New US church leader says homosexuality no sin

[DaKCMan AP]

New US church leader says homosexuality no sin

Mon Jun 19, 3:50 PM ET


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060619/...HBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

[Mr. Laz]

outa start a nice bruhaha on the right

[Baby Lee]

This is just my opinion, and I'm not even sure how well formed it is, but perhaps the best way to define sin is 'that which separates you from God.'
Therefore, homosexuality may or may not be 'sin.' If you accord yourself as a follower of Jesus and lover of the Lord, who happens to situate his family and obtain sexual release through a homosexual partner, the sexuality itself is no different than any other. If you allow your sexuality [homo or hetero, married or unmarried] to dominate over your striving for a relationship with God, it's sin.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

This is just my opinion, and I'm not even sure how well formed it is, but perhaps the best way to define sin is 'that which separates you from God.'
Therefore, homosexuality may or may not be 'sin.' If you accord yourself as a follower of Jesus and lover of the Lord, who happens to situate his family and obtain sexual release through a homosexual partner, the sexuality itself is no different than any other. If you allow your sexuality [homo or hetero, married or unmarried] to dominate over your striving for a relationship with God, it's sin.

Excellent post; that seems to agree with much of what I've been taught.

[Calcountry]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

This is just my opinion, and I'm not even sure how well formed it is, but perhaps the best way to define sin is 'that which separates you from God.'
Therefore, homosexuality may or may not be 'sin.' If you accord yourself as a follower of Jesus and lover of the Lord, who happens to situate his family and obtain sexual release through a homosexual partner, the sexuality itself is no different than any other. If you allow your sexuality [homo or hetero, married or unmarried] to dominate over your striving for a relationship with God, it's sin.

Now if only I can use moral relativism on whom I can steal from. Wait, them evil Oil companies are a good target.

[BucEyedPea]

Another thing Hamas Jenkins;

Have you ever heard of a thing called division of labor?

It's very efficient. That is really all a traditional family set up is.

I have a gf who told me recently that when she doesn't work and takes care of the house and her two kids that her husband's ( who has his own business ) income actually goes up. Interesting eh? Division of labor, same concept, that a successful business, even a successful economy is based on. But no, to collectivists we're all alike and should all be same, doing the same thing with no individual talents or abilities...one big androgenous society wearing socialist scrubs! How boring!

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

Another thing Hamas Jenkins;

Have you ever heard of a thing called division of labor?

It's very efficient. That is really all a traditional family set up is.

I have a gf who told me recently that when she doesn't work and takes care of the house and her two kids that her husband's ( who has his own business ) income actually goes up. Interesting eh? Division of labor, same concept, that a successful business, even a successful economy is based on. But no, to collectivists we're all alike and should all be same, doing the same thing with no individual talents or abilities...one big androgenous society wearing socialist scrubs! How boring!

"when everyone is special, nobody is..'

The Incredibles.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

Another thing Hamas Jenkins;

Have you ever heard of a thing called division of labor?

It's very efficient. That is really all a traditional family set up is.

I have a gf who told me recently that when she doesn't work and takes care of the house and her two kids that her husband's ( who has his own business ) income actually goes up. Interesting eh? Division of labor, same concept, that a successful business, even a successful economy is based on. But no, to collectivists we're all alike and should all be same, doing the same thing with no individual talents or abilities...one big androgenous society wearing socialist scrubs! How boring!

Of course a woman must always also perform the household chores in order for this to work. It's funny that you are the one running your mouth about people being all the same when you are the one advocating that women stick to the same tired professions that they have held for centuries. Well, thanks, but no thanks Phyllis Schafly. Believe it or not, a man can do the household work, and a woman can be a primary breadwinner, but a great deal of men (who still hold the overwhelming amount of political power in this country) still feel threatened by the possibility of a woman in position of power, so why not just collectivize them into mindless "bitches" who are always pregnant and barefoot making dinner for their husbands.

[Stinger]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

"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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060619/...BhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

Not sure if she read the whole book or not but she might want to re-read it because I believe the whole 10 comandments are not just suggestions. Just because a society doesn't observe certain rules doesn't make that society right. I know people will say they believe that the the bible is not soverign but to many it is and this is an abomination of that. (IMO) She might want to read that last book where God does judge people. Also she might want to be familiar with love the person but hate the sin.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Stinger

Not sure if she read the whole book or not but she might want to re-read it because I believe the whole 10 comandments are not just suggestions. Just because a society doesn't observe certain rules doesn't make that society right. I know people will say they believe that the the bible is not soverign but to many it is and this is an abomination of that. (IMO) She might want to read that last book where God does judge people. Also she might want to be familiar with love the person but hate the sin.

[luv]

I don't trust any woman that is in a leadership role at a church (church, not sunday school class or women's outreach ministries). There are also passages in the bible about that, too.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by luv

I don't trust any woman that is in a leadership role at a church (church, not sunday school class or women's outreach ministries). There are also passages in the bible about that, too.

[luv]

Originally Posted by Brock

Laughing at a person's beliefs?

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by luv

I don't trust any woman that is in a leadership role at a church (church, not sunday school class or women's outreach ministries). There are also passages in the bible about that, too.

sexist

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by luv

I don't trust any woman that is in a leadership role at a church (church, not sunday school class or women's outreach ministries). There are also passages in the bible about that, too.

And the Bible was written by a bunch of semi-literate Hebrew tribesmen who would be considered schizophrenic by the standards of the DSM-IV.

I guess that as a woman, it also doesn't bother you that women make 75 cents on the dollar for what a man makes in the same occupation. Nothing like cutting off your nose to spite your face