I'm going to do my best to ignore the General Assembly this year. But it is ironic that, last week, I had at least one new orifice chewed out for me on the Beliefnet Homosexuality and Faith forum, where one of my brethren or sistern more or less accused me of being an ignorant, self-hating quisling for remaining in the Christian faith in general and the ELCA in particular.
Hmmm...does that feel better or worse than being called "intrinsically disordered," or whatever the ELCA conservatives' version of that is, and schismatic?
It's pretty much the same.
Good thing I took my happy pill tonight.
7 comments:
You know, this post got me thinking about family gatherings. If your family is anything like my family, some of ya get along, and some of you sometimes don't. But the point is, someone there (usually Mom) loves you regardless, and so you are welcome at the house, and then at the table when it is dinnertime. Mom talks to you and loves you, and sometimes the other people realize that because Mom loves you, (and Mom is a pretty good judge of character) you are a pretty decent person, after all. There are many, many people in the ELCA who love you and who care about you. I hope you are able to feel welcomed by at least some of us.
... and, on the other side of the experience you mentioned, there are many GLBT persons who would respect your faith perspective and not label you a traitor.
Nasty self-righteousness remains nasty self-righteousness no matter the source or the direction from which it comes ... eh?
It sucks to be stuck in the middle of things, being an X when everyone wants you to be in A's camp or B's camp.
Just remember the narrow path is in the center.
Peace,
Chris
Hello from a fellow quisling! :-) I'm:
* a music director at a South Minneapolis ELCA church
* a partnered lesbian
* the best friend of someone who would have sailed through her approval process if she hadn't come out (partnered) to her candidacy committee at the end, and
* considering a call to ordination myself.
I guess that makes me once, twice, three...FOUR times a quisling (insert Lionel Richie song here). Ha ha ha.
Take heart, sister, you're not alone! I've been lurking here for a long time, as you feel very much like a Fellow Traveler (in a more platonic sense than you use it, I think) to me.
I've been on a speaker's bureau for Lutherans Concerned, trying to reach people who lob questions like "how are you different from a pedophile?" and been among my unchurched gay friends, trying to help them understand that living inside the church, patiently and honestly, is activism in its own way. Maybe the most productive way, because I put my energy into relationship with people instead of argument about 80% of the time. I'm not sure it's possible to change a mind when its corresponding heart is closed, ya know? Some days, it feels like this:
rock / ME / hard place
Familiar? :-)
Just wanted you to know I'm out here, cheering you on. Peace, girl.
ouch :(
Being a Lutheran lesbian is apparently a big part of the mission God has given you to live/be/accomplish in this world. Your being ministry is illogical to those whose narrow logic precludes it. In this you have a model: Jesus of Nazareth was who he was, and is who he is, and it doesn't make sense to people who don't know him.
Fellow ELCA quisling here.
I'm not gay, but my sister is... I speak vigorously in my church whenever issues concerning the LBGT community arises in our congregation... whic really pisses of the "old church ladies".
They all get quiet when I ask them if they mean it when they say all are wellcome. I ask them if it is OK to exclude "queers" is it ok to exclude spics and niggers, too.
Christ never said a word about witholding salvation or his grace from anyone because of their orientation.
Sorry to go on, but it is an issue that is very close to me.
Cheers,
GF
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