So much for earthy details in Bible stories.
Telling the children more about Lot's plight in Sodom, I thought to tell them about the bizarre event of Lot's wife turning to salt. Decided to read them some backstory about why they were leaving Sodom, forgetting temporarily and stupidly what the men of the city wanted to do with the two angels (Genesis 19). I, uh, had to pause a lot and, uh, "whitewashed" the story.
But our children already detect homosexuality in media, hear "homo" and "gay" at school. We've already had to talk to our 8 and 10 year olds about homosexuality because of this exposure to the world.
Why is Jesus silent about homosexuality? Does the fact that Jesus never once spoke of homosexuality say anything to us out of the silence? The African bishops of the Anglican church were not silent about the ordination of an openly practicing gay bishop. Politics is not silent. Will our choice of president--George W. Bush or John Kerry--make any difference in this area or is it we who are called to make a difference? Will our churches continue to be silent? What is our stand? Perhaps more properly put: What is our relationship with homosexuals in our midst and in our communities?
Lynn Anderson's son, Jon, wrote an excellent article, How do we respond to homosexuality? for the Jan/Feb 03 Wineskins. We're working on another piece for the Fall '04 print issue (yes, we're still doing print until we phase completely out of current subscribers--we haven't been taking print renewal money for more than a year) on homosexuality and how the church responds. Also, Tony Campolo's new book, Speaking my Mind, is also a good resource for a different angle from the Fundamentalist hardline view.
8:15:11 AM 
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