Bishops and gay marriage
The Church of Sweden has made its decision, and will marry same-sex couples essentially as soon as a ceremony has been worked out. We also recently consecrated an openly gay bishop, who lives with her wife. This has led to a whole lot of arguments, accusations, and hard feelings, with some claiming that this is an expression of everyone's value and right to love despite sexual orientation, and others that this is the final step away from true Christianity. There'll be no prizes for guessing what side I'm on... I can empathise with those who feel that the Church of Sweden can no longer be their spiritual home - it's not like I've never felt that way myself - but I am coming round to the idea that a clear message is not all there is to being a church.
I am in many ways a conservative Christian; I believe in most of the dogma handed down from the early church and have no problem interpreting it literally. I do not, however, share the belief common to many that the Bible is clear, needs no interpretation, and must be applied to today's society in the most immediate way possible. I've read it, and there are contradictions a-plenty. What the gospel rarely backs down from, though, is that we are called to love our neighbours radically, abundantly, and with no particular regard for whether we feel they deserve it. For me, that means offering people attracted to their own sex recognition of their marriages the way we offer it to people attracted to the opposite - perhaps even more to the non-straight, as the straight rarely have their relationships questioned by society anyway.
I used to think that the church needed to be clearer in its pointing to Christ as the answer to all of life's difficulties (not to the questions - I've never noticed faith removes our questions), but I am not so sure anymore. Having seen someone come to believe through my church's casual and unfussy acceptance of everyone, I wonder i that acceptance, based on a belief that God accepts everyone, isn't what we need today.