Religious Pastor's Upside Down Inside Out Activities
Two important events occurred in religious circles this past week. First, a woman, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, was installed as head of the Episcopal Church. She supports ordaining gays and allowing blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.
Second, evangelist Ted Haggard was ousted as senior pastor of the New Life Church for his alleged homosexual activities and for what the church’s board cited as "his sexually immoral conduct."
These two different reactions to gays illustrate why we have the separation of church and state. In the early days of our nation, churches of different denominations couldn’t reach agreement on the teachings of the Bible. Some churches taught a loose version of the Bible and other churches strictly adhered to its teachings. Because these churches could not agree between themselves on the major tenets of Christianity, the Constitution stated that no national church would be recognized.
In today’s world, we see a new church leader who claims that she will welcome gays. On the other hand, we see church leaders who have ousted their gay pastor. One Christian sect accepts gays, the other Christian sect ousts them. I am sure that each church claims that they know the "truth."
As in the past, the "truth" of one church will never be accepted as the "truth" by the other church. It seems as if each church has created its own version of the Bible and of God.
It reminds me of an old saying, slightly altered, which goes like this: ‘In the beginning man created Gods.
(Source:Chicago Tribune)
