legalized sin?

  Was just reading where the United Methodist Church now allows openly gay ministers. They aren't the first, it has been a growing trend. The Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and the United Church of Christ all endorse this. Quite a shift in theology since I was a younger man. The Catholic church hasn't gone quite that far, yet, but do offer blessings to gay marriages. A move I question. How can you bless anything while still saying it is against Gods word? Loving thy neighbor doesn't mean accepting or endorsing their behavior. In fact, I would say it is out of love and empathy that you point out the error of their ways. That was the common thought when I was growing up. Of course, I was told, this is for your own good! 99.9% of the time, it was. 

 The church and its 'teachings have always reflected societies attitudes. We were told that is why the pilgrims came to America, to escape persecution. There is some truth in that, but the main goal was financial gain. As the people settled the land attitudes on religious practices also changed. Then when the nation was formed, we determined that religion would not play a role in government at all. You could view that as the elimination of a moral code. That is what religion generally concerns itself with, right and wrong and what is the moral choice or justification. We decided upon a legal standard. Those standards were, of course, established by the society. When everyone is doing it, its' alright. In years past, our society was more Christian based. 

 The founding fathers of this nation called upon divine providence for the rectitude of their intentions. That is to say being morally correct, righteous, and just in their decisions. God (divine providence) whatever you conceived that to be was to be the guide. There was no denial that a higher power existed, and indeed would intervene on the behalf of humanity when necessary. Gradually that thinking has been pushed aside and the reliance on legal standards has overtaken that. The same thinking has taken place in the churches across America as a reflection of that. Just as there are those attempting to rewrite the Constitution, calling for an update, there are those doing the same in the churches. It's true in a technical sense that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality but that in itself is not an endorsement. There are lots of things we all know to be wrong that Jesus never talked about. It is the old argument, it doesn't say I can't, therefore I can. Lawyers use that argument all the time. 

 Now having said what I said, I offer this for clarification. It is my belief that homosexuality is a sin. It is an unnatural act. I don't believe anyone should be punished for that however, as long as they don't impose that upon others. It's a sin, not a crime. And therein lies the irony in all of this. Why do we feel the need to "legalize" sin? That is exactly what we are doing with all this legislation and recognition by the government and the church. The answer is an uncomfortable truth. 

 The majority of the people understand that it is an unnatural act and morally wrong. Interesting to note is that prior to 1996 when Bill Clinton signed the DOMA (defense of marriage act) there was no federal law prohibiting that. It wasn't written down anywhere, it was just not recognized. Jesus didn't technically say anything about that and neither did our government or laws. There were only individual states that prevented that. The federal government didn't recognize them as legal marriages. Wasn't until 2015 that the supreme court ruled otherwise. That decision was based solely on legal precedent, just the way the founding fathers intended government to function. 

 I don't think the founding fathers ever envisioned a total absence of moral judgement in the decision-making process. In fact, John Adams wrote that our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. He pointed out it was totally inadequate to the government of any other. Today it's my feeling we have the other! I could be wrong, I'm no biblical scholar and haven't really studied those scriptures as much as I should, but I haven't seen any endorsement for gay ministers in those pages. The way I read it being gay is still a sin. As I like to point out in at least one biblical story Jesus says, go and sin no more. He didn't say keep on sinning and I'll keep on forgiving. Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple, and I expect he would do the same to gay ministers/preachers or Rabbi's.