“Consistent with our mandate and synod’s understanding of pastoral advice, we are asking that this discussion of same-sex marriage be separated as much as possible from church conversations about the broader question of homosexuality.”
CRC — Committee to Provide Pastoral Guidance re Same-sex Marriage
(majority report)
This is like requesting that the discussion of water be separated from conversations about its wetness or that discussing playing Chess be separated from conversations regarding the differing Chess pieces or that discussing funerals be separated from conversations regarding dead people. This is Bill Clinton testifying before the Grand Jury saying, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is,’ is.” It is to ask people to participate in Wittgenstein language games. It puts the Zen in Zen Buddhism.
One suspects that the reason that this request is being made is that the Committee knows that their work can only be advanced as long as the reality of what is being discussed is shielded from our thinking, or, alternatively, there was no possibility for them to make progress in their work if they had to deal with homosexuality head on.
Certainly same sex marriage can happen apart from homosexual behavior but study Committees are not formed and large sums of money are not spent in order to give advice on statistically insignificant occurrences.
Face it … where there is same sex marriage there you find the broader question of homosexuality. To ask that people separate these out from one another is to ask them to hear the sound of one hand clapping.
