Comment by Jen (Guest)

Jen (Guest) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:21:11 +0000

I went to my childhood church in Ann Arbor today with my parents and my children. This was in the bulletin:

"As congregants of the First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor, we welcome and affirm all persons. We are intentional in being inclusive of those of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender orientations, all genders, ethnicities, and abilities."

This is on the church's website about inclusiveness:

"The word "homosexuality" was not coined until the late 1800s so it does not appear in a rightly interpreted translation of the Bible. As readers of the Bible, we must rely on the translations of Biblical scholars for their understanding of what Scriptures mean. Scripture does not speak to loving, committed homosexual relationships. And Jesus did not say anything about homosexuality.

Perhaps what we need to keep in mind is that Jesus' message overwhelmingly encourages us to love our neighbor, be humble, avoid being judgmental, and to care for people who are hurting and marginalized by society."

Also, I'm not at all surprised that you spent so much time on this. Sounds like something I would do if I felt like I had the readership to make a difference (and a public blog) (and people reading it who were not already in agreement with me on this issue).

In other news, Huron Players' reunion on June 6th, 2009. Are you coming? Someone else is planning it!

Controversy 1: Gay Marriage

Ken — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:39:54 +0000

Sometimes I wish that we didn't pay so much attention to divisive topics like abortion and gay marriage. There are so many more important issues to discuss, and so many ideas in which we can find common ground... why devote such energy to wedge issues like this?

But with what's happened with Prop 8 in California, I think I have to say something. That will make me as guilty as anyone of fueling the fire of debate, but so be it.