Presbyterian Busybodies

The Presbyterian Busybody and Fusspot Coalition (PBFC) e-mailed my church secretary the other day. They continue in their quest to convince her that Jesus does not want gay people to have their relationships recognized by the church or by society.

Talk about busybodies. If they bother our church secretary you can bet they are bothering every church secretary in the PCUSA with their fusspottiness.

They even try to turn Jesus into a busybody fusspot. They suggest that when Jesus was talking to the Pharisees about divorce he was not really talking about divorce. Jesus was really talking about gay people. Really! Here is their spew of bullshit:

The biblical and historical witness of the Church throughout history and around the world is clear and unequivocal. It is expressed in the Creation mandate of Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, which was used as the foundation for Jesus' instruction on marital monogamy and permanence in Matthew 19:4-6 (= Mark 10:6-9): In response he said, "Haven't you read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female [Gen 1:27]? And he said, "Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh [Gen 2:24]. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What then God yoked together, let no person separate."

Jesus did not merely affirm Genesis 1:27 and 2:24. Rather, he based his limitation of two persons to a valid sexual relationship on the twoness of the sexes. In Romans 1:23-27, Paul intentionally echoed Gen 1:26-27 in rejecting homosexual practice because it was a violation of the male-female prerequisite for sexual relations ordained by the Creator at creation, not because of how well or how badly it was done in his cultural milieu.

Scripture and our confessions alike condemn same-sex sexual relationships and indeed any sexual relationship outside the bond of marriage -- sinful relationships and behaviors that God seeks to redeem and transform, not accommodate.

The PBFC really knows how to twist scripture to their own hypocritical advantage. I wonder how many members of the PBFC have been divorced and remarried? But of course that doesn't matter.

They smell red meat with their anti-gay crusade and no amount of irony, reason or human decency will stop that march for injustice.

I take little stock what the Bible says in regards to details. That is no secret. I have written about that before. I am not the "go to guy" when it comes to obeying the Bible in regards to contemporary ethical dilemmas.

If love, reason and commonsense isn't enough to help you decide right from wrong no amount of biblical proof-texting is going to help. This last sermon is about the most "biblical" you are going to get from me. Any document that says the following:

"If men get into a fight with one another, and the wife of one intervenes to rescue her husband from the grip of his opponent by reaching out and seizing his genitals, ¹²you shall cut off her hand; show no pity..."

is not a document to be trusted at face value regarding ethical behavior.

What is so bizarre about the bible-believing busybodies, is that a bronze age bible isn't even backwards enough for them. They have to read into it stuff that isn't there in order to justify their prejudice. Jesus did not say one thing about gay people. This is my paraphrase of his message to the busybodies of his day:

“Don’t even pretend to think you are holier than thou. If you think you can find a loophole that gives you divine permission to discard another human being, think again.”

To use a text in which he clearly is criticizing hardheartedness as a text to justify hardheartedness makes one want to run screaming into the darkness.

The PCUSA Civil Unions and Christian Marriage Committee wants your input. They need to hear voices of sanity and human decency.

I know it is discouraging when we have to compete with the well-funded ignorance of the Presbyterian Coalition. But oppression has always been well-funded. In response, a little truth can go a long way. As Martin Luther wrote in his great hymn:

The prince of darkness grim -- We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

You get a 1000 words to "fell him" by telling your story of why we need justice in the PCUSA. Email the committee by November 15th.