The Rev. Ellen Tatreau belongs to a denomination that considers homosexuality “un-Christian.”
But as pastor of Albany’s Emmanuel Baptist Church, Tatreau welcomes homosexuals.
The pastor took her support a step further six months ago when, for the first time, she performed a marriagelike “service of commitment” for a lesbian couple. Eight people attended.
“The first time was really a profound experience,” Tatreau said. “Because I knew that the families of this couple were really struggling with this and did not see it as anything that should be sanctioned by the church.”
The pastor shared the story Tuesday following a forum billed around this theme: “The Spirituality of Marriage: Is Gay Marriage Different?”
Talk about fair and balanced . . . the article only shows a dialogue that promotes one side of the issue. It was not like they had to travel far in Albany to find a traditional and biblically based minister to have a discussion with.
[i] Racist commment deleted by elf. Another comment like this and the commenter will be placed in moderation. [/i]
Elf Lady
What I said was completely true. A gnostic “culture,” shall we say, that can’t even figure out the purpose of marriage is going to be replaced by a Catholic one.
Check out that picture of the lesbian pastor. She has her head shaved and [b]tattooed[/b] all over!
“And now, today’s topic: Are republicans closet Nazis or closet monarchists? Our panelists are Katherine van den Heuvel of The Nation and President Ugo Chavez of Venezuela.”
“Liberals: Satan-worshipping child molesters or tools of international Communism? Join Taki Theodoracopulos and Lew Rockwell for a stimulating discussion.”
[i] Please don’t make us close this thread because of your comments. [/i]
Here’s the thing in the article that drove me crazy. It happened within the first couple paragraphs.
Could it be possible for someone in the secular press — just ONCE? — to write an article about this without repeating this crap about “welcoming”? Orthodox parishes welcome everyone — if they don’t, they are not truly orthodox. Jesus is the Friend of Sinners. If a secular writer were to actually understand this thing called “the Gospel” then he’d realize that to welcome and love the PERSONS of sinners (the behavior of Jesus in his ministry) does not mean to conduct religious rites BLESSING the sinful acts in question.
Jesus loved and welcomed prostitutes: does that mean he’d want us to create special ceremonies blessing their condoms and jars of lube? Jesus would no doubt today have a special love for drug addicts: does that mean we should design special rites blessing their syringes?
Reappraisers have a legitimate right to raise the question: “has the church been mistaken in describing homosexuality as sin?” That’s fine. We can talk about that. What they shouldn’t do, along with their ignorant cohorts in the secular press, is misrepresent that question as being equivalent to whether a parish welcomes and loves everyone.
#7. John Stamper, an emphatic amen!
[blockquote]Check out that picture of the lesbian pastor. She has her head shaved and tattooed all over![/blockquote]
Whoa. I didn’t know she was female until I hit the Enlarge button.
Can anyone help me unsee something?
My comment was a satire on the fact that the panel’s view points seem to have ranged from “gay marriage is OK, I guess” to “gay marriage is WONDERFUL”.
Whose comments meant ye, oh Eldar?
I think they’re referring to me.
Glad to see another Taki & Lew fan here, btw.
Actually the concern is not about any one commenter or comment but the whole tone of the thread. — elfgirl
Good grief. I guess I’ll confine my criticism to the dated Book Antiqua font in which the source article is formatted.
I’m more of a Taki fan than a Lew fan. But I knew who they were before last year. 🙂
The panel represented both viewpoints: Those who believe in gay marriage and those who [i]really really[/i] believe in gay marriage.
Sigh……….Well, at least none of them were Episcopalian.
the snarkster
i heartily agree with you #7. but i think they do this because they need a hook to reel people into the story. most people cannot grasp the concept that sometimes issues take more than 1 liners.
#16… You are right. No complex issue ever fares well in sound bite journalism. (And this is the written equivalent of it.)
On the other hand, the writer of this article could have done a lot better. The language he used was:
He could have said, by way of contrast:
That would keep the message short but make it considerably more accurate.
“gay–marriage” ???. Nuff said
“Is gay marriage different”…..From what? From none at all? No. Remember, gay people who “want” marriage don’t want what actual married people have. They can never have it. What they *want* is for you not to have it. Misery loves company and always will.