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I promised to pray for friends in the United Methodist Church this week who worked w/ love & care for years to keep their faith family together. But this is so much bigger than them. The culture war was designed to pit traditionalists vs progressives for political gain...
But, whatever your reading of the Bible, it’s unfair to call condemnation of gay marriage “traditional”—except in the sense that fear has a long tradition in all religious communities.
The pro-life/pro-family movement was created by political operatives in the ‘70s who were opposed to the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. They saw sexuality as a cultural wedge issue & scapegoated gay ppl who were just coming out of the closet into public life.
The church had no “tradition” for how to respond to people who were out. This was a new thing & every religious tradition is shaped by new things that happen among humans in any particular context.
But in the context of the culture wars, gay ppl became scapegoats for many of the anxieties white ppl felt about a culture that was growing increasingly diverse.
What saddens me most is that many of the ppl I’ve known who carried that burden in Southern communities found sanctuary in the UMC. There they met a Jesus & a family who welcomed & loved them as they are.
No vote can take that away, but I know many gay & straight Methodists who are hurting today b/c they feel that other members of their extended family have rejected the most powerful experience of God they know—their local congregation & its culture of unconditional love.
