"She has failed to proclaim with sufficient emphasis that our bodies belong to the Body of Christ"

I too lived in the south, Springdale, Arkansas, when segregation was not only rampant but the law, and many white people hated blacks. I was not quite a teenager but I understood how sinful it was. In Springdale no black was allowed at all. I once saw attendants at a filling station turn and walk inside when an African American family drove up for gas; the same thing happened when they drove across the street. But this is not the same thing at all as this article, When ‘Religious Liberty’ Was Used To Justify Racism Instead Of Homophobia, portrays it.[1]

I saw the article because the Presbyterian Voices for Justice posted it on their Facebook page.  The article itself is overshadowed by a picture that is supposed to remind everyone that Christians who don’t want to engage in ceremonies that they believe to be sin are like these bigoted KKK people.

 

However, all of the people we have read about who are being fined and harassed because they won’t provide flowers, or cakes, or pictures for same gender weddings don’t hate homosexuals. Most of them have provided their goods to gays and lesbians, they simply do not want to be a part of a ceremony they believe is unbiblical.

They have not turned anyone away from essential needs and would not. They wouldn't refuse to sit beside them and intend to be friends.

But the truly hateful thing to me is the way Presbyterian Voices of Justice uses such articles to malign those they supposedly believe to be brothers and sisters. In this context the call for unity and reconciliation in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is absurd.

I do have a few suggestions for those being forced to participate in ceremonies that are sinful. Perhaps one could say to each person as they pin a corsage or flower on before the wedding, Jesus loves you and died for you. Perhaps as the baker carefully sets up the cake they can softly sing  "Oh to be Like Thee Blessed Redeemer… (pure as thou art.)"

Perhaps as the photographer moves about taking pictures ….well on that one I have no idea. But perhaps you have a suggestion. Of course, I am not serious. But here is a serious suggestion, that some organization, a group of churches or others, set up an account whose sole purpose would be to aide individuals who are fined for refusing to go against their faith. And let us pray for Presbyterian Voices For Justice. I have seen some good things on their site such as tributes to African American women and quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

But not this one:

The Church confesses ...She has found no strong and effective answer to the contempt  for chastity and to the proclamation of sexual Libertinism. All she has achieved has been an occasional expression of moral indignation. She has rendered herself guilty of the loss of the purity and soundness of youth. She has failed to proclaim with sufficient emphasis that our bodies belong to the Body of Christ. (Ethics)

 

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[1] For a good explanation of what the Arizona bill was about read: No, this is not Jim Crow for gays, Part Two.