I am not sure what to think about the Pope's latest comments. What about you?
Usually I blog here with fully formed opinions or at least considered reflections ...
now I only have a bunch of questions.
As an clearly intended attack on the equality legislation that seeks to bring much needed justice for gay and lesbian people in many places in this country, I am not happy with what the Pope has said. Such equality is long overdue. I make no comment here on whether it should apply directly to Church except to say as someone who does not like the state interfering with religious liberty I kind of understand where the Pope is coming from as well. I value the freedom of conscience that I, my congregation and others in my denomination enjoy. There is a self determiantion (albeit a covenantal one) that has long stood up for its convicitons. But historically the Papal position has always been tied to the Power and Authority of Christendom and to the conflicts and / or alliances within that structure that can be made with the Secular Powers nad legislature. And that's where we part company. My tradition (at its best) has been ever been a dissenting or confessing one, we have historically has come under persecution from such powers adn authorities, religious and/ or state, and many followers have paid the price of their convictions.
And so I suppose I think that if the law of the land demands of me something which i believe to be unconscionable and a fundamental point of my essential confession of Christ as Lord then for sure I will protest the law in its making but if it then is passed, then there seems no alternative but to break it and suffer the consequences. I am not so sure that this is the case for me in this surrounding debate although it may yet prove to be so for my denomination. And I'm not so sure that the Pope is advocating large-scale Catholic civil disobedience here either. Although I will confess that prospect is appealing to me not least for the precedent it might set for other matters and the shift that it might herald in how the Church behaves.
Either way it does look like the forthcoming Papal visit will draw people, their energy and resources into choosing one side or another, pitting them against each other, which is the thing that saddens me most when there is so much good that might be done in the world if we learnt to work together.
5 comments:
Craig, one of my responses to this - is when did we last dissent? and how prepared are we dissent if neccesary if this legislation goes through? we've seem to lost our dissenting, but still go on about it ... much of major dissenting was a long time ago, its seem we enjoy the settle life we know have ...
Absolutley Andy: personally and denominationally we have largely lost the edge of this aspect of our discipleship. But this kind of thing shoudl cuase us to return to our history and reclaim our future
I hope so ...
Isn't one of the problems with this really about his integrity and the fact that this is a state - and a state funded - vist? Therefore, how can he on the one hand reject the state's legislative reaches into religious realms, but then accept a state financed welcome which endorses his standing? If he wants to be homophobic on his own dollar that's one thing, but this is hypocritical too.
If we have moved beyond the old view that the church has a monopoly on ethics, then we have to accept that other have the right - and indeed the duty - to comment on the ethical position of the church.
In demanding the right to continue with discriminatory practices, it seems to me that the pope has shown himself - as so often before - to belong to another era. One which I for one hope is in its death throes.
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