How Many Christians Attend Gay Weddings


As gay marriage has found its way further into the U.S., the question of how to respond to these weddings is being raised more often.

The Pope made what is almost a breath-taking ruling that gays about to be married could receive some kind of blessing. Like many things the Pope does, he left some of the details about precisely what a Preist can do. 

The denomination I grew up in, now called the Evangelical Covenant Church, has had internal disagreement about approval of gay marriage. Pastors and individual churches who host and officiate them regularly have been removed from the denomination. But, licensed pastors can "attend" a gay wedding. This seems to open the door to considerable involvement of a pastor. I think gay marriage is a freight train going downhill with no brakes.

Yet, on religious sites are still pundits demanding gay marriage be stopped. A recent post puts shame on any Christian that attends a gay wedding. By attending, some commenters say, one is approving of the most vile of sins. 

It is hard to understand how a "Bible believing" individual, preacher, church or denomination can claim Christianity actually condemns gay marriage. Jesus was never quoted as saying anything about gay people or gay marriage. The Bible has eight bits of scripture some believers refer to in labeling gay marriage a sin. None of them are known absolutely to refer to homosexuality and certainly not to gay marriage. This leaves only one explanation for condemnation, prejudice. Those who wrote the Bible did not care one way or another about homosexuality. Those conservatives who preach about the Bible care a lot about it.

I've been following discussion of one Bible story, the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah. Until two or three decades ago, the study guides in Protestant denominations treated the story as a lesson in hospitality. The cities should have welcomed, not turned against, the angels who came to same them. The only reference to Sodom and Gomorrah attributed to Jesus spoke of the inhospitable treatment.

Then, it became popular and profitable to use the story as a lesson condemning homosexuality. The pattern fits perfectly the past management strategy of Christianity. Now it would be better for the faith to be tolerant and welcoming of gay weddings. Its future depends on becoming a tolerant faith.    

   

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