Just in the month of November 2006, 2 notable religious people captured our imagination with one overtaking the headlines as the US elections came upon us.
At the centre was the issue of gay marriage; one supported the notion in the church and the other spat hail and brimstone from the pulpit excoriating every thought of that idea.
As we know, the issue of gay marriage was supposedly used to swing the votes in undecided states in favour of the President George Bush’s re-election in 2004 and the same thing is being mooted for the election that is currently taking place today.
The received wisdom is if this juxtaposed against Republican or Democratic candidate, the gush of liberalism that has been used to tarnish the Democrats would lead religious conservatives, namely, evangelicals to vote for Republicans who have arrogated to themselves the seeming moniker of the “Party of God”.
If anything, it now appears the Republican Party has become the party of sinners from lobbying misdeeds (Abramoff), fundraising indictments (De Lay) or inactivity to sexual predation (Foley), just to mention a few.
Against gay marriage but for divorce
The gay marriage issue which I have written about a few times is quite a hot-button issue in America, but the more interesting part is that it has no relationship to the protection of traditional marriages.
Massachusetts, the only state to legalise gay marriage has the lowest divorce rate in the United States, whilst the highest divorce rates can be found in the Bible belt where they are implacably against gay marriage as research reveals.
It is like a case of they cannot keep together and would not allow others to get together, bizarre but true.
Daytime saint and night time sinner
However, lightening struck when a gay escort went public accusing a leading evangelical leader of having a sex relationship lasting 3 years and abusing drugs. In what is outrageous cant and brazen shameless hypocrisy, he was having homosexual pleasures privately and condemning gay marriage publicly – that is just not on.
So, he resigned his appointment and he was, as it were, defrocked, just about the same time, someone else was taking on the frock.
A woman attended her investiture as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States.
Not only have we moved beyond the ordination of women, she supported the consecration of a gay bishop which is causing schism in the church she has not taken a negative stance against gay marriage.
Obviously, the police do have to go back to investigate the peddling of drugs by the gay escort amongst other possible misdemeanours, but that is not news, in the midst of what is a religious earthquake.
In one week, we move from His Disgrace to Her Grace, the way of religion is sometimes unsearchable.
Episcopal Church elects female leader
Church forces out Haggard for 'sexually immoral conduct'
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are accepted if in context are polite and hopefully without expletives and should show a name, anonymous, would not do. Thanks.