Gay marriage is not what you may think

I am reading a lot of religious leaders coming out against what the Supreme Court decided was right on gay marriage. It got me thinking about what too few people are aware of.

In December of 2010 a Denver church grew after accepting homosexuals.

Highlands Church marks its first birthday Sunday, having survived a year in which it lost half its congregation and two-thirds of its financial support after the pastor declared that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people could participate fully in church life and leadership.

The Rev. Mark Tidd, married father of five, said his decision created a maelstrom that forced his break with the denomination of his ordination, the Christian Reform Church.

It also led him to end his affiliation with Pathways Church.

They were not bitter partings, the pastor said, just inevitable.

"I knew my views and practices were outside their bounds," Tidd said. "My church extends the love of God to people who are treated like the last group of lepers on earth."

On October 10th, 2011 First openly gay pastor ordained in the PCUSA spoke to CNN

(CNN) - It was nearly three decades in the making, but the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has ordained its first openly gay pastor. The Rev. Scott Anderson was ordained Saturday at Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Madison, Wisconsin.

"It's an exciting time for me personally to be the first openly gay person ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and it's a big moment for our church that has has excluded gays and lesbians for so many decades, so it's a new day for us," Anderson told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

Anderson had previously been a Presbyterian pastor but left the ministry in 1990 after he was outed by congregants.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church holds the opinion that sexuality, as we understand it, is part of the fallen world only. In Orthodox theology both monasticism and marriage are paths to Salvation (sotiriain Greek; literally meaning, "becoming whole"). Celibacy is the ideal path, exemplified in monasticism, while marriage is blessed under the context of true love ("Man must love his wife as Jesus loved his Church": this phrase is part of the Orthodox Marriage Ritual). This context can be interpreted by the non-Orthodox as not being exclusive of homosexuality; whereas it is seen as exclusive of homosexuality by the vast majority of the Orthodox. Traditionally, the church has adopted a non-legalistic view of sin (see above), in which homosexuality is a sin. Although some members of the church may have assumed an active role in encouraging negative social stereotypes against gay individuals who do not repent, they misrepresent the stance of the Orthodox Church, which does not promote judgment of people but judgment of actions. However, several prominent members of the clergy have made statements condemning homosexuality.

All jurisdictions, such as the Orthodox Church in America, have taken the approach of welcoming people with "homosexual feelings and emotions," while encouraging them to work towards "overcoming its harmful effects in their lives," while not allowing the sacraments to people who seek to justify homosexual activity.

LGBT activism within Orthodox churches has been much less widespread than in Catholicism and many Protestant denominations. In 1980 the group Axios was founded in Los Angeles to advocate for sexual minorities in the Orthodox church, and has since started several other chapters in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

There is what is legal and what is religious. There is a difference. What is right with one church may not be right with another but you have the right to join or quit whatever church you want to. In my case, I am Eastern Orthodox so according to them, they can deny me sacraments if I justify homosexual "activity" but I am not sure what they mean by that. My church taught me to love others and that is how I have tried to live. I am not trying to justify anything other than they have the same rights under the law to live free and must live with the rules of the religious groups they want to belong to. If they do not feel welcomed there, there are other places they can go and feel loved.

I have talked to far too many members of the military risking their lives for this land of freedom but were not free to live as themselves.