So long as the oppressed will suffer oppression they will be oppressed. And so long as society oppresses, it seems, the church can be counted upon to find chapter and verse to support it.
For the Jews there is the Gospel of John which explicitly says, "The Jews took counsel against Jesus to put him to death." But we no longer call Jews "Christ Killers." Why?
For women there is the story of Eve who seduced Adam into the Fall, and for that act she and all women were punished with the curse that their husbands should rule over them. But we no longer insist upon the subordination of women. Why?
For blacks there is the story of the curse of Ham, so called, when Noah said, "Cursed be Canaan: a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." But we no longer maintain slavery or segregation. Why?
We no longer maintain these things because the people in question said, enough. We shall make your prejudice -- which inflicts pain and suffering on us, cost you pain and suffering. Then, you will have to decide if it is worth the price. When we abandoned these prejudices, we realized far from revealing God's will, these texts revealed the sin and prejudice of an age.
People say -- "We wish this would go away." But once the oppressed find their voices and glimpse hope, they must pursue it, because all they can lose are their chains.
They will come back again and again, like the widow to the unrighteous judge, because they are looking for life. They will demand a response not until the church answers, but until we get the answer right. Until they are accepted. They have no choice. And we will finally give them the answer they seek.
The issue is whether we acknowledge them now or later. Whether we expedite the process and get on with it, or resist and make the conflict bloody and protracted to our later shame.
The church's position on homosexuality has inflicted guilt and confusion and pain on people who deserve none of it. We know it has hurt lesbians and gays. What good has it done us? Scripture aside, what harm is there in being gay? Gay people, who ought to know personally, say none.
But some say it harms society by undermining the family. How? Is everyone going to abandon heterosexual sex because they can now be gay and accepted? Who believes that? But that has always been the line. "Accept Jews or blacks, etc. and society will be undermined." Acceptance will change society, -- but undermine it? How?
I would prefer that this church authorized same sex unions and state clearly that sexual orientation, like general and race, is no impediment to ordination. I prophecy that that is finally what some General Convention will say. But we Episcopalians essentially refused the mandate of this body when it asked the church to study this matter. So, what to do?
The issue needs to be humanized but many gay Christians are invisible and unlikely to surface in a hostile church. So perhaps the proposals of the Committee on Human Affairs are the best. They move us along. The Convention would provide some leadership without getting us where we are going. But it may get some off the dime.
The atmosphere may grow a little more congenial for the surfacing of people who, when known, will make us all wonder what we feared.
This is not the best solution nor the real one. But it may be the best we can do today. If we can't lead, let us at least follow.
This isn't a matter of some isolated text in Scripture, but of justice and the nature of God, both of which say no to prejudice and yes to inclusion and love and the future.
The Rev. Warner R. Traynham was a Deputy from the Diocese of Los Angeles. He is Rector of St. John's, Los Angeles.
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