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Will US Presbyterians Approve Gay Church Weddings?

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Now that the majority of Americans live in states where same - sex marriages either are already legal, or where bans on such marriage have been struck down by courts but where marriage has been stayed pending appeal, many churches are facing a crunch decision: how to respond to faithful members of their congregation who wish to marry, and can do so legally - but not in church. This applies particularly to ministers of religion who are in committed same - sex relationships, and want to make these publicly accountable to their communities, just as their heterosexual colleagues are required to do. The dilemma also applies to ordinary pastors, who see the value of their parishioners’ relationships, and understand and sympathise with their desire for church weddings - but fear church sanctions if they perform weddings (which they would be required to do, not banned from doing, for other couples).

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The Presbyterian Church of the USA (PCUSA) has tried before to have the rules changed, but narrowly failed. At this year’s General Assembly 221 (June 14th to 21st), there will be another attempt.

American Presbyterians are not alone in addressing the issue. Some denominations have already approved church weddings for gay and lesbian couples, some have left decisions to local dioceses or regions, Anglican Provinces in Ireland, England and New Zealand are engaged in study and decision processes over blessing same - sex unions, and even some Catholic bishops have been proposing some support for civil unions / partnerships. In North Carolina, there are Baptists joining with the more usually progressive groups seeking to overturn the state’s ban on gay marriage - on the grounds of freedom of religion.

Just as same - sex marriage in law has been sweeping the US, and either full marriage or civil unions have spread across Europe and Latin American, weddings or blessings in church will similarly spread steadily, in years to come. For the PCUSA, I suspect there’s a good chance of victory this year - but if not in 2014 - then perhaps next time.

(After the fold, the complete statement by More Light Presbyterians)

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Natural & Animal Sexuality, Video

“Out in Nature” (Video Series)

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Homosexuality in the Animal Kingdom

From fruit flies to killer whales, same - sex encounters and bonding are commonplace throughout the animal kingdom: for more effective parenting, for help in seeing off competitors, for community social cohesion, for conflict resolution - and for simple sexual pleasure.

Complete playlist

Beginning with an explanation of science, citations from the bible, and Darwinian Theory, this film debunks previously held ideas about homosexuals by examining homosexuality in the animal kingdom. From fruit flies to dolphins, amazing footage from around the globe captures homosexuality in its natural state.

Part One

“The Science That Dare Not Speak Its Name?”

Sex has one purpose, reproduction? Not so fast

One animal mounting another is not necessarily a male mounting a female.

Part Two

Bonobos

Part Three

Savannah baboons: male pairs, teaming up in long term relationshops to face down rivals.

Bottle nosed and spotted dolphins, pairing for life, and sharing females for short term procreation purposes.

Lions: females pair for life, for care of young.

Greylag geese: three parents - two dads, one mom.

Part Four

Roseate terns: same - sex parenting.

Part Five

Parasitic wasps
Fruit flies

Part Six

Macaque monkeys: female homosexual behaviour, for the purposes of pleasure.

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Natural & Animal Sexuality, Sexuality & Gender

From “The Smell of the Sheep”, a Lesson in Sexuality.

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When Pope Francis spoke of the “Smell of the Sheep”, the usage was metaphorical - his expectation that bishops, as shepherds, should have on them evidence of having mixed at close quarters with their people - the sheep. When Gilles Herrada, in “The Missing Myth“, writes about the smell of the sheep and what we can learn from it about sexuality, his usage is literal - specifically, the sexual arousal of sheep (and also humans) in response to pheremones.

Herrada has strong academic credentials as a scientist, specifically in the fields of neuroscience and reproductive biology, so it is no surprise that in his multidisciplinary approach to the subject of homosexuality, he presents the information and lessons that we can draw from science with particular precision and clarity. The chapters on science (the “What”, or the “Truth” of homosexuality) take up the first of the book’s three main divisions. In one section, he presents an impressive array of evidence from science that gay men in some respects, are physiologically different from heterosexual men, and vice versa for women. Numerous studies have demonstrated that statistical differences can be seen in such diverse characteristics as the ratio of finger length between the 2nd and 4th fingers, fingerprint patterns, sound emissions in the inner ear, and patterns of skeletal growth.

The most impressive evidence comes from brain studies. A particular region of the hypothalamus is notably larger in men than in women - and also notably larger in heterosexual men than in homosexual men. Scanning studies of the brain have shown that different areas of the brain light up when exposed to erotic images. Straight men respond to straight - oriented erotica, gay me to gay erotica. (No surprise there). The brain studies also show that straight men and gay men respond differently to certain kinds of smell - specifically, to the pheromones that are secreted by the body, and act as triggers to sexual arousal. One study used PET scanning (positron emission tomography) to assess responses to two specific pheromones, one male and one female:

They found that the hypothalamus of both heterosexual women and homosexual men lights up when exposed to the male pheromone, but not the female one. They observed the opposite pattern with heterosexual men and lesbian women, who responded to the female chemical but not the male one.

- The Missing Myth, p38

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homophobia

Chief Justice: Christian Belief Does Not Override S Africa’s Gay Rights

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South Africa’s Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, last week spoke of the value of religion in the public sphere, and added that in his view, the law should prohibit divorce and adultery. This led to some worried speculation by gay activists that he was also flying a kite for legal restrictions on gay rights. However, he has strongly denied suggestions that his Christian views would override his commitment to protecting gay rights, as required by the constitution.

