A reader sent me an email stating that her Methodist congregation is having a difficult time deciding whether to disaffiliate themselves from the United Methodist Church in regard to gay marriage. A reader shared both the arguments from her moderately conservative congregation and asked me what my thoughts were. Looking at her list of “stay” arguments, I saw a bunch of propositions that were either deceptive (self-deceptive?) Wishful thinking. As she presents it, the stay argument amounts to: If we leave, it will mean that we are breaking off fellowship with a national institution that has been helpful to us. We will also side with those who are closed-minded and unwelcoming of different points of views. We want to remain open to all. We were also assured by state leaders that we will respect our congregational autonomy and will do our best to send us pastors who fit our more conservative congregation.
I explained to the reader that all this eyewash is nonsense, regardless of whether those who are promoting it realize it. I don’t know that congregation, of course, but I can imagine that at least some of the conservatives are not at all ideological. Growing up in a Methodist Church in the 1970s, I…
