It seems like he would have used Romans 1:27 or such while he was in that area of the bible (not that I actually understand any of this).

How many gays does it take to make your church gay? I’m pretty certain there are at least a few gay folk at my church, just as a statistical reality. Someone else must know this too because I got the same e-mail -- being on the staff directory at my parish -- as you got, though my church, being in Texas, is a considerable distance from yours.

I’m tempted to think that hate is a pervasive human characteristic. We all have to have someone or something we despise, right? Wasn’t that one of the very first Sunday school lessons ever? Obviously, and unfortunately, for some people all they ever got out of it was the location of Romans 1:27, which taken in its proper context is an indictment of all humanity as inexcusable whenever it comes to pointing the finger at, or giving it to, someone else. It’s pretty easy to understand Romans 1:27 when you look at Romans as a whole. The bible wasn’t written in verses any more than it was written in King James English.

I’m more interested in what’s eating at our moral fabric that makes us hate each other so badly. At least I’m in one of the best places on earth to study hate as a phenomenon (Texas). There’s plenty to hate here – fire ants, heat in biblical proportions, yankees moving in from the north, Mexicans from the south, and God forbid it but Californians are coming from every direction. Those of us who have traveled somewhat have learned that our state is gay anyhow and perhaps that’s why I don’t have a strong aversion to my queer brethren, or sisters as it may.

Recently, I took a weekend trip out to the part of the state where I grew up: deep piney woods east Texas. It’s one of the most beautiful places ever created (or perhaps evolved) on earth. However, another thing that’s true about east Texas is that it’s 99% redneck. But that’s not that bad if you want to observe hate in humanity. Folks out there kept their queerness in the closet. Bigger fish were lurking in the swamp. Everyone knows about the ongoing and long-running battle between the two major races to see which could hate the other most. I was impressed at the number of mixed race teenagers I saw. I knew my generation was more interested in having sex than in finding something to hate in their neighbors. Maybe the answer lies nearby (as I muse over Jose Vasconcelos’ La Raza Cosmica or “World Race”).

The only answer to have in regard to hate, in whatever form it takes, is to be courageous enough to take a stand against it. It also helps to recognize the many insidious forms that hate takes. It’s at its worst when it takes the form of legislation, say against gay marriage. It’s not in my tradition – especially as a cleric – to marry gay couples or even to advocate that marriage has to do with what it means to be gay. But I also understand that the paradigm has shifted for what marriage means. I have to meet you where you are, not where I am.

I invite your comments.