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Mar. 11th, 2004
lutherans and homosexuality
Mar. 11th, 2004 11:34 amour church, as part of the greater ELCA, is devoting six weeks to prayerful discussion of homosexuality looking for the end result of a congregational opionion - and minority opinion if necessary - on ordaining actively homosexual clergy and "blessing the union" (i think we avoid the term marriage) of homosexual couples. lutherans already accept celibate homosexuals into the clergy and practicing homosexuals (singly and in couples) are welcome as church members.
what astounds me is the calm open-mindedness of many people who i KNOW do not approve of this personally, and their willingness to enter into the discussion looking for both biblical and practical guidance.
it is SO hard to keep my mouth shut in these sessions, but i try, with at least minimal success, because i don't want to turn people away from a positive answer through an overabundance of zeal. after all, what other church on earth makes the decision that they don't KNOW the answer and that instead of reaching a high level decsions will spend a year asking their congregations to wrestle with the issue and advise them?
in a christian context, the issue seems to me to be one of love, and the recognition and support of love relationships. when we see a young hetero couple planning marriage, we ask "do they love each other? is their love strong enough to make it through all the problems that the world will give them?". we don't ask "what exactly did they do in bed last night, or what are they planning to do tonight?" that would be considered both purient and rude. why can't we take that same attitude towards homosexual couples? to me, it's never been so much a matter of how you demonstrate the love, but that the love exists.
what astounds me is the calm open-mindedness of many people who i KNOW do not approve of this personally, and their willingness to enter into the discussion looking for both biblical and practical guidance.
it is SO hard to keep my mouth shut in these sessions, but i try, with at least minimal success, because i don't want to turn people away from a positive answer through an overabundance of zeal. after all, what other church on earth makes the decision that they don't KNOW the answer and that instead of reaching a high level decsions will spend a year asking their congregations to wrestle with the issue and advise them?
in a christian context, the issue seems to me to be one of love, and the recognition and support of love relationships. when we see a young hetero couple planning marriage, we ask "do they love each other? is their love strong enough to make it through all the problems that the world will give them?". we don't ask "what exactly did they do in bed last night, or what are they planning to do tonight?" that would be considered both purient and rude. why can't we take that same attitude towards homosexual couples? to me, it's never been so much a matter of how you demonstrate the love, but that the love exists.