcements" about their sexual orientation, the bishops said. . . .
The impulse to restate traditional teachings against same-sex activity is complicated by the simultaneous desire to minister to gays. Thus, Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on doctrine, stressed that the tone of the bishops' statement was intended to be "positive, pastoral and welcoming," even as it compared same-sex attractions to the temptations of "envy, malice or greed." . . .
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* To Simon's parents: Where are those bracelets?
** The other two groups are the (North Carolina) Baptist State Convention and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Yes, I was raised Catholic, so this is no surprise. But it's no less depressing. I've got to say, I completely agree with Elton John's comments last week: "Organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings . . ."
3 Christian Groups Move To Condemn Gay Sex
BALTIMORE, Nov. 14 -- Faced with rising public acceptance of same-sex relationships, three U.S. Christian denominations** are taking strong measures this week to condemn homosexual acts as sinful.
The nation's Roman Catholic bishops, meeting in Baltimore, declared Tuesday that Catholics who minister to gays must firmly adhere to the church's teaching that same-sex attractions are "disordered." Catholics with "a homosexual inclination" should be encouraged to live in chastity and discouraged from making "general public announcements" about their sexual orientation, the bishops said. . . .
The impulse to restate traditional teachings against same-sex activity is complicated by the simultaneous desire to minister to gays. Thus, Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on doctrine, stressed that the tone of the bishops' statement was intended to be "positive, pastoral and welcoming," even as it compared same-sex attractions to the temptations of "envy, malice or greed." . . .
_________
* To Simon's parents: Where are those bracelets?
** The other two groups are the (North Carolina) Baptist State Convention and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
posted by Billy at 8:45 AM
3 Comments:
I finished reading that article a few minutes ago. The one point of light was the quote from the NC Baptist guy:
"It seems so contrary, at least to me, to the picture and posture of Jesus in the gospels," Nathan Parrish, from a church in Winston-Salem, N.C., told the assembly. "Jesus's life and ministry were marked by radical hospitality, openness, vulnerability, humility. By contrast, the Baptist State Convention is recommending that we . . . magnify the message that certain types of people, as well as their friends and perhaps their fellow believers and family members, are neither welcome nor worthy of a place at the table of this community."
At least some people have some sense ... and even in an article filled with hate, it gives me hope.
It is genuinely shocking to see such ignorant and hateful comments. What gives me hope is the data showing that this above all issues has a sharp generational divide. The younger the group surveyed, the more commitment to accepting people for who they are and to enforceable equal rights without regard to sexuality. People in their 30's see it as an issue of acceptance; the overwhelming majority of people under 30 see it as a "duh" issue that is so integral to their view of reality that it is impossible to imagine any other way of looking at it. I am horrifed by the bigotry and fear these religious leaders are promoting but am certain it will fail the ultimate market test and drive away those who cannot bear to be a part of such a policy. And I take a small bit of comfort in knowing they are on the wrong side of history and that in less than one generation they will be pitied when they are remembered at all.
required reading:
The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love (Hardcover)
by John Shelby Spong
These biblical texts, according to Spong, are not the incontrovertible Word of God, but flawed human responses to perceived threats.An incendiary example of this is Spong's assertion that Paul was a closeted gay man whose anti-gay statements were motivated by little more than his own self-loathing.
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