Equal Rights in 2012

Equal Rights in 2012

On February 10 Heartland Presbytery passed two overtures to the 2012 General Assembly by a sizable majority.  The vote was taken by secret ballot and there was little debate before that vote.  The Overtures both involved same sex unions/marriages.

The first Overture seeks to edit and refine the Directory of Worship to make its language gender neutral. The second overture is asking the General Assembly for an Authoritative Interpretation regarding pastoral care in states that have approved same sex marriage.  Both of these overtures involve providing equal pastoral care for members and friends of PCUSA churches.

Eight days later I worshipped with the Mayflower United Church of Christ congregation in Minneapolis.  Our older son and his family have become involved with this congregation since moving to Minneapolis.  As a part of the worship service they celebrated joys and sorrows.  The death of a longtime member was the sorrow shared.  The adoption of a baby was the joy of the morning.

Most notable was that Jameson Sophia Wright-Rhodes was born on February 13^th and adopted by Sonia and Patricia Wright-Rhodes on February 15^th.

I am sure that when the Overtures from Heartland Presbytery are debated at the General Assembly the people opposed to the overtures will suggest that if these overtures are adopted the PCUSA will be violating Biblical teaching, destroying the sanctity of marriage and upsetting the social order – and offer many more self-assured arguments.

Well, here are some reflections from a longtime PCUSA preacher who grew up in an era when even father and son embracing could be interpreted as having sexual overtones.

The most complete discussion I have heard of the Biblical teaching on same-sex marriage/relationships was by Dr. Jack Rogers.  Rather than attempt to summarize Dr. Rogers’ analysis, I refer the reader to his writings.

Arguments against the Heartland Overtures:

It destroys Sanctity of marriage.

 We do not choose whom we will love.  We also do not live in a time when third parties arrange marriages, at least generally in the United States.  In the successful British drama set in the early part of the 20^th Century, “Downton Abbey” deals with arranged marriages, as one of its many story lines.  The patriarch of Downton Abbey attempts to control who one of his daughters will marry, but she has fallen in love with the chauffeur and they are going to move to Ireland.

The sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of my marriage is in no way diminished by the love and commitment of the couple adopting the newborn in Minneapolis.  The most damaging element to marriage is infidelity.  Whether it leads to divorce or not, when one of the partners in a marriage is unfaithful, it damages the sanctity of marriage.

In the late 1700s the Attorneys General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky gave three reasons why it was acceptable to own slaves in the United States. 

• First they stated that black men and women were better off on the plantations of the United States than in their native Africa risking hunger and inter-tribal war.
• If one did not accept that argument, then they argued that freeing the slaves would upset the social order.  In other words, freeing the slaves would lead to interracial marriage.
• If that argument was rejected, then slavery was a Biblical mandate.  The Chosen People of Israel had slaves and, since the United States was the new chosen people, it was allowed to have slaves.

Do any of those arguments sound familiar in the opposition to same-sex marriage?  They should.

When I was ordained in 1968 I would not have performed a same sex marriage.  Today, I cannot perform same-sex marriages because neither the State of Kansas nor Missouri have legalized such marriages.  Neither does the Book of Order, the PCUSA rulebook, allow me to perform same sex marriages.

But these restrictions may change within my lifetime.  If that happens, I will still be able to refuse to officiate at marriages based on my own assessment – same sex or opposite sex.  I will also have the authority to officiate at marriages I believe are decent and in order – same sex and opposite sex.

--Dr. Ron Patton, H.R.