MCC Seattle, Wash. Readings for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost: James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-24 I want to start off by saying that there are no bad guys in Mark 7:1-24. The Pharisees and the lawyers that confront Jesus about the behavior of his disciples do
Editor: I just wanted to thank you for having this Web site. I was raised in a Christian house and struggled with my faith as a gay person and was rejected by my church and family right out of high school. I was very bitter
I am mad. To me, ‘mad’ has two different meanings. One is ‘angry’; the other is ‘insane.’ Both appropriate. How I got to this place is unimportant. Could’ve been stress, big expectations, or a bad lot of shrimp. No matter. I am mad. Now that
It came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. Now when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that
The president of Exodus International, Alan Chambers, recently published a book titled Leaving Homosexuality, and the interview he gave to CitizenLink that appears in its July 24, 2009 edition regarding his “leaving homosexuality” is instructive. This is part of what Alan Chambers said: For so
A gay priest is considered a saint by many since his heroic death in the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Father Mychal Judge, chaplain to New York City firefighters, responded quickly when Muslim extremists flew hijacked planes into the
When children return to school, most will be safer there than at home. In spite of all the nostalgic attempts to keep us believing “the American family” is an idyllic refuge, statistics say that home is the most dangerous place for children. It’s hard to
How should we define and think about marriage today? There’s been a lot of controversy and confusion over what many refer to as “the sacred institution of heterosexual marriage.” But what’s been the actual history of marriage? Going back to the time of the Roman
In an article that appeared in the August 7, 2009 edition of “Mother Jones” entitled, “The APA Nixes ‘Ex-Gay Therapy’: A Win for the Religious Right?” there is a reiteration of the fact that fundamentalism of all stripes, particularly including that which invokes “religion” and
Over a quarter of a century ago, in January 1975, the American Psychological Association urged “all mental health professionals to take the lead in removing the sigma of mental illness that has long been associated with homosexual orientations.” On August 14, 1997, it adopted a