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ROBERT A. BERNSTEIN
Friday, October 03, 2008
WHEN
BISHOPS
ARE
embarrassed
about
enforcing
their
denomination’s
anti-gay
rules,
and
ministers
perform
same-sex
unions
in
secret,
the
handwriting
is
on
the
church
wall.
So
suggests
the
senior
minister
of
a
high-profile
Washington
United
Methodist
Church.
The
days
of
mainstream
religious
opposition
to
gay
marriage
would
seem
to
be
numbered,
in
the
same
way
that
clerical
opposition
to
racial
integration
dissolved
four
decades
ago.
I’m
hardly
the
first
to
recognize
the
similarities
between
gay
and
racial
discrimination.
But
one
critical
parallel
goes
largely
unmentioned
—
namely,
the
role
of
the
clergy
in
first
impeding
but
ultimately
taking
a
lead
in
the
movement
for
equality.
In
the
1960s,
thousands
of
pastors,
primarily
as
a
matter
of
perceived
job
security,
ignored
their
personal
beliefs
and
failed
to
speak
out
against
racial
discrimination,
which
Martin
Luther
King,
Jr.
denounced
as
“the
appalling
silence
of
the
good.”
Ultimately,
however,
courageous,
outspoken
clergy
were
instrumental
in
mainstream
religion’s
general
acknowledgment
of
the
spiritual
basis
for
integration
and
support
for
civil
rights
laws.
So
today,
primarily
for
the
same
reasons
of
job
security,
legions
of
ministers
fear
to
speak
publicly
of
their
private
personal
support
for
gay
marriage.
But
the
turnabout,
at
least
among
non-fundamentalist
faiths,
is
on
its
way.
The
current
turmoil
over
gay
marriage
within
the
Methodist
denomination
is
a
revealing
example
of
both
the
“silence
of
the
good”
and
the
inevitability
of
ultimate
widespread
clerical
acceptance.
Officially,
the
denomination’s
Book
of
Discipline
ordains
that
“homosexuality
is
incompatible
with
Christian
teaching.”
BUT
WHILE
THE
church’s
harsh
stance
has
so
far
withstood
regular
attacks
at
its
general
conferences,
the
margin
has
narrowed
each
year.
Protest
services
have
been
held
around
the
country,
including
one
in
Sacramento
attended
by
more
than
1,100,
including
some
100
ministers.
So
it’s
not
overly
surprising
that
Rev.
Dean
Snyder,
first
minister
of
D.C.’s
Foundry
United
Methodist
Church,
foresees
the
ban’s
fall
within
the
next
four
years.
Foundry
is
a
large,
high-profile
church
within
the
denomination,
traditionally
attended
by
presidents
and
other
national
figures,
and
Rev.
Snyder
is
among
the
hundreds
of
Methodist
pastors
openly
supportive
of
same-sex
unions.
“I
think
it’s
just
tragic,”
he
says,
“that
the
church
ends
up
being
a
follower
on
this
issue
rather
than
a
prophetic
leader.”
He
confirms
that
many
of
his
local
Methodist
colleagues
agree
with
him,
including
some
who
are
performing
the
unions
clandestinely,
though
“I
wouldn’t
‘out’
any
of
them.”
FOUNDRY
RECENTLY
DREW
national
attention,
and
harsh
criticism
from
some
national
Christian
and
Methodist
organizations,
when
its
congregation
supported
Rev.
Snyder’s
proposal
to
“recognize
and
honor”
committed
gay
relationships.
Ironically,
however,
Rev.
Snyder
is
actually
apologetic
about
the
church’s
stance.
That’s
because
the
move
doesn’t
allow
the
ceremony
to
be
conducted
on
Foundry
premises
or
by
Rev.
Snyder
himself.
Instead,
it
authorizes
it
to
be
conducted
elsewhere
and
by
someone
else.
Only
then
does
it
permit
Rev.
Snyder
to
conduct
a
worship
service
at
Foundry
honoring
the
committed
relationship.
The
procedure
presumably
skirts
the
Book
of
Discipline
ban
because
the
actual
commitment
ceremony
isn’t
performed
by
a
Methodist
minister
or
on
Methodist
premises.
Rev.
Snyder
implies
that
he
personally
would
have
favored
approval
of
on-site
ceremonies
performed
by
Foundry
clergy.
“We
approved
the
[off-site]
procedure
with
apologies,”
he
said.
“But
it
was
what
we
were
able
to
reach
consensus
on
at
this
point
in
our
history.”
He
feels
that
Methodist
bishops
are
increasingly
“embarrassed”
by
the
formalized
discrimination.
And
he
cites
the
parallel
to
the
end
of
racial
segregation
in
the
denomination.
“Our
bishops
have
enormous
power
to
act
behind
the
scenes
and
to
make
a
difference.
That’s
how
segregation
ended
in
the
United
Methodist
Church
—
it
ended
when
the
bishops
became
publicly
embarrassed
at
the
scandal
of
segregation
within
the
denomination.
And
they
maneuvered
things
in
such
a
way
as
to
get
it
ended.
“So
my
hope
is
that
they
will
exercise
the
same
sort
of
leadership
now.”
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