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A church speaks against
anti-gay marriage amendments |
POST-ELECTION STATEMENT BY FIRST
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PALO ALTO
Palo Alto, California, November 7, 2004
[posted 11-12-04]
The session of First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto joins a growing chorus
of voices condemning Tuesday's passage of 11 anti-gay state marriage
amendments as mean-spirited, materially harmful, and incompatible with the
God of love revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.
The indications are strong that several of these voter initiatives were
placed on the ballot as part of a larger get-out-the-vote strategy designed
to bring voters to the polls. Tragically, the sin of leveraging popular
contempt for scape-goated minorities as a voter-turnout mechanism has a long
history, ranging from the use of anti-Catholicism to anti-Semitism to
racism.
We condemn the exploitation of all forms of prejudice for political gain by
any political party or candidate for public office. Our nation becomes
weaker whenever any of us promotes fear of the stranger as a way to increase
our own power.
We affirm the power of God's unquenchable love to break down the walls of
prejudice and transform human hearts, and we rededicate ourselves to
continue the struggle to break down those walls and promote human
transformation.
We reject the use of the Christian scriptures to condemn, demonize, and deny
equal rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and we find
interpretive arguments that seek to impose Old Testament sexual mores on
American society to be intellectually bankrupt and incompatible with modern
historical-critical Biblical principles of interpretation.
As Presbyterians, we affirm the interpretive Rule of Love from our own
denomination's position statement, "Presbyterian Understanding and Use of
Holy Scripture":
"Any interpretation of Scripture IS WRONG that separates or sets in
opposition love for God and love for fellow human being...No interpretation
of Scripture is correct that leads to or supports contempt for any
individual or group of persons either within or outside of the church."
[emphasis added]
We reject the claim that America should reshape its laws to conform to the
Biblical interpretations advocated by a single stream of Christianity. Such
an assertion weakens America by rejecting our long history of religious
pluralism, and retreats from one of the foundational assumptions of the U.S.
Constitution: that Americans should decide our laws using critical inquiry
grounded in empirical facts, not based on any particular group's
interpretations of a sacred religious text.
We affirm our commitment to the church-state separation principles of the
Theological Declaration of Barmen, part of our own denomination's Book of
Confessions. From Germany in 1934, the authors of the Barmen Declaration
wrote:
"We reject the false doctrine, as though the church, over and beyond its
special commission, should and could appropriate the characteristics, the
tasks, and the dignity of the State, thus itself becoming an organ of the
State."
We reaffirm First Presbyterian's stance as a More Light Church, welcoming
gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons into full membership.
Our doors are open to all LGBT people, and we stand ready to offer
ceremonies of Holy Union to those same-sex couples who wish to commit their
lives to each other in love before God. As Christians, as Americans, and as
a people seeking to follow the God of love revealed in Jesus, we can do no
less.
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog
for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship and activism,
Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the voices of
feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy, students,
exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers and
devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God in
whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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Witherspoon’s Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, Witherspoon’s
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views, or initiate
a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical reflections on
everything between summit to shore, including kayaking, climbing,
religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology, politics, culture,
travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New York City and the
Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive New York City
Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the Witherspoon
board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian Church in
Flushing, NY. |
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John
Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently serving as
pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, Tenn., blogs
about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized and
disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and lightening
up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE
ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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If you like what you find
here,
we hope you'll help us keep this website going ... and growing!
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