Come on, Father

Judge Ginny Granade’s ruling striking down Alabama’s gay marriage ban seemed to come out of nowhere. Truth has a way of doing that. Perhaps it’s because we don’t get a regular newspaper anymore. Maybe I wasn’t paying close attention, but it seemed the media outlets gave the impending ruling little thought. But what a seismic shift in the way of things. What a step toward a more mature and gracious society. Mature, yes. What a cause for celebration! I was watching a local television news broadcast a few nights after the ruling. The news anchor prefaced the segment by saying that “local clergy”  were weighing in on the ruling. That of course caught my attention. I was fearful about what might be said in the name of the church. Sure enough a local priest stated that to bless same sex unions “denigrates” the institution of marriage…. How sad… how shameful…. how willfully ignorant. Good father, go ahead and say what you mean… that homosexual people aren’t worthy of the dignity granted to the rest of us. What about the Gospel do you not understand? As I read scripture, it is central to Jesus’ teachings for us as people of God, people of conscience, to stand against shame and indignity in any form it takes. Justice and dignity always trump social convention; justice and dignity always trump “religious” convention as well.

Given the mass (no pun intended) exodus from mainstream Christianity over the last several decades, one would think the church and the clergy thereof would be on their knees thanking God that there are still people in the world who want the church’s blessing; that for some the church is still relevant. Is the church not first and foremost in the blessing business? We should be honored.

Over the past recent years I, like many of you, have become increasingly cynical as to how well our system of government functions…. the gridlock in congress; decisions of the court that undermine civil rights, that favor the rich over the poor. But every now and then our system of government has shining moments of genius; every now and then our democracy rises above ignorance and prejudice and fear, and serves the common good. This decision is one of those moments, and I for one rejoice in it. Wouldn’t it be something to behold if the church could, or would, rise to such genius as well. Come on, father.

We are taught duly in Hebrew scripture and in New Testament literature to love the stranger among us; and warned to pay attention to our Xenophobic tendencies; that in God’s alchemy, we love God and we love ourselves by loving the stranger. Our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters have for far too long been shamed as the stranger among us. By loving them and celebrating their lives among us we move as the human community one step closer towards the wholeness God intends for our world. As a priest of the church I rejoice in this courageous step in righting a grievous wrong. We are all made in God’s image. It is high time we started acting like it.