The ancient Hebrews fought the prophets of Baal and their temple prostitutes. The Greeks promoted the male form and single sex liasons. Some religious people threw themselves into celibacy and some into orgies. Sex has been at the center of religious controversy seemingly for all time.
It still is an issue today. A leader in the evangelical movement turned out to have a gay lover a few years back. It was quite the scandal. The issue of gay clergy and bishops split the Episcopal Church not long ago, with some churches reverting to the Anglican Communion. Now it seems the Methodist Church is taking its turn. It was decided this week to keep excluding gays from clergy, from marriage, etc.
I really wish EVERYONE would stop fussing so much about sex and start addressing the real problem, or as they say, the elephant in the room. Churches are declining because of speaking in ancient and medieval ways about deep spiritual truths. People who know science, philosophy, and history don't buy the ridiculous and superstitious. The sun cannot stop in the sky. There is not enough water to cover the whole earth. Creation is billions of years old, not thousands. The development of theologies took a strange and twisted path, often violent path. They are not Truths, they are men's ideas about this and that, some pretty twisted men and their twisted ideas at that. Mental illness has nothing to do with demons, etc. etc. etc.
We can deepen our spirituality by not trivializing it. We need sanity, authenticity, truthfulness and the courage to speak in new ways about the most deep seated yearnings of humankind. We need to peel away layers of nonsense. We need spiritual direction that feeds our souls and does not offend our intellect.
Let it be so.
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