The churches moving from mainstream Presbyterianism to anti-gay, hidebound fundamentalist Presbyterianism are on the wrong side of history and religion.

For the first time in history, the most religious country in the history of the world – the U.S. – now has a majority that supports gay marriage.  Clearly, most people understand that there is no conflict between their religious faith and the full rights of gays and lesbians, or maybe they know that neither Jesus nor a Jewish prophet ever made a pronouncement about homosexuality (and it’s worth noting that it was common in Biblical times).

In reading the justifications for why some Presbyterian churches are abandoning the mainstream for a brand of Protestantism that is a witch’s brew of exclusion, politics, and Christian superiority, we are awestruck. Rev. Chris Scruggs, senior pastor at Advent Presbyterian Church in Cordova said: “We believe that joining the EPC will best allow Advent to conduct its mission to share God’s love with others as we have seen it in Jesus Christ and to reach out in ministry and mission without having to divert energy into denominational conflict.”

When we read these justifications, we wonder why the Presbyterian Church (USA) didn’t ask them to leave already.  This kind of exclusionary Christian attitude runs so contrary to the words and deeds of Jesus Christ that it’s baffling.  The homophobia at its core suggests that if Jesus were alive today and running around the countryside with 12 men, these same ministers would be way too suspicious of His “lifestyle” to welcome Him into their sanctuaries.

Spectator Sport

For most of us who have become spectators to these kinds of events and the regular pronouncements, we end up feeling like our faith is being highjacked.  It’s past time to reclaim it.  As a result of the anti-gay language spewed by some fundamentalist Christian leaders, there is a misperception by the news media that somehow these views represent Christianity and that these people represent it.

To us, the essence of Christianity calls on all of us to ensure that gay and lesbian partnerships have legitimate legal protection, regardless of our individual views on gay marriage. These are matters of fundamental civil rights, and it’s disturbing that those who have felt the sting of inequality are not now leaders for equal rights for every American.

As Sojourner magazine wrote, let’s not worry about taking a position on gay marriage right now, but commit ourselves to the civil dialogue between Christians who understand that their faith is anchored in justice and compassion. If the heads of our churches can’t lead that kind of discussion, we are indeed doomed.

As for us here, we continue to believe that the legalities of marriage should be separated from religion – as they once were. All couples should be free to receive civil union papers from the government. These would protect basic rights, such as inheritance, ownership of property and health insurance. It’s up to individual churches to conduct marriage ceremonies, and each of them can decide whom they are willing to marry. If a church believes that marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman, it doesn’t have to marry same-sex couples – and it should not interfere with churches that offer blessings on same-sex couples.

Anti-Theological

There’s just something fundamentally strange about the Church taking a stand against people who want to make life-long commitments and people who feel called to the ministry. With the 50-50 chances of heterosexual marriages succeeding, certainly same-sex ceremonies can’t do much injury to the record of straight couples when it comes to protecting the sanctity of marriage.

Here’s the dirty little secret about gays and lesbians – the values they exhibit in their daily lives are no different than the rest of us. They are committed to their neighborhoods, they love their family, they follow the law, they volunteer to charities, they try to be good citizens, they want meaningful relationships and most remarkably of all, they are religious.

It’s almost too much for the mind to take in. Once, gays and lesbians were attacked as promiscuous and unable to form lasting relationships, and then they confused things by asking for the right to marry. It was bad enough when they were just asking for the right to serve in the military, but now they want on all of our battlegrounds.

Sometimes it seems that for so many people, there is no greater impulse than to appeal to the basest aspects of human nature – the urge to marginalize those who are different, to dehumanize other people’s basic humanity, to feel superior to someone and to use the Bible (or the one verse they obsess on) as a club to beat up other people.

Selective Service

In pleas for the sanctity of marriage, one leader said that marriage has been the fundamental building block of civilization for 2,000 years. (Apparently, they aren’t so sure about Jewish civilization before Christ.) Of course, it’s not worth mentioning that women and blacks were essentially chattel during most of those 20 centuries, but no matter, we’re supposed to be listening to the red meat rhetoric, not choking on the lapses in logic.

As we learned in the days of the civil rights movement, laws that refuse to allow men and women to connect fully with their own identities in the end only rob all of us, not just members of the minority. In fact, it is in how we treat the minorities among us that we most define who we are as Americans.  It’s a test we’ve struggled with for centuries.

But here’s the thing: even if people oppose legal protection for gays on their interpretation of the Bible, they are still conveniently selective about which verses they choose to emphasize, because there’s no similar orthodoxy about verses dealing with usury, obligations to the poor, stoning disobedient children and no divorces. In addition, there are verses about when husbands can use prostitutes and verses against masturbation and coitus interruptus.

Golden Oldies

Here’s a few of our favorite verses that never get mentioned by people who argue that the Bible is inerrant and must be literally followed:

Deuteronomy 22:13-20: If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” then the girl’s father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate…If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death.

Leviticus warns heterosexuals that having sex during a woman’s period can lead to execution.

Another Deuteronomy favorite:  If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.

Mark 12 talks about a widow having sex with each of her husband’s brothers in turn until she bears a son: Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.  ″Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother.

It’s no wonder that it’s been said that even the devil can quote Scripture in support of his purposes.  That’s the pitfall of fundamentalism. Even if you believe that the Bible is inerrant, that doesn’t mean that your interpretations are. In fact, the history of religion in Western civilization shows that interpretations change and doctrine shifts.

Basic Human Dignity

We are reminded about the characteristically wise comments by our rabbi, Micah Greenstein of Temple Israel, when City Council was considering an anti-discrimination ordinance.  He said: “Contrary to what some preach, discussion about ending discrimination based on sexual orientation is not a gay issue any more than racism or anti-Semitism is a black or Jewish issue.  Racism in the 60s wasn’t the fault of black America; it’s about what whites did to blacks in America.  Similarly, anti-Semitism has nothing to do with Judaism; it’s about what others have done to Jews.  My point? Gays should not be held accountable for the discrimination perpetrated against them – it’s the rest of us who aren’t gay who must stand up and speak out against bigotry…After all, isn’t this what the faith of Jesus and all good religions teach?

“Isn’t this the meaning of the prophet’s plea: “Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?  Why then do some deal treacherously every man against his brother?” Whether gay or straight, black or white, Jew or Gentile, all are children of God, created in the divine image.  That is why I subscribe to Jesus the Jew’s central idea – not Jesus the Baptist – but Jesus the Jew’s central idea to love one another, especially those different than me.

“The shameful demonization of people who happen to be gay or lesbian underscores what must happen now.  We must all take a stand for non-discrimination and basic human dignity in the public square or be labeled a pious fraud. People of all faiths need to be remember that we forfeit the right to worship God whenever we denigrate the image of God in other human beings.

“I pray that any person infuriated by, obsessed with, or tired of dealing with discrimination against gay people will turn to the Bible and follow the words of Psalm 118, which reads,   ”I called out to God from my narrowness, and God answered me with a great expanse.”