Gay Christians

I think Barry W. Lynn's letter could prove to be the snowball that finally starts the avalanche that ultimately wipes out political proselytizing from the pulpit of American churches.

There's nothing wrong with Christianity. There's something wrong with many Christians, of course. But that's only because Christians are people and people are imperfect. But all of us can, and most of us do, evolve.

Pastor Worley has every right to preach whatever kind of hateful rhetoric that he feels called to preach. Likewise, he must deal with the consequences of those words.

No matter where you stand on the issue of gay marriage, there are some boundaries of human decency that should never be crossed. Never.

The good pastor's idea for "gettin' rid of all the lesbians and queers" is to build "a great big large fence" around all the gay people, electrify it, and then allow the people penned in by the fence to die.

"Debates do not change hearts and minds, people do, people and their stories.  As you get to know the people who share their stories here I hope you will hold an open place in your heart just as Christ holds for you."

You have been cited as being distressed that people are being hurt through this process. It is true. Of all those hurt, the most harm has come to the youth in Mount Pleasant who are still struggling to figure out who they are.

If the church is to be faithful to Christ, then our political action should focus on what the kingdom of God is all about: sheep and goats, not gays.

Our nation has to understand that denying marriage rights to same sex couples is not uplifting religious freedom. Religious freedom is secured when every religious group's understanding of marriage is acknowledged and respected.

Whether our lives are deemed "incompatible with Christian teaching" or our loving relationships are deemed sub-par to straight marriages, the message is clear: there are some among us who do not believe queer people should exist.

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Christians today who take seriously the search for truth must admit that the old axiom that homosexuality is a sin has been forever reduced in status from objective truth to subjective opinion.

In the aftermath of the 2012 General Conference, it seems fair to ask United Methodist conservatives what they ultimately hope to achieve by refusing to open the church to the gifts of gay and lesbian persons.

Pastor Sean Harris has now "apologized" for a delivering a sermon in which he told parents to "punch" their "limp-wristed" sons and force their "butch" daughters to "dress up" and "smell nice." He claims that his words were meant "in jest." That is outrageous.

This is an election year. If a petition calling upon Christians to affirm LGBTQ people is signed by hundreds of thousands of Christians, then the entire conversation around the gay issue changes.

"Harry brandished the sword of the left brain so that the right brain could flourish on fertile ground. He lived both in the world of the intellect and in the world of the heart."

This week, I'm watching and praying for the United Methodist Church as they meet in General Conference. Among all the issues, there are major decisions about whether lesbian and gay people can be married and serve as clergy.

If there is no clearly stated directive in the Bible to marginalize and ostracize gay people, then Christians continuing to do so is morally indefensible, and must cease.

There was give-and-take conversation instead of either a lecture or a sermon. Rowan Williams listened and spoke, spoke and listened. It was all about different people coming together and "getting to know you."

Elections are no excuse for promoting an ideology that destroys the lives of kids. Let's send a supportive message to young people this campaign year and beyond: America's religious communities are with you.

To be alive is to actively and constantly choose a belief system. No one, no matter how "free" they may think their mind is, exists outside of such a system.

While I was silent, I witnessed the trials of other LGBTQ people and straight allies whose ordination as ministers, deacons or elders were either withheld or defrocked because someone was out of the closet or broke church law by marrying same-sex couples.

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Although the campaign launched just recently, the movement for full LGBT inclusion and equality within the United Methodist Church (UMC) has been building for decades.