From the misfit fringe of another denomination, Rome recruits the naysayers it needs to bolster what has become its own place on the margin of Catholic life. First there was Opus Dei, with its crypto-fascist origins, then there were the Holocaust-denying lovers of Latin – and now the Anglo-fundies. Come on over, guys!
…even as hierarchies struggle to maintain rigidities in place, even as persons are hurt and their ministries denied, something else is going on, namely the emergence of the hidden wisdom of God’s people, a choreography of promise, a recognition which the official Church will surely have to take seriously.
Historically we have been encouraged to think for ourselves. It was never required that our honestly-held beliefs comport with those of our priest, bishop, presiding bishop or even the archbishop of Canterbury.
For every faith community, marriage exists not only to protect but to reveal the deeper connection of God’s love for us. It is precisely as such that it is as important an institution to same-gender couples as it is to heterosexual couples in those same faith communities. Faith, however, demands more of us.
Phyllis Tickle turns the calendar on the next phase of the Emergent conversation.
Churches will only grow stronger when they do not discriminate in choosing clergy. As Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, a professor at Claremont School of Theology in California, said, “You can’t partition justice.”
A calculated decision to stop tithing (or any charitable giving, religiously encouraged or otherwise) in order to escape credit-card debt is perfectly acceptable and possibly even recommended, as long as you follow a few basic guidelines.
It isn’t breaching the wall of separation between church and state to observe that evolving attitudes within a religious group, regardless of their theological aspects, often parallel views of right conduct and belief in the wider society.
Rational self-interest isn’t enough to save the world. We will need faith as well.
Thomas Berg, writing in Christian Century, discusses the issue of religious liberty and marriage equality: