[Magdalen] Bp. Wright OKs same sex weddings

[Sally Davies]

Well, here's the amazing thing. The understanding of marriage, even in the
conservative and cautious RC church, has changed tremendously in recent
decades.

A concept of personal commitment and interpersonal relationship has
gradually replaced the centuries old assumption that marriage was about the
families and the family name. It's now fully accepted that whilst
marrriages can produce and sustain children, that is not the primary
purpose - after all, many heterosexual marriages are incapable of producing
children and at times the partners know this before they marry.

Outside of the context of patriarchy and possession, sexuality is - at its
best - an expression of "the marriage of true minds", a necessary one for
the majority of people who are sexually wired. A significant minority is
not and for them celibacy is fine though they may still value constant
companionship or need marriage for other reasons such as financial security
and emotional support.

So there we have it. Scripture (in legal mode, not in poetry or
story mode) simplifies everything to do with sex, for the simple reason
that it comes from a culture and era that was utterly patriarchal, where
women were chattels and had no say in their own marriages.

 And with a total of six (or perhaps seven) verses to rely on about
homosexuality in the entire Bible, some addressed to ancient forms of
temple prostitution and others to the sexually exploitative Roman
culture, what kind of moral foundation is that for promoting the
inequality of thousands upon thousands of fellow humans today?

I see a different narrative at work: The Day of Pentecost started an engine
of change, fuelled and directed by the Holy Spirit, which made an immediate
difference to social attitudes; and has continued to do so, though
frequently opposed by the "rulers of this world" who seek oppression and
confinement (the "spirit of slavery"). It is not the Spirit of God but the
"world" which seeks to render entire categories of people as "not like us",
in order to cut them off from the empathy that is hard wired into our
brains. Empathy, natural though it is, only works for good if we are able
to recognise a common bond of humanity and are willling to do justice with
humility.

Is there a "scientific" explanation for homosexuality? Not yet - but as we
unravel the human genome, who knows what we may find. My own pet theory is
that both male and female homosexuality is a normal minority phenotype that
evolved because it was advantageous to the survival of early humans, living
in small, vulnerable groups. It's pobably not directly genetic but is a
potential available in our genes and fairly readily expressed at around 5%
of the population. And if that's not in the Bible, well, neither are the
dinosaurs or the Ice Age. Besides which, our nearest non-human relatives
also have complicated sexualities as do many other animals so notions of
naturalism have nothing to offer by way of argument.

On the topic of spirit and spirituality, it may come as a surprise to
some, that there are churches in many places (including here in South
Africa)  that are full on Evangelical, Charismatic or Pentecostal, on-fire,
tongue talking, God praising, faith-storming spirit filled and miracle
expecting - that are also actively gay-welcoming with gay and/or lesbian
leadership. Googling "Gay Pentecostals" or "Gay Charismatics" turns up some
interesting sites. Although most Evangelicals and Pentecostals remain
opposed to gay partnerships (and often to homosexuality per se), that does
seem to be changing, TBTG.

In New Testament times, radical change in attitude followed when Jewish
leaders such as Peter and Paul saw the Holy Spirit poured out on
communities that they had considered outsiders or aliens. You realise that
whilst you may think you're defending God's Kingdom, your attitude is in
fact just getting in its way...

I also learned that from the perspective of many gay Christians, they'd
rather deal with an out-an-out homophobe than a hypocrite who says "love
the sinner and hate the sin" - because in this case, the so called "sin" is
part of who the person is and not just something they do. It's who they
fall in deep, self-sacrificing love with, not just who they fancy.

A good article from the British Independent about gay-affirming
Evangelicals:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/happy-clappy-and-out-of-the-closet-evangelicals-who-say-being-gay-is-ok-8437527.html

I conclude: This is the Household of God and we don't have God's
permission to turn away those whom God has called home.


Sally D

On Saturday, June 27, 2015, Zephonites--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

> David
>
> If sexual intercourse is per Scripture for marriage and marriage  is for
> pro-creation, then I am afraid it certainly is relevant.
>
> Are you saying that when you perform a gay marriage that it is a celibate
> relationship?
>
> Blessings
> Martin
>
> In a message dated 27/06/2015 17:24:45 GMT Daylight Time,
> magdalen at herberthouse.org <javascript:;> writes:
>
>
>
> In a message dated 6/27/2015 11:36:32 A.M. Eastern Daylight  Time,
> magdalen at herberthouse.org <javascript:;> writes:
>
> David
>
> Well it  does actually.
>
> God calls same sex  intercourse an abomination  (Lev 18:22) >>>>
>
>
> But apparently, there is no SPECIFIC  scriptural  condemnation of
> same sex marriage.
>
> Marriage and  intercourse are not the same.  I thought we had  gotten
> beyond  this confusion, but I guess not.
>
>
>
>
> David  Strang.
>
>
>
>