[PAA-Discuss] New US church leader says homosexuality no sin

[Ron and Kris Graham]

I believe people are all buttered up differently, and if you're "wired" to
be attracted toward people of the same sex then that's just the way it is.
I'm so sick and tired of the church and so called Christians condemning
people for something they have absolutely no control over. Do we have
control over who we're attracted to? Hell no! We are attracted to whoever
causes our little hearts to flutter and it makes no difference if it's a
person of the same gender or not. It's not like people "choose" to be
homosexual. With all the shit homosexuals have to put up with, it's highly
unlikely someone would choose to be harassed, vilified, verbally and
physically assaulted by bigots etc. This is why I think organized religion
is a complete crock of crap!! The Bible was written by men and is used to
flog people into submission by religiously insane snake handlers who have a
god complex.

My 2 cents. Take it as you will.

Kris

Side note: This bishop is probably an okay kind of gal. I just don't happen
to agree that a god created homosexuals, heterosexuals or any other kind of
sexual. I'm not sure if a god or a higher being had something to do with
creation as we know it. If it did then it used evolution to get the job
done. Coming from a religiously insane Southern Baptist background, I don't
buy this heaven and hell, once saved always saved b.s. anymore. Been there,
done that, got the real ugly tee shirt. 

-----Original Message-----
From: S Gonzales [mailto:macdoggie02 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 6:48 PM
To: discuss at paa-tx.org
Subject: [PAA-Discuss] New US church leader says homosexuality no sin

New US church leader says homosexuality no sin
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060619/ts_nm/religion_episcopals_bishop_dc

Mon Jun 19, 3:50 PM ET

Newly elected leader of the U.S. Episcopal Church
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said on Monday she
believed homosexuality was no sin and homosexuals were
created by God to love people of the same gender.

Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, was
elected on Sunday as the first woman leader of the 2.3
million-member Episcopal Church. the U.S. branch of
the worldwide Anglican Communion. She will formally
take office later this year.

Interviewed on CNN, Jefferts Schori was asked if it
was a sin to be homosexual.

"I don't believe so. I believe that God creates us
with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this
world with a different collection of things that
challenge us and things that give us joy and allow us
to bless the world around us," she said.

"Some people come into this world with affections
ordered toward other people of the same gender and
some people come into this world with affections
directed at people of the other gender."

Jefferts Schori's election seemed certain to
exacerbate splits within a Episcopal Church that is
already deeply divided over homosexuality with several
dioceses and parishes threatening to break away.

It could also widen divisions with other Anglican
communities, including the Church of England, which do
not allow women bishops. In the worldwide Anglican
church women are bishops only in Canada, the United
States and New Zealand.

Three years ago when the Church last met in
convention, a majority of U.S. bishops backed the
consecration of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the
first openly gay bishop in more than 450 years of
Anglican history.

The Robinson issue has been particularly criticized in
Africa where the church has a growing membership and
where homosexuality is often taboo.

Jefferts Schori, who was raised a Roman Catholic and
graduated in marine biology with a doctorate
specialization in squids and oysters, supported the
consecration of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the
first openly gay bishop in more than 450 years of
Anglican history.

The 52-year-old bishop is married to Richard Schori, a
retired theoretical mathematician. They have one
daughter, Katharine Johanna, 24, a second lieutenant
in the U.S. Air Force and a pilot like her mother.

Asked how she reconciled her position on homosexuality
with specific passages in the Bible declaring sexual
relations between men an abomination, Jefferts Schori
said the Bible was written in a very different
historical context by people asking different
questions.

"The Bible has a great deal to teach us about how to
live as human beings. The Bible does not have so much
to teach us about what sorts of food to eat, what
sorts of clothes to wear -- there are rules in the
Bible about those that we don't observe today," she
said.

"The Bible tells us about how to treat other human
beings, and that's certainly the great message of
Jesus -- to include the unincluded." 

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