From The Onion
“Sure, I looked at the Book of Leviticus once or twice—everybody has,” Faber said. “We all experiment a little bit with that stuff when we’re growing up. But I was just a kid. I didn’t think it meant anything.” (via Gay Teen Worried He Might Be Christian | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source)
I have never heard a homily that attempted to explain how a gay man should live, or how his sexuality should be expressed. I have heard nothing but a vast and endless and embarrassed silence, an awkward, unexpressed desire for the simple nonexistence of such people, for their absence from the moral and physical universe, for a word or a phrase, like “objective disorder,” that could simply abolish the problem they represented and the diverse humanity they symbolize. The teaching I inherited was a teaching that, in the best of all possible worlds, I simply would not exist. And it was hard to disobey this; since it was not an order, it was merely a wish.
If articulated, I suppose, the order was abstinence. Abstinence forever; abstinence always; abstinence not for the sake of something else, but for its own sake; abstinence not just from sex, but from love and love’s hope and the touch of a lover’s embrace. Abstinence even from recognition, acknowledgment, family.
"— Love Undetectable by Andrew Sullivan (via thegayguyyouneverknewyouknew)
(via chroniclingmontax)
The draft rites are here, and the part that everyone’s curious about (from the traditional “I know pronounce you man and wife”) looks like this:
“Inasmuch as N. and N. have exchanged vows of love and fidelity in the presence of God and the Church, I now pronounce that they are bound to one another in a holy covenant, as long as they both shall live. Amen.”
And the vows:
In the name of God, I, N., give myself to you, N. I will support and care for you: enduring all things, bearing all things. I will hold and cherish you: in times of plenty, in times of want. I will honor and keep you: forsaking all others, as long as we both shall live. This is my solemn vow.
— Joe Perez, Towards a new theology of gay marriage
The only thing unequivocal in the literature was this: the church would not tolerate an openly gay minister. After a preamble about the “frailties of the human condition” and the “pressures of society” that ministers faced, it stated clearly: “practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
Reading the passage sent chills down Paul’s spine. “Incompatible with Christian teaching.” They were words he had never tripped over before. He must have read the material in the past, and it had seemed reasonable enough to him at the time. Now he was taking it all personally—and he was afraid. The church had always been his life. Who would he be if the church rejected him? Who would he be if he was not a minister?
“Frailty.” Wasn’t that a strange way to describe risking everything in the name of love?
"— from the novel Angel by Laura Lee
great video of pastor jay bakker on the joy behar show discussing being gay affirming, religion and politics in general, good stuff!
This is perfect.
To Rev. Grayde Parsons, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Dear Brother in Christ,
I am writing you with the request that you share these thoughts with my brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
It is incumbent upon all of God’s children to speak out against injustice. It is sometimes equally important to speak in solidarity when justice has been done. For that reason I am writing to affirm my belief that in making room in your constitution for gay and lesbian Christians to be ordained as church leaders, you have accomplished an act of justice.
I realize that among your ecumenical partners, some voices are claiming that you have done the wrong thing, and I know that you rightly value your relationship with Christians in other parts of the world. Sadly, it is not always popular to do justice, but it is always right. People will say that the ones you are now willing to ordain are sinners. I have come to believe, through the reality shared with me by my scientist and medical friends, and confirmed to me by many who are gay, that being gay is not a choice. Like skin color or left-handedness, sexual orientation is just another feature of our diversity as a human family. How wonderful that God has made us with so much diversity, yet all in God’s image! Salvation means being called out of our narrow bonds into a broad place of welcome to all.
You are undoubtedly aware that in some countries the church has been complicit in the legal persecution of lesbians and gays. Individuals are being arrested and jailed simply because they are different in one respect from the majority. By making it possible for those in same-gender relationships to be ordained as pastors, preachers, elders, and deacons, you are being a witness to your ecumenical partners that you believe in the wideness of God’s merciful love.
For freedom Christ has set us free. In Christ we are not bound by old, narrow prejudice, but free to embrace the full humanity of our brothers and sisters in all our glorious differences. May God bless you as you live into this reality, and may you know that there are many Christians in the world who continue to stand by your side.
God bless you.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (Cape Town, South Africa)
According to Rev. Dr. Patrick S. Cheng, a gay theologian and member of the MCC theologies team who had been assistant pastor when Ngeo was struggling to come out, queer theology has developed since the 1950s. In his new book, “Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology,” Cheng argues that radical love, “a love so extreme that it dissolves our existing boundaries,” including “gay” vs. “straight,” “male” vs. “female,” lies at the heart of queer theology.
“Given that theology literally means “God talk,” Cheng explained, referring to its Greek etymology, “queer theology can be defined as queer (that is, lesbian gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) people talking about God.”
“It is presumed that we have nothing to say about Christianity and/or the Christian tradition is opposed to our very existence,” he added in an email.
Queer theology has increasingly appeared within the curricula of U.S. divinity schools, including the Chicago Theological Seminary, Episcopal Divinity School where Cheng taught a course this summer, and Harvard Divinity School, which is expected to offer a course next year. Durham University and the University of Birmingham in the UK also offer such courses.
I'm the author of the novel Angel and a dozen other books on topics ranging from Elvis Impersonation to the science behind annoying things. My most recent non-fiction title was "Broke is Beautiful."
The San Francisco Chronicle said, "Lee's dry, humorous tone makes her a charming companion… She has a penchant for wordplay that is irresistible."
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