(2 of 2)
The other side, though, is quite pleased with its victory. Says the Rev. Jack Haberer, pastor of Clear Lake Presbyterian Church in Houston: "We see this as reclaiming the Scriptures as central to our faith and practice." Indeed, the debate saw both sides firing interpretations of the Bible against each other. Haberer, who organized the conservative opposition, says, "Scripture teaches that this desire and practice are not God's design for humanity, and that those wrestling with such kinds of sexual confusion, along with many others, can find in Christ healing and restoration, not endorsement to continue." He came to that conclusion after counseling half a dozen gay men who had been sexually abused as youths. "In time," he says, "every one of them came not only to a place of saying 'I don't want to be that way' but to a place of feeling an attraction to the opposite sex." After that, says Haberer, "my feelings toward homosexuals became very warm. My heart broke with them." His relationship with his brother-in-law, who died of AIDS, also affected him. They disagreed about the church, but the illness convinced Haberer that "the homosexual population is very vulnerable, not only to the AIDS virus but to many other diseases. I really want the church to lovingly care about homosexuals and to help them find the freedom he never found."
Nevertheless, many Presbyterians believe that local congregations and other bodies that defy the new law will be prosecuted in church court. Scores of congregations in what is called the More Light alliance have already pledged to accept openly gay pastors and lay leaders. A wider unity among Protestant churches may have been fatally wounded by the antigay vote. In the 1960s, the Presbyterians and other denominations began forging merger plans. That was finally put to a vote along with the new "chastity" amendment--and ecumenism is almost certain to be defeated. One possible contributing cause: it would have resulted in union with the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), two denominations that have policies that allow for gay clergy. It would also have resulted in an alliance with the Episcopal Church, which has a de facto toleration policy--one, however, that is being challenged by conservatives in a dispute that will come to a boil in July. Thus, in the fierce debate over sexual orientation, Protestant Christians in America may have lost a chance to forge a historic unity.
--Reported by Richard N. Ostling