Bigger Fish?

On Wednesday, Dumbarton UMC, in Washington D.C. announced that will celebrate same-sex weddings. Here is the press release:
"(Washington, D.C.) A United Methodist congregation in Washington, D.C., has vowed to celebrate same-sex weddings, putting itself at odds with other Christian churches protesting the District of Columbia's new marriage equality law.

The pastor and 12 other ordained clergy who attend Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Georgetown said they would conduct such ceremonies after Congress failed to override D.C.'s new law on March 3. The larger United Methodist Church does not permit same-sex weddings, and no other Methodist congregation in Washington has taken the same step.

"As a pastor, I am called to extend care and grace to all people even as Jesus did," said Rev. Mary Kay Totty, pastor at the 238-year-old church. "We celebrate love and loyalty wherever it is found."

Dumbarton church's stand is poles apart from the protests by other Christian churches that same-sex marriages are against Biblical teachings. Catholic Charities has announced that it will close its adoption and foster care programs in the District, rather than provide services to gay and lesbian couples. Some Christian ministers have rallied against the marriage equality law.

But Dumbarton's Church Council, in a 28 to 0 vote February 10, pledged "to honor and celebrate the wedding of any couple, licensed in the District of Columbia, who seek to commit their lives to one another in marriage."

Totty said the church is aware the clergy are at risk by performing same-sex weddings in a denomination that does not sanction them. "However," she said, "marriage equality is about justice and civil rights. The District of Columbia acknowledges that it is wrong to discriminate against people based upon sexual orientation."

Recognizing such marriages is a logical step for the District's oldest Methodist congregation, she said. In 1987 Dumbarton publicly welcomed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families into full participation in the life and ministries of the congregation. With the new policy, couples wanting to be married will meet with the pastor to discuss the church's marriage guidelines and to discuss counseling. "We rejoice that at this point in history, the arc of justice now bends toward equal recognition of marriage for all couples," said Totty."

It's about time somebody stepped up and said "This is a ridiculous rule and we're not putting up with it anymore". You may not agree with me, but I don't think a committed relationship of any kind is what any of the writers of the Bible were talking about. Personally, I think those references were about prostitution. Actually, temple prostitution. Except for adultery, everywhere the admonitions against sexual sin come up, they are related to areas where people worshipped Ishtar, or Astarte, or Aphrodite. All different names for the same goddess. A goddess who represented fertility and sexuality. Worship of Ishtar included sacred prostitution. A religion whose goddess required you to have sex as part of worship had more heck of lot more appeal to folks than one based on service to God and neighbor. And, I'm sure, the people strayed in droves. The Canaanites practiced this religion, and Rome and Corinth were major centers of worship for the Aphrodite cult, to say nothing of the rampant commercial prostitution in both cities. Mosiac law was written when? That's right, when the Israelites were moving into Canaan. Who else comes out against sexual sin? Paul does, in Romans and, you guessed it, 1 Corinthians. The word used for sexual sin in the original Greek is "porneia", meaning sexual immorality or perversion. However, the word used in English translations of the Bible is "fornication". That word comes from the Latin word "fornix", meaning arch. What does an arch have to do with sex, you ask? The prostitutes in Rome used to ply their trade in the archways under the city and "fornicatio" (literally "done in the archway") became slang for seeing a prostitute. Eventually, around 1303 it picked up its current meaning of sex between two unmarried people. Now, scholars say that it's a slight mistranslation, but I find it interesting that the word used for sexual sin was originally a euphemism for prostitution.

What it all boils down is this: as long as we make homosexuality (or sex in general) something dirty, something to be hidden and ashamed of, people are going to get hurt. Not just those who practice it, but those around them. Their friends, their family and even us, the people who ostracize them. Nothing good can come of the continued paranoia about homosexuals and same-sex marriage. I keep hearing that same-sex marriage is a danger to the whole institution of marriage. I'd like someone to tell me how? Every problem I've seen with homosexuality doesn't arise from the act, it comes from how society views it. As I said just a few lines earlier, something dirty, disgusting and unworthy of the light of day. If we accepted it instead of fearing it, many of the problems would melt away. Not all, of course, I'm not naive and I realize we're dealing with human beings, imperfect as they are. As for the Biblical or religious objections, as long as it's two consenting adults and no is getting hurt, I really don't think God cares who we're sleeping with. Don't you think he has bigger fish to fry?