Chief Justice Mogoeng

Mogoeng vows to protect gay rights

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on Wednesday vowed to protect all citizens’ rights, including the rights of homosexuals.

“I know as a Christian that the Bible speaks against homosexuality, but I have taken an oath and I am very serious about my oath,” he told reporters in Johannesburg.

“It cannot be a lie when I assure the nation that I will uphold the Constitution, the laws and the human rights.”

Mogoeng pointed out the right to sexual orientation was a human right and it would be perverse of him not to accept that.

“Justice is not supposed to be perverted, to begin to get at those who are gay and lesbian just because of their choice.

“My responsibility is to ensure that every gay person, every lesbian person enjoys their right as protected by the bill of rights. There’s no question about that,” he said.

Mogoeng, who is a lay minister, has been criticised for his strong religious views.

He was defending a speech he gave in Stellenbosch last week about religion and the law. Mogoeng caused a stir by suggesting religion could be used to strengthen legislation and lead to a better society.

The chief justice said he would not allow his faith to take precedence over the Constitution.

via IOL.co.za.

This assurance is welcome. Although South Africa has strong constitutional protections in its bill of rights against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and was the first in the word to provide these, the situation on the ground is less admirable. Public prejudice is widespread, and violence against gay men and lesbians is common - even extending to what is euphemistically known as “corrective rape” of lesbians (and occasionally men), which sometimes leads to death.

From time to time, calls are made to remove the gay protections from the constitution, so every expression of support for these protections, from government, other politicians, and the judiciary, helps to further entrench them and push back a further remove any prospect of their disappearance.

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Queer Saints and Martyrs

The Tragic Double Meaning for “Ugandan Martyrs”

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For queer Christians, the phrase “Ugandan Martyrs” carries a tragic double meaning. In Catholic hagiography, it refers to the execution / martyrdom in 1886 of a band of young men, pages in the Royal court of the Bugandan King Mwanga II, who had converted to Christianity and thereafter resisted his sexual advances. June 6th, is the anniversary of their joint beatification by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. Their feast day, known as the Feast of Charles Lwanga and companions, is celebrated annually on June 3rd.

Uganda_Martyrs

From a modern LGBT point of view, there is a quite different significance, almost it’s polar opposite. This perspective recalls that in the cultural context of the time, King Mwanga’s expectation of sexual service from his pages did not make him a perverted monster, as seen by the missionaries. Before the arrival of European colonials, different forms of homosexual practice and non-conformist gender expression were commonplace across Africa. Seen in this light, the execution of the pages was a legal penalty for resisting customary law - and the introduction by foreign missionaries of what has since become deeply entrenched cultural homophobia.

In recent years, the flames of homophobia have been further fanned by missionaries, this time especially by American evangelicals, who have promoted draconian legislation to criminalize homosexuality, carrying harsh penalties for those convicted of transgressions. Along with the legal penalties, the popular mood in Uganda has become so hostile, that life for ordinary gay and lesbian people in the country has become exceedingly difficult. Even to be suspected of being gay, frequently frequently leads not only to simple social ostracism, but also to outright exclusion from homes and families, to discrimination in employment and social services, to police harassment, to violence, and even to murder, such as that of David Kato. For many LGBT people, the only viable response is to leave the country entirely as refugees seeking asylum abroad.

So, the double meaning of the phrase “Ugandan Martyrs”: from the traditional Catholic perspective, the martyrs are those who were executed in 1886 for sticking by their Christian faith, in the face of Royal commands to renounce it. For modern gays and lesbians, the words refer to all those who are persecuted or even murdered, often in the name of the Christian religion, for their sexuality.

For a more extended analysis and reflection on the martyrs, and what this commemoration means for queer people of faith, see Kittredge Cherry at Jesus in Love Blog, who introduced her post on the feast day, by observing (accurately) that

Tough questions about homosexuality, religion and LGBT rights are raised by the Uganda Martyrs whose feast day is today (June 3).

 

Recommended Books:

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Sexuality & Gender

A Darwinian Conundrum: Why Menopause?

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Simplistic Darwinian reasoning would require the reproductive cycle to match longevity, insofar as animals normally have no reason to survive if they are unable to reproduce. Virtually all middle – age women menopause….(and are ) totally unable to reproduce. ………If individual reproductive power were the ultimate goal of evolution, menopause would be the worst aberration of the human species.. 20% . 40% of human females cannot reproduce. This is astounding!

- Gilles Herrada, The Missing Myth
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In “The Missing Myth: A New Vision of Same-Sex Love”, Gilles Herrada takes on a herculean task, nothing less than to give an integral analysis of homosexuality, in all its aspects and from every perspective and field of study. He draws on subjects as diverse as genetics and history, neuroscience and religion, psychoanalysis and linguistics, religion and art, physiology and mythology – and many more. Along the way, he provides an extraordinary supply of surprising assertions, provocative questions – and startling insights. Reading it, I’ve been struck by how frequently I’ve had to put the book down, to think deeply about something I’ve just encountered. One of these, a subject which gay men seldom have reason to think about, is the phenomenon in humans (but not to any meaningful degree in other animals) of the female menopause. But proper consideration of Herrada’s question and his explanation, along with further reflection on its wider significance, presents a powerful counter to one of the key Vatican arguments against same – sex relationships, the biological imperative to reproduce.

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