VOICE OF THE TURTLE Online - March 15-21, 2004
It is very likely that you have had some conversation with
family and friends in recent days regarding the marriages of gay persons
taking place in San Francisco or regarding Gay Marriage as a general topic.
Your conversation may have been easy or, if you found yourself in
disagreement with the person or persons you were talking with, it might have
been strained. When you find yourself in a tense discussion about this
matter slow down, say a prayer, and speak gently. There are times it is
important to be right. There are times maintaining a relationship is more
important than being right. Those of us who want to be supportive of gay
persons need to remember that this is a discussion about being in families
and that we need to respect our own families when we find ourselves in
disagreement. I find myself reiterating this statement. “I like my family. I
would not be who I am without them. I can’t imagine this life without them
in it. Sure we argue sometimes and certainly there are sad examples of
families that are abusive but I basically I wish for gay people the right to
form a family that is legally recognized. That should be their civil right.
But more important, isn’t it good to be in a family? I like being in a
family.”
When you find yourself in a situation where the people who disagree with you
are firing Bible verses at you a response like this might be helpful. “I
know those verses very well. I also know some other verses very well. Verses
like ‘do unto others as they would do unto you’ and ‘love your neighbor as
yourself.’ It seems to me that these verses are the greater lights, these
are the verses that should be priorities in my life.” My belief is that the
primary purpose of the Bible is to point us to the love of God in Christ.
The great church reformer Martin Luther said the Bible is the cradle in
which we find Christ. However, Luther was very clear. We should not mistake
Christ for the cradle. Sadly, in different times and different places the
Bible has been used to justify slavery, witch hunts, attacks on Jews and war
on Muslims. We need to read the Bible with love and respect, hope and
openness, care and caution.
It is also important to encourage those who want to portray gay and lesbian
people as nothing more than misguided sinners to withhold judgement until
they have listened to the stories of three or four homosexual persons and
their families. The fact is that almost every family will, at some point,
have a family member who is gay. People need to be prepared to deal with
that reality. A little advance research is good preparation. It is also
helps prevent a quick dismissal of gay people as morally flawed and
spiritually inferior.
Do not expect people to automatically accept your point of view. They may
challenge yours. It is ok. These are contentious times with many emotional
issues being publically debated. How we live and respond in the face of
conflict is a testimony to the Spirit that shapes us. Trying times and
complex issues provide us an opportunity to truly trust God’s grace. It is
God’s love, not holding the correct view of any issue, that saves us.
H. James Hopkins,
Pastor of Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church
Oakland, California
EDITORIAL COMMENT
As I watched the Democratic
primaries unfold from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary
through “Super Tuesday,” it became obvious that much of the news coverage on
televison and in newspapers was really non-news. There were story after
story of how the candidates were doing in the polls. There were reports of
what the polls said Americans desired, how we thought the country was doing
but very little substantive information on where the candidates stand on
issues. It is a sad day for us all when the news is all about polls and not
about what a candidates stand is on heath care, the lack of it for many; the
immanent social security crisis or our relationship to our allies and other
world nations.
Then there is the “wedge” hot button issues. It is so much more important
that we deal with the fact that many companies continue to outsource high
tech and service jobs despite being highly profitable in many instances. We
are the only industrialized nation that doesn’t provide basic health care to
its citizens. How can all of those other nations provide health benefits but
we cannot? Maybe it’s because we’re spending to much time and resources
trying to defend marriage and censor what is indecent or not. Isn't time we
as a nation, electorate and politicians, deal with the issues that are real,
not manufactured.
Chris Boisvert,
Online Editor