As I See It Cover

As I See It

A series of columns written from 2007 – 2011 about being gay and Christian written for the RUM-NC newsletter
by John Suddath

At the recent “All Means All” convocation in eastern Carolina where we were instructed how to make our personal stories more effective in promoting the issue of inclusion within the Methodist Church, one of the participants apologized that her story was one of exclusion because of gender rather than a specific GLBT issue. What she apparently did not understand that the Reconciling Movement is not about promoting acceptance of homosexuality. It is about making the church more inclusive of all minorities or of people who have been discriminated against historically by the church hierarchy.

We are proposing that the North Carolina Conference affirm the resolution passed at the 2008 General Conference that changes the wording of the Methodist Church’s Constitution to eliminate the delineation of categories of people who cannot be excluded from church membership. Although it originally was proposed by people who felt excluded from the church on the basis of their gender, which is not currently listed in the various categories, it has come to be understood to include GLBTQ persons.

Read more: As I See It (2/2/09)

Gay marriage is perhaps the most controversial issue in the public eye today, with the possible exception of the economy. Last fall Proposition 8 (the anti-gay marriage referendum in California) got almost as much play in the national media as the national election. It all started in Massachusetts a few years ago with their court ruling that set off shock waves across the country. We got national legislation with the Defense of Marriage Act, most states passed similar legislation, and many also passed Constitutional Amendments. We’re getting ready for a replay this spring here in North Carolina.

Gay marriage challenges peoples’ core beliefs in a way that exceeds even the controversy about ordination of gay clergy or gays being allowed to join the church. Somehow it is more “sacred” than anything else, even though baptism and communion are the only sacraments of the church. Marriage rituals, funerals, etc. are “rites” of the United Methodist Church and part of the church ordinances (in the case of the Methodists spelled out in the Book of Discipline.)

Read more: As I See It...

We’re finishing our study of the letters of Paul in the Disciples III series and learning about the clashes among Peter, Paul, and James. His travels and letters took a minor Jewish sect in a remote corner of the Roman Empire and spread it throughout the known world of the time. In reading and trying to interpret Paul we’ve learned how important it is to understand the context of the times and the issues he was dealing with. For example, how to bridge the gap between the Gentiles and the Jews. It not only was a question of differences in theology and philosophy but also history and tradition. They represented very different cultures.

Easter was a good time to be studying Paul because of his emphasis upon the central significance of the Resurrection of Jesus. It is the distinguishing characteristic of Christianity from all of the other religions of the world. Although his views of some of the social issues of the time are difficult to understand in the context of modern society, he was a “liberal” for his day. It was a patriarchal society for both Gentile and Jew, and slavery not only was an accepted part of life but also was considered just. It was a very different world than the one we live in so trying to understand the meaning of his letters in the context of our times can be complicated.

Read more: As I See It...

A friend died recently after a long-extended illness. He was a very private person and kept mostly to himself. He was not a believer, which made it difficult to share my faith or to pray. I tried to show Christian kindness simply by being a friend. I knew nothing of his family and didn’t even know of his niece until she showed up at the hospital. He chose to ignore organized religion and to live basically a self-absorbed life and to do what he wanted to, when he wanted to, in the way he wanted to. In the end, he was very much alone except for his niece and me.

He was straight, but so many GLBT people also have abandoned organized religion because of their feelings of discrimination and thus are devoid of faith in times of crisis. The so-called gay lifestyle is more a symptom of desperation that occurs when one lives without any faith or hope and struggles to find love in the most superficial ways.

Read more: As I See It...