Clearly this is a hot topic in the world right now. But surely there is a stance that we can all share, every one who is a follower of Christ, that harming others, bullying others, and treating others as if they are somehow less important than some are things we should never do. That is why I am so proud of the 190th General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for making the following statement: (This is directly taken from the General Assembly Office Summary of Actions, item 37)
Affirmed the following Statement on
Opposition to Oppression based on Sexual
Identity and referred to the Unified Committee
on Theology and Social Concern for
development of resources: “We affirm the
Confession of Faith and its definition of human
sexuality. Echoing the Holy Scripture, the
Confession declares that humans are created in
the image of God, so we believe that there is no
place in any form in our church or in our world
for hate, denigration, unkind confrontation,
and/or physical violence perpetrated on
anyone, or oppression of any person based on
their gender or sexual expression.”
A statement on Opposition to Oppression seems like a no-brainer for a Christian church to make, but it is necessary because oppression is rampant in many places and particularly in some churches.
We will be celebrating Solidarity Sunday this week. Whatever disagreements we may have with others about inclusiveness, there should be no question that the church is a place where people will never be hated, denigrated, confronted unkindly, or have any type of violence perpetrated upon them because of their gender or sexual identity.
If we are to be the church of Christ, that's really a pretty low bar.
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