Dear Editor,
Isn't it interesting how history can appear to repeat itself when looked at in general terms? Take the current hot air about the church's acceptance of homosexuality. Those members of the church who think that the church will never bow to the homosexual lifestyle don't know their church very well.
From the start, the church has always been bowing by accepting practices that it would never dream of. The church recently celebrated Christmas. How many church members know that Christmas is based on a pagan ritual that it at first rejected? In the Old Testament, disobedient children were ordered killed. I wonder which brave pastor would preach that today?
Even if we look at more recent times, we see the church bowing. The Mormon church did not allow black people to have leadership roles until fairly recently. Many other churches only started allowing women leaders in recent times.
Even in Jamaica, we see the church bowing. A friend of mine who used to work in the education ministry told me that there was a time our church-controlled schools would never have allowed teachers who had children out of wedlock into the classroom. Indeed, there was a time when the church scorned fornicators.
Now, in every instance, the church has bowed as a result of the sheer force of the new realities. Imagine, for instance, our Jamaican churches turning away all fornicators today. Most of them would be empty.
Churches in societies like ours can afford to maintain their scorn towards homosexuals, thanks to our society's rejection of their lifestyle. However, with all the changes that are taking place around us, the permanency of this scorn is in doubt.
The church may have done a terrible job at proving the existence of God, but it is very good at "re-interpreting" scripture to accept new realities. If and when the majority decides to accept the homosexual lifestyle as normal, the church will bow, as it has always done.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com
The church will bow as usual
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Isn't it interesting how history can appear to repeat itself when looked at in general terms? Take the current hot air about the church's acceptance of homosexuality. Those members of the church who think that the church will never bow to the homosexual lifestyle don't know their church very well.
From the start, the church has always been bowing by accepting practices that it would never dream of. The church recently celebrated Christmas. How many church members know that Christmas is based on a pagan ritual that it at first rejected? In the Old Testament, disobedient children were ordered killed. I wonder which brave pastor would preach that today?
Even if we look at more recent times, we see the church bowing. The Mormon church did not allow black people to have leadership roles until fairly recently. Many other churches only started allowing women leaders in recent times.
Even in Jamaica, we see the church bowing. A friend of mine who used to work in the education ministry told me that there was a time our church-controlled schools would never have allowed teachers who had children out of wedlock into the classroom. Indeed, there was a time when the church scorned fornicators.
Now, in every instance, the church has bowed as a result of the sheer force of the new realities. Imagine, for instance, our Jamaican churches turning away all fornicators today. Most of them would be empty.
Churches in societies like ours can afford to maintain their scorn towards homosexuals, thanks to our society's rejection of their lifestyle. However, with all the changes that are taking place around us, the permanency of this scorn is in doubt.
The church may have done a terrible job at proving the existence of God, but it is very good at "re-interpreting" scripture to accept new realities. If and when the majority decides to accept the homosexual lifestyle as normal, the church will bow, as it has always done.
Michael A Dingwall
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com
The church will bow as usual
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