"It is not Scripture that creates hostility to homosexuality, but rather hostility to homosexuals that prompts some Christians to recite a few sentences from Paul and retain passages from an otherwise discarded Old Testament law code. In abolishing slavery and in ordaining women we’ve gone beyond that biblical literalism. It’s time we did the same with gays and lesbians.
The problem is not how to reconcile homosexuality with scriptural passages that condemn it, but rather how to reconcile the rejection and punishment of homosexuals with the love of Christ. It can’t be done."
"A Passion for the Possible" by William Sloane Coffin, 1993
2 comments:
Hi Susan. Help me understand something. There are a number of lawsuits against bakeries, florists etc who would prefer not to make wedding cakes, decorations for gay couples. Why sue? Why not go to another place where the proprietor is happy to serve them? Please don't cite discrimation. It's not like EVERYONE won't make a cake. Just a few. Why not let them hold on to their beliefs (ie be tolerant) It seems one would rather have a cake, flower arrangement etc from someone who is happy to do so rather than one who is not. I'm not being confrontative here; I genuinely do not understand.
Hi, Marcia,
First help ME understand something: Why ask a question and then instruct the "questionee" what NOT to answer? Not sure how that's helpful. But here goes. [Spoiler: I am most certainly going to "cite discrimination."]
One could have asked the same question of those who were arrested for sitting in in the lunch counters in Greensboro NC ... why make a fuss? Just got have lunch where someone is willing to serve you. Never mind that the 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection equally to all Americans. Maybe a wedding cake isn't a big enough deal to make a fuss about. Or flowers for a wedding. Or a lunch at a lunch counter. Or a seat on a bus.
But cumulatively it's all about the arc of history bending toward justice in this country ... and about living more fully into that pledge we makes about "liberty and justice for all."
And while I don't have the details on all the pending lawsuits you reference, I am acquainted with the facts in the Oregon bakery case ... which -- it turns out -- had nothing to do with suing the bakery to force them to bake a cake but suing the bakery owners for the retaliatory actions THEY took against the couple when they outed the bakery for its anti-gay policies.
Details here: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/brint/almost_everything_you_heard_on_the_sweet_cakes_case_is_false
So -- bottom line -- it IS about discrimination. And for me personally ... no I would not want to force a bakery to bake my wedding cake if the owners were homophobic. But I'd sure as heck want to warn other same-sex couples ... and supportive straight allies ... to steer clear of the establishment if it was.
Hope that helps you understand.
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