Presbyterian minister admits wrongs in preaching against gay marriage, homosexuality
”I think, is that it’s easy to condemn homosexuality if you are not gay. It is much harder than condemning pride, or lust or greed, things that most practicing Christians have struggled with. It is all too easy to make homosexuality about ‘those people,’ and not me. If I were to judge someone for their inflated sense of pride, or their tendency to worship various cultural idols, I would feel some personal stake, some cringe of self-judgment. Not so with homosexuality.
”Now I am wondering why, if two gay people want to commit their lives to one another, they should ever be denied that chance. No church or pastor should be forced to perform those ceremonies, and they can choose not to recognize gay marriage for their adherents. But the constitution of the Presbyterian Church does not explicitly forbid a pastor from being a thief, a murderer, or an egotistical jerk. It is not designed to do these things. It does prohibit a gay person from becoming a pastor. All I can ask is: Why?”
Concluding thoughts in an opinion piece from Murray Richmond. He says he served as a Presbyterian minister for 17 years. (He is now an aide in the Alaska senate.) Richmond says in this Salon.com column that he was part of the church’s internal schism that fought against the acceptance of homosexuality. But, he reveals, discussions with three people changed his views: a gay Christian, a gay man seeking a demonic exorcism, and a woman who’s husband left her for a man. (Salon.com)
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