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I'm not a member (in fact I'm agnostic and belong to no church), but a friend's mother sent this to me, and I thought that it was worth posting. I know it's longer than usually allowed, but I don't have a link, just the forward. I'm sure I'll get some anti-Xtian flame, but here goes....
By The Rev. William Sloane Coffin > >At my age, I harbor far fewer illusions than I did in younger years. >Still, I was shocked by the refusal of NBC and CBS to air a TV ad by >the United Church of Christ. The UCC is a mainline, Protestant >denomination of 1.3 million members who gather in some 6,000 >congregations across the country. > >There was nothing unseemly or hateful about the ad; quite the >contrary. In effect, it said that there are no outsiders to a God >who created all humankind, and as Christ himself was the soul of >hospitality, a faithful church strives to be inclusive. Pictured >among a variety of people who have been hurt by exclusion were two >men walking hand in hand. > >Inevitably, in a homophobic society, many people feel uncomfortable >with displays of same-sex affection. But their comfort is not the >issue. At issue is the discomfort of gays and lesbians who for years >have been isolated, silenced, abused, and killed. The image of >Matthew Shepard hanging on a Wyoming fence still burns in many >American minds and hearts. > >So NBC and CBS were guilty not only of censorship but also of >insensitivity to considerable suffering. No doubt, the networks >feared a right-wing backlash. It is true that such leaders of the >Religious Right as Jerry Fallwell, Pat Robertson, and Gary Bauer >repudiate violent forms of homophobia. But to deplore the violence, >while continuing to proclaim the ideas that undergird it, strikes >thoughtful people as hypocritical. Seeds of disrespect all too often >blossom into hatred and violence. > >The UCC properly implied that millions of American Christians are at >odds with the Christian Right. They know that the Biblical book of >Leviticus forbids homosexual relations. They are also aware that the >same book condemns barbequed ribs and Monday Night Football for it >is "toevah" - an abomination - not only to eat pork but merely to >touch the skin of a dead pig. > >In reality, there are no biblical literalists, only selective >literalists. By abolishing slavery and ordaining women, millions of >Protestants have gone far beyond biblical literalism. It's time we >did the same for homophobia. > >Homosexuality was not a big issue for Biblical writers. All told, >there are only seven verses in 66 books that refer to it. Nowhere in >the four gospels is it ever mentioned. Not everything Biblical is >Christ-like, and verses involving more hate than love have no place >whatsoever in the human heart. For Christians, the problem is not >how to reconcile homosexuality with the scriptural passages that >condemn it, but how to reconcile the rejection and abuse of >homosexuals with the love of Christ. The UCC ad claims that it can, >and must be done. > >In a Washington, D.C., cemetery, on the gravestone of a Vietnam >veteran, it is written, "When I was in the military, they gave me a >medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one." > >Is a man loving another immutably immoral? Cannot Hamlet once again >persuade a reluctant Horatio that "there are more things in heaven >and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy?"
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