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The Times, They Are a Changin’

The Times, They Are a Changin’

Last updated on: August 13, 2007 at 7:58 am by Fr. Joseph Huneycutt

The Times, They Are a Changin’ 2007-08-13T07:58:00-05:00 Fr. Joseph Huneycutt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“A time is coming when people will go mad and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, “You are mad, you are not like us.”

— St. Anthony the Great

Recently, in the United States …

Presidential hopefuls in the Democrat Party participated in a forum devoted entirely to “Gay Issues.”

Meanwhile, in the Empire-Formerly-Known-as-Evil …

A spokesman for the Orthodox Church said Wednesday that Russia’s schools should teach religious principles and moral values, and accused some of Russia’s leading scientists of trying to impose the “ideology of science” on the school system.

The Church, he said, should play a leading role in setting moral standards for youth.

“We have to show them an unhappy homosexual in his 40s and an aging prostitute,” he said. “Otherwise, in 30 years our children will turn into animals influenced by the cult of glamour and debauchery.” Source

Elsewhere, in the much afflicted Anglican Communion …

Some have criticized conservative Anglicans for their stance against homosexuality and accused them of being homophobic, but Gomez clarified that they are not against homosexual persons.

And the issue is about “homosexual practice” – a lifestyle about that is incompatible with Scripture, as the Anglican Communion affirms. But beyond the sexuality itself, Gomez pointed to the context and biblical revelation attached to homosexual practice.

“In the church’s long history, the uninterrupted consensus is that physical intercourse is only intended for man and woman within marriage in a life long commitment. Anything else is contrary to God’s will for humanity. The ground for the church taking this stand is the Bible and it is transparently clear about homosexual behavior.”

Moreover, the vast majority of Christians hold the same stance as the conservative Anglicans on homosexuality, Gomez noted. It is “the liberals,” mainly those in The Episcopal Church, who are in the minority. Source

Then, there’s the Lutherans …

The largest Lutheran body in the nation caused a stir Saturday after controversially deciding not to punish homosexual clergy who are in sexual relationships.

At its annual assembly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) passed by a vote of 538-431 a resolution urging bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in “faithful committed same-gender relationships”.

A day earlier, attendees voted down a measure that would have ended a ban on non-celibate gay clergy. Saturday’s vote, however, means those who violate that policy can no longer be tried or punished.

“The Church … has just said ‘Do not do punishments’. That is huge,” commented Phil Soucy, spokesman for Lutherans Concerned, a gay-lesbian rights group within ELCA.

The 4.8-million member church body had previously allowed gays to serve as pastors, but only under the condition that they abstained from any sexual relations.
Source

Then, there’s this …

The index fingers of most straight men are shorter than their ring fingers, and for most women they are the same length or longer. Gay men and lesbians tend to have reversed ratios.

If sexual orientation is biological, and we are learning to identify how it happens inside the uterus, doesn’t it suggest a future in which gay people can be prevented? This spring, R. Albert Mohler Jr., the president of a Southern Baptist theological seminary in Kentucky and one of the country’s leading Evangelical voices, advocated just that. “We want to understand why some persons will struggle with that particular sin,” he explained. “If there is a way we can help with the struggle, we should certainly be open to it, the same way we would help alcoholics deal with their temptation.”

That in part is why gay people have not hungered for this breakthrough.

More

(Face it, no matter your understanding, you held up your hand and took a look just to make sure. Didn’t ya?)

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