Response to "Living the Connection"

In her recent blog post on the United Methodist's Desert Southwest Conference's website, Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño wrote about her experience and frustration at the United Methodist Church's General Conference in Tampa, Florida.


She starts with a story about a little girl coming up to her near the information help desk and offering her a band-aid. Bishop Carcaño writes, "I realized that this child had sensed woundedness and was responding to it. It wasn’t my woundedness, it was our woundedness. Our 2012 General Conference showed the world our woundedness as United Methodists."


The bishop went on then to list wounded areas of our church that were evident at those sessions, such as racism, sexism, and, our "homophobia." Interestingly, homophobia means a fear of homosexuality. From everything I've read and heard there was no fear of it at all. Rather, there was a deliberate, fearless stand taken against the practice of homosexual behavior in the name of the church. United Methodists, it has again been reasserted, does not define itself by acceptance of homosexual behavior. Not even when childish protests are surrounding the U.M. decision makers in an effort to intimidate them (such as the blowing of whistles whenever something did not go the way the protesters wanted).


Bishop Carcaño relates that point in this way: "Our homophobia was blatant as we heard delegates compare homosexuality to bestiality, and voice other dehumanizing expressions against our LGBT brothers and sisters."

I encourage you to check out her original post, so that you're not just taking my word on it. Here is the response I left in the comment section (I'm not sure if the 'moderator' will post it or not).

Cute story about the little girl and her band-aids, although I'm not really convinced that her motivation was her deep sense of our woundedness. More than likely, some adult, pushing some agenda, put her up to it. So be cautious reading too much into it. 

Bishop, your comments about the African United Methodists needing to 'grow up' is way out of line. They are faithful people who were taught by us, and then went to their Bibles (provided by us), and read the same thing we had taught them. That's not immaturity, that's being faithful! O that United Methodists in the United States would be THAT faithful!
As for the bestiality comments and such, I was not there and had not read nor heard of those comments, so I'll take your word on that. I personally think that would have been overly inflammatory. However, the Bible does speak to bestiality and does so with the same language and in the same areas of the Bible as it does of homosexual behavior, so I can see how that jump could have been made.

Frankly, if we are to really go about this process of dealing with the LGBT issues the American way, then we need to acknowledge that we are NOT the only choice of churches in the U.S. any more than McDonalds is the only American restaurant. And if I were standing in a McDonalds, and saw that the lobster fest I really wanted wasn't offered there, I surely wouldn't keep standing in that McDonalds where they opposed every menu change attempt I suggested. No, I'd leave that restaurant and go find one that served what I wanted. Because I CAN have exactly what I want if I'm willing to go into the right restaurant. It is stupid for me to expect lobster in a McDonalds that will not change its menu.

The definition of insanity, I am told, is to keep doing the same things that don't work, and expect a different outcome. It's been 40 years. Same outcome every time. AND now the African United Methodists are growing and having more influence (in number of delegates). Is there really anyone who thinks the UM "menu" will change next time? or the time after that?
I personally have no problem with a person with homosexual urges or whatever attending our churches, but the church has, for the 11th time in 40 years, said 'NO, we will NOT change our stance on homosexual behavior.' Isn't it about time that someone, especially bishops who are to safeguard our Discipline and covenant, start listening and pay attention? 

Again, this is a conversation between this bishop and whomever reads her posting. Please read her post and then, if you have a comment, leave it in her comment section so that we can have real conversation with the one who started this particular conversation.

THANKS!