This is relevant to the debate here in the US, within the churches. We have seen that political conservatism is becoming far more tolerant of LGBT than it has been, with now a bare majority of Republican voters approving of same-sex marriage. These numbers are only going to increase as older GOP voters die off. Even within churches that are conservative, there will be pressure to moderate the Biblical teaching -- if not to change it, then to de-emphasize it.
Many conservative pastors don't ever talk about the issue, or about sex at all, to avoid controversy. But they're not going to be able to avoid it forever. What happens when the gay son or daughter of a prominent family in the church wants to get married there? Over the past twenty years, so many conservatives, even Christians, have flipped on the issue when one of their children came out as gay. With the general sense in society moving steadily towards the normalization of homosexuality, even among people on the Right, it is unrealistic to think that conservative churches can avoid having to deal forthrightly with the question.
Given that few GOP politicians have found the courage or the cleverness to defend traditional marriage in the public square over the past twenty years, we can expect more and more conservatives, both in politics and in leadership positions in civil society, to embrace "progressive pieties glossed with a traditionalist veneer."
In fact, Archbishop Elpidophoros, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the US, got into trouble last year when he went to Greece and baptized the children of a gay couple, one-half of whom is the son of a rich Greek family from Chicago.
It is like a spouse trying to rationalize staying in an abusive shame filled marriage.
It is called a trauma bond.
She only beats me at night when she is drinking.
She wants an open marriage and I should be more tolerant when she sleeps with others.
I should doormat myself to honor her new open thinking.
IMHO Methodist leaders in the new conference should call it the Holiness conference or something like that in honor of John Wesley's and the early Methodist leaders' role in pushing forward the Holiness Movement (living holy lives for Christ even though we're saved by grace).
At least if you’re orthodox, you know who owns the building.
“on other issues—most recently the ordination of women—”
one cannot compare the ordination of women with acceeptance of LGBT. The rule about women was a creation of Paul, and was/is contrary to The Almighty’s word, the most notable example being Deborah = Judges 4:4-5.
Paul tries to justify his own opinion by referring back to Adam and Eve. Remembering that Adam was told about The Fruit before Eve was created, and to borrow a paragraph:
“Some scholars say that we should continue Paul’s policy because he supports his policy by referring to the biblical story of sin in the Garden of Eden: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor” (2:14). It is hard to follow the logic of this. If Adam was not deceived, then he sinned deliberately, out of rebellion rather than ignorance. It is difficult to argue that men should be in charge because the first man was a deliberate rebel. “
https://www.gci.org/articles/women-pastors/
Tell them that in Christianity, the only point of view which matters is Christ's, and that it is the duty of each Christian to discover what that is and align with it.
My guess is that this woman won't like being told that.
