Posted on 06/09/2004 8:06:18 AM PDT by Phx_RC
Demanding that Catholic and other religious leaders include gays in the full life of the church, pastors on Tuesday nailed their controversial "Phoenix Declaration" to a symbolic door they want opened to allow gays to fully experience "God’s unconditional love."
Their gesture sought to recreate what Reformation founder Martin Luther did in 1517 in nailing the "95 Theses" to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, to protest Catholic practices and abuses.
Members of No Longer Silent/Clergy for Justice capped a news conference in Phoenix with the gesture to react to Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s ordering nine priests in April to remove their names from the statement written in early 2003. Eight priests complied; a retired priest who refused has had his pastoral faculties suspended. That Phoenix priest, the Rev. Andre Boulanger, attended the gathering at the Interchurch Center.
"We stand with the countless Christian ministers, scholars, and laity who, from prayerful study of the Scriptures and Christian tradition, find no rational biblical or theological basis to condemn or deny the rights of any person based on sexual orientation," the declaration states.
The pastors responded to Olmsted’s letter made public in the May 20 issue of The Catholic Sun in which the bishop said the declaration is ambiguous and "stands in contrast to the clear teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and the Magisterium of the Church about homosexuality." He said the declaration implied that "authentic Church teaching fosters intolerance and even violence toward homosexual persons."
A Tempe pastor emphasized that the church must change because "God is still speaking" through science, genetics and psychology.
"It takes a while for canon law to catch up with science," said the Rev. John Herman of Desert Palm United Church of Christ in Tempe. "Over the years the Christian church has been dead wrong about a number of things," including that the Earth was flat and issues regarding slavery and women’s rights.
Mary Jo West, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, urged people to read the bishop’s three-part series on homosexuality published recently in The Catholic Sun at www.diocesephoenix.com.
The Phoenix Declaration can be found at www.nolongersilent.org/PhoenixDeclaration.html.
The local radio news reports were very sympathetic to the clergy who were urging acceptance of same sex attraction disorder. The reports sounded like they were written by them.
""We stand with the countless Christian ministers, scholars, and laity who, from prayerful study of the Scriptures and Christian tradition, find no rational biblical or theological basis to condemn or deny the rights of any person based on sexual orientation," the declaration states."
It certainly doesn't. It is the call to chastity that is being trashed.
Agree
You nailed it. Set up a straw man and then knock it down.
I am an unmarried heterosexual. Do these same people think I can do anything I want with my sexual orientation?
Well, bad question. They probably would say do what ever you feel like doing. As long as you "love" someone it's not a sin.
by: Michael Clancy -
The Arizona Republic - Jun. 9, 2004 - Link to Full Article.
Valley clergy in favor of gay rights on Tuesday denounced statements that use "religion to sanction the condemnation and rejection" of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
At a Tuesday news conference, members of No Longer Silent: Clergy for Justice said they wanted to reach leaders of all denominations but particularly Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, who in the past month has challenged the group and the priests who signed a pro-gay document, the Phoenix Declaration, in 2003.
. . . [snip]
Eight of nine Catholic priests who signed the declaration removed their names after Olmsted urged them to do so. One priest refused. Last week, the bishop suspended the Rev. Andre Boulanger from all ministerial duties. Boulanger, who has argued that Catholic theology should evolve with up-to-date thinking about homosexuality, attended Tuesday's conference in religious garb and took part in the symbolic nailing.
A priest who removed his name, the Rev. Vernon Meyers, also attended.
. . .[snip]
The bishop, in three columns published in the Catholic Sun, said Catholic teaching calls homosexuals to a life of chastity.
Writing for a general audience, the bishop said, "Should you be aware of persons who have homosexual inclinations, accept them as brothers and sisters in Christ and support them by authentic love and prayer." But, he added, "do not condone homosexual activity or fail to teach clearly that it, along with all sexual activity outside of marriage, is seriously wrong."
Olmsted said his position was made clear in the three-part series.
"Especially the first part, which is the heart of what he wants people to know about the issue," said the Phoenix Diocese's public information officer, Mary Jo West. . . .[snip]
It seems to me that there was a time when I didn't understand why there had been religious wars.
I do now.
I would cheerfully take up arms against these filthbuckets, if a religious war were declared today.
Is this once too often? Has he reached his limit?
Precisely!
"Homosexual unions are totally lacking in the biological and anthropological elements of marriage and family which would be the basis, on the level of reason, for granting them legal recognition. Such unions are not able to contribute in a proper way to the procreation and survival of the human race. The possibility of using recently discovered methods of artificial reproduction, beyond involving a grave lack of respect for human dignity,(15) does nothing to alter this inadequacy."
CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION TO UNIONS BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS
Ping!
Check the current: List of Signers of the NLS Declaration
On June 9, 2004 he is listed on Line # 124.
Amen!
It's a myth that the Christian church ever taught the Earth is flat. This falsehood was promoted by a 19th century popularizer of science whose account of the Galileo saga was intended to slander the Church as an enemy of science.
A Tempe pastor emphasized that the church must change because "God is still speaking" through science, genetics and psychology.
The same pervs who gave us abortion, transgender surgery, IVF, contraception, homosexuality as not a disease, euthanasia,etc. The culture of death includes gay sex.
Of course!! What could be more true? After all,the "life force" is "DEAD ON ARRIVAL".
###"If you are a clergy person in Arizona, and would like to add your signature to this declaration, please send an e-mail message to phoenixdeclaration@nolongersilent.org with your name, your organizational affiliation (and your *role* within that organization), and city. For example, "Pat McGillicuddy, Pastor, Church of What's Happening Now, Phoenix." The signatures will be included when the document is published."###
Ha!
What's happening now is that 135 clergy have to answer to our Lord.
Let us pray for the conversion of sinners.
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