Mary blogs on Francis

I was interested to get Mary Hunt's take on the statements of Pope Francis two days ago regarding women and gays.

Check her out on Religion Dispatches:

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/7216/will_francis__statements_on_women_and_gays__make_a_mess__inside_the_church/

A Pope for Gays and Women?

"Who am I to judge?" said Pope Francis yesterday when asked about his position on gays who are in sexual relationships.  

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/29/19751976-pope-who-am-i-to-judge-gay-people

You're the Pope, Jorge.  Remember?

If even you take this profoundly biblical and humble position, that undercuts the entire world-wide campaign against same-sex unions.  (Pope Francis echoes the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1.)

Wake up, Focus on the Family.  Wake up, legislators in Uganda who want to institute a death penalty for "repeated offenders"--homosexual men who are not celibate.  

Wake up, Christians for Biblical Equality and churches that judge a faithful same-sex relationship as an abomination in God's eyes.  Self-righteousness and judging the GLBT community is not the way of Jesus.  

Even more amazing is his response to questions about the status of women in the Roman Catholic Church:

"Mary is more important than the apostles."

That brings tears to my eyes.  

It puts a crack in the 1700-year old policy that only men can be priests, a  view partly based on enshrinement of Jesus's choice of twelve men as official apostles, representing the twelve tribes of Israel.  

That view requires overlooking the many women who also travelled and ministered with Jesus: Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Suzanna, "and many others who were contributing to the support of Jesus and the twelve with their own funds" (Luke 8:1-3).

That patriarchal view requires overlooking Mary, the mother of Jesus.  It allows the church to honor Mary while ignoring all other women on this planet. 

Thank you, Pope Francis, for allowing these reporters to question you so freely as you flew back to Italy after your visit to Brazil, and thank you for your gracious answers.

See also:

www.eewc.com -- website of a Christian feminist organization that supports gay rights

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/pope-francis-visits-brazil-to-rally-support-for-his-hidebound-church-by-peter-mcdonough  --Columnist Peter McDonough on Pope Francis, July 28, 2013

The Catholic Labyrinth: Power, Apathy, and a Passion for Reform in the American Church by Peter McDonough.

The Bible & Homosexuality

About 25 years ago someone showed me a pamphlet entitled "What the Bible Says about Homosexuality."

I opened it, and the inside was blank--a powerful statement.

Most of what we think the Bible says about "homosexuality" is wrong.

In the Genesis account of Sodom and Gomorrah, the actual sins involved are gang rape by heterosexual men  and inhospitality (to the extent of violence) toward guests.

In Romans and other New Testament letters, words that are translated as "homosexual" or "homosexuality" refer to situations that involve adultery or temple prostitution.  

There is no statement about long-term, faithful commitment between two men or two women.

Jesus made no statement on homosexuality, though he spoke up against casual divorce, which was available to men in first-century Israel but not to women.

Nevertheless, opposition to all things same-sex has become associated with Christianity in public debate in the last thirty years.

In my course on Women and Religion, we follow current news in the areas of religion and women's issues, so lesbian and gay issues in the news come up.  Because we don't have time to address them fully in the classroom, I did a lecture on the subject, available on YouTube with this link:

http://youtu.be/EhKXOMgqhhA

This past week there has been renewed interest in the issue of gay rights because the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8.

Don't jump to conclusions about what the Bible says just because the Roman Catholic Church and the Mormon Church put millions of dollars into getting Proposition 8 passed in 2008.  Find out for yourself what the Bible says.

There are many books on the subject--such as:

Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? Another Christian View by Letha Dawson Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott (Harper & Row, 1978)

Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality by John Boswell (University of Chicago Press, 1980)

The Church and the Homosexual by John McNeill (Sheed, Andrews, & McNeel, 1976)

What God Has Joined Together? A Christian Case for Gay Marriage by Letha Dawson Scanzoni and David G. Myers (HarperCollins, 2005).   

For a quick introduction to the few passages in the Bible that may seem to make a statement on homosexuality, use the YouTube link above.