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Inclusion, not persecution
Read the article / show / issue that provoked me to write a letter and my response below that or go straight to my response
Date Posted on this Site
August 18, 2007
Publication
Orilla Packet and Times
Publication Date
August 14, 2007
Published Content
Nathan Taylor
Misinterpretation of the Bible turns many gays and lesbians off from church, says a local minister.
"The church has provided the theological justification for the persecution of gay and lesbian people," said Rev. George Moore, an area minister in the United Church of Canada.
Moore, an openly gay reverend, said scripture is dangerously misused in relation to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, and often counters Christian fundamen- tals.
"Jesus didn't say one word against homosexuality or sexual orientation. It's all about interpretation.
"The lens by which we interpret scripture, for Christians, always has to be love and compassion," he said.
"When people are irrationally hateful toward others, it indicates a lot of unresolved issues in their own lives - issues around control, self- esteem (and), quite possibly, their own sexual orientation. I've met gay bashers that have finally realized they're gay. That self-loathing corrodes your soul."
Moore, 57, came out before his congregation last fall after seeing the movie "Brokeback Mountain" - seven times.
"Something about that movie was very compelling," he said. "I just thought, 'The time is now.'"
After deciding to come out, he had to figure out how he would do it.
At the General Council of the United Church last August, he received letters of support from the chair of the church council and the chair of the ministry and personnel committee, to which Moore is accountable.
It was decided members of his congregation would be visited at home by committee members, who would deliver the letters.
Of his 70-member congregation, one couple was "quite annoyed" and left.
"One couple.... That is amazing. That is awesome," he said. "It's very sad when we lose people that way, but everyone has things they struggle with, and that's just the way it is."
Moore, ordained 10 years ago, has had his own struggles. He and a friend attended a dinner hosted by an international religious organization where the speaker "took a swipe" at gays and lesbians, saying they were "an abomination and were going to hell," Moore recalled.
It sent him "into a tailspin," he said. However, he added, "there's nothing that helps you grow like crisis."
"In the end, I thought, 'Why would I be created to be punished? Everybody else gets to have love, and I'm not supposed to?'" he recalled. "It's nonsense. It would turn the idea of a compassionate God into some cruel joke."
He has found reassurance from members of the communities in which he has attended church or presided over a congregation, including Sudbury and a small town in the Maritimes.
"(Sudbury) was a remarkable place. In spite of the fact it was a pretty rough and tough mining town, it was a pretty good place to be gay," he said. "You never got a whole whack of guilt and judgment and fire and brimstone. The church that I know is far more compassionate than that."
He also pointed to two motions passed - "after a lot of prayer and listening" - by the United Church Council in 1988. One was to make all people eligible to become members of the church. The other allowed any United Church member to be considered for ordination.
"It was about radical (inclusiveness), and I think the gospel of Jesus Christ, at its heart, is about radical (inclusiveness)," he said, adding Christ was "always reaching out to the marginalized."
In the 21st century, more than ever, the LGBT community needs that outreach, he said.
"There's a lot of people out there living lives of quiet desperation. They just need support.
"In the end, gay and lesbian people are just like everybody else, just trying to carve out a little bit of happiness for themselves," he said. "As human beings, we are creatures who are all hard-wired to be in a relationship with others. No one has the right to say, 'You can't be in a relationship because I don't agree with who you want to be in a relationship with.'"
Moore performed his first same-sex marriage - or equal marriage, to which it is often referred - on Aug. 4 in Temagami between two men who have been together 25 years.
"From the Stonewall riots (which sparked the gay-rights movement) to same- sex marriage in less than 40 years. That's pretty neat," he said. "Thank God for Canada, (where) we can now do this."
My Response Letter
Is there any reason why the Packet and Times decided to run a front page story on the Church misinterpreting the Bible and "justifying persecution of gay and lesbian people"? As far as I can tell, there was no recent news event to prompt this story. Was this simply an attempt to give United Minister George Moore a platform to criticize the Church?
In truth, I understand Mr. Moore's desire to legitimize his lifestyle choices, but he is misleading himself and others about what Scripture and the Church teaches about homosexuality, and the paper is culpable in this scandal.
Even a cursory search of the Bible will draw some clear condemnations of homosexuality, passages such as Leviticus 18:22-30, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and Jude 7. I believe Mr. Moore would be hard pressed to show how these verses are misinterpreted.
Furthermore, his argument that "Jesus didn't say one word against homosexuality or sexual orientation" is a fallacy. Jesus didn't say one word about incest, rape, child sacrifice, abortion, or environmental destruction, but we cannot conclude that any of these practices are valid or sanctioned.
Moreover, we don't know for certain that Jesus did not speak about homosexuality. Instead, we can only say that this issue was not recorded in the Gospels. It is possible, even probable, that Jesus spoke about homosexuality in the three years he ministered (after all, the Apostle John says not everything was written down, John 21:25). This is why the early church Fathers, those who received the teachings of Christ from the Apostles and those the Apostles ordained, are important. Justin Martyr (A.D. 151), Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 190), Tertullian (A.D. 220), and Cyprian of Carthage (A.D. 253) are just some of the early Christians who wrote about the sin of homosexuality.
In spite of Mr. Moore's manipulation of Scripture and as the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, those with homosexual inclinations "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition."
So, Christians should pray for Mr. Moore and for his congregation, that they see the truth and stop misrepresenting the Gospel.
The Packet and Times would do better to present articles based on topical events and without bias.
Jason Gennaro
Was my response published?
No