At a general meeting in Fort Worth, Texas on April 30th the Methodist church voted on whether or not to maintain their current views on supporting homosexual practices. In the end they voted to maintain that the activity is “incompatible with Christian teaching”.
The vote was to change the mandate to “refrain from judgment regarding homosexual person and practices as the Spirit leads us to new insight”. The supporters lost 517 votes to 416. I guess it gives me a little hope that 44.5% of the people voted to change it. …That’s something.
As I’ve said many times… the church is going to have to change to stay alive - and one of those changes is going to have to be to adhere to things that are becoming the social norm. I guess I say this from a Canadian perspective - where being gay truly is normal. Where as in Texas, it hasn’t really gotten to that point yet. For shame!
The ban “reflects the sentiment of most (church) members and the majority of citizens in the U.S. and many other countries,” said the committee that handled the resolution. “Sanctioning homosexual unions would give the church’s approval to homosexual behavior and relationships, which would be inconsistent” with church teaching.
Who cares about inconsistency? Why not be a leader in recognizing that you don’t live in the 30’s anymore and truing accepting and loving people despite what they do outside of the church? I think this, being more loving and caring, is more consistent with Christian values than banning someone’s homosexuality.
But what’s really scary?
And, after an emotional debate, a slim majority of Methodists agreed to strengthen the church’s advocacy against sexism by “opposing all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice, or sexual orientation.”
Two clergy delegates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo forcefully spoke out against the anti-homophobia resolution.
Speaking in French with the aid of a translator, one pastor said that it’s “very sad that the Methodist Church continues to advocate for things that come from the devil. … It is time for us as church to get on our knees and proclaim that we have made a mistake.”
Does that mean bisexuals are like… half devil baked?
