My heart was deeply saddened when I opened the News Tribune on Feb. 3 and read Arndt Braaten's Local View column, "The Gospel can bring change into homosexuals' lives." I tire of people using the word of God, as if there were only one true word, to shore up their prejudices and hate against their brothers and sisters for who they are.
Our congregation, in following Jesus and his radical hospitality, welcomes all people, and we mean it. When I baptize a child into the faith community, we promise to offer our love to them. This love doesn't change if they discover themselves to be gay or lesbian. We welcome the whole of who they are. And as a congregation we have been incredibly blessed by the gifts of our more than 60 GLBT members and friends.
Braaten, in his column, pointed to Zacchaeus' transformation. Zacchaeus was changed, and his heart was opened to undo the actions he had taken to defraud and steal from his people. His actions took away from who he was, a beloved child of God called to act justly and to care for all those around him. Our GLBT neighbors have done nothing wrong. Sexual orientation is not a choice for any of us. The American Journal of Psychiatry has said that "genetic factors provide an important influence on sexual orientation."
Braaten also advocated for reparative therapy for homosexuality, based on a study that was never published because it was considered "too flawed" by the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Robert Spitzer's study, in fact, concluded that reparative therapy is almost always a failure.
The word of God is a word of love and justice. Too often, people in the Christian church use their interpretations of the word as a weapon to prevent full inclusion of some because of who they are. It has been used to exclude women, to justify the practice of slavery and to continue the oppression of people of color in many forms. These actions have proven untenable. For the United Church of Christ, "God is still speaking," and there is more light and truth to break forth from God's living word of love.
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The Apostle Paul rejected certain sexual behaviors by Greek men in power, which were used to shame and degrade younger individuals. The writers of the Bible had no notion of sexual orientation, nor did they have the experience of living in committed, long-term, loving, same-sex relationships. The Bible does, however, have much to say about judging versus loving one another.
We continue to strive to be a community of welcome, loving God and all our neighbors, doing justice and walking humbly with our God. We have a long way to go, but we are on our way.
As one of our young gay members wrote, "I consider myself blessed to be living in such an era that in general is accepting of the GLBT community. Life on the 'outside' has had its challenges and more present themselves each day. But I have constant faith that one day, a generation of love and peace with God will rise above these challenges. When I came to Peace Church, I was delighted to see that a piece of that generation was hard at work to do just that."
THE REV. KATHRYN NELSON is lead pastor of Peace United Church of Christ in Duluth.
