Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels

eporting, “Today there are two religions in the Episcopal Church, one remains faithful to the
biblical truth and received teachings of the Church while the other rejects them” (Moore, 1999). In
2003 the election of a partnered homosexual bishop created further turmoil in the church. The
2009 General Convention adopted two resolutions that seriously departed from biblical
sexuality by repealing a moratorium on the consecration of additional gay bishops, while
opening the door to blessing same-sex unions (Walton, 2009).
In August of 2009 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted policies that
were a departure from traditional Christian teaching. “The new policies allow ELCA churches to
give approval to non-marital sexual relationships, both homosexual and heterosexual, and to
ordain persons in such relationships “ (Wisdom, 2009).
Priestly Sexual Abuse Challenges the Church
Accusations of priestly pedophilia exploded in the Catholic Church in the 1980’s. In 1984 a
cardinal was accused of abusing a teen. Over the next ten years, more than 400 Catholic priests
in North America were accused of molesting children. A church sponsored panel said that “2
percent to 4 percent of Catholic priests over the past 30 years may have been guilty of abuse
(AP, 1993). In February of 2002 the pedophile priest scandal exploded in Boston, the nation’s
fourth largest diocese, when Father John Geoghan was accused of molesting more than 130
children over a 30 year period and was sentenced to a 9-10 year prison term .
The dual system of sexuality within the Catholic Church created problems in the
development of a consistent understanding of sexuality. Church leaders for centuries have
been called to celibacy. However seminary training did not adequately address the realities of
leading a sexually celibate life. Many Catholic seminaries have a gay subculture. R. Scott
Appleby, professor of history at Notre Dame University, said “People I know quite well have left
the seminary either in disgust because people are not keeping their vows, or in alienation
because they’re not gay.” (Sears and Osten, 2003:152)
Joel Mowbray, a practicing Catholic explained,” Male homosexuality is inherently
promiscuous. In a heterosexual relationship, women moderate the innate, intense male sex
drive. But in homosexual conduct, there is no such check. In short, gay couples have two
people with male attitudes about sex, which naturally leads to a more permissive view of
sexuality. And when seminaries began filling up with homosexuals – both in terms of
seminarians and in leadership positions – promiscuity inevitably followed “ (Sears and Osten,
2003:152).
Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010
Dr. M. L. Coppock
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