tail hairs of the devil ... Differences that remain separate to the Catholic, Anglican and other Christian denominations do not have to do with rigor with the Gospel, but with human passions
by: Raul G. Gutiérrez Valenzuela, editor of GRANVALPARAISO.CL
MANY YEARS AGO, when the U.S. boiling with debate on discrimination racial and black leader Martin Luther King mobilized large masses in their struggle non-violent, anti-discrimination established by the whites, Robert Kennedy, who was about to be President of the United States, following the murder of his brother John, wrote a shocking article whose title was: "What if God was black?" The question could be formulated, taking as players to other groups that have suffered severe discrimination in the Western world. We could certainly ask the U.S. today, "What if God were a Muslim?"
In light of the hostility, even criminal, who have suffered for so long, by people who claim to be believers Christian, we should also ask "What if God was gay?"
Some refuse even to imagine that Jesus Christ was a man "normal" and has had sex with one or several women. Suggest, even, until some time represented a real sacrilege is something to remember the impact that caused the film The Last Temptation of Christ, which presents a relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. A scandal erupted in fact much earlier, since the film was based on a remarkable novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, Greece, an Orthodox Christian whose faith no one had doubts.
The Gospel does not contain no reference to homosexuality. Since antiquity known versions of the close friendship that existed between Jesus and the beloved disciple, just as he presents the Gospel, the young John, who would later be the author of Revelation, the book that closes the Bible. The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci presents John in a more caring attitude to Jesus Christ.
SCALE DIFFERENCES OF ANY
But let's put aside these distinctions to go to what could be the core. Catholic and Anglican churches are separated by problems that have qualified as their nests, are "major." Spinning a little thinner, discover that they have to do with gay marriage, and the admission of women to the priesthood and the episcopate. That is, both parties recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the special envoy to reconcile human beings with God the Father and call us to live a full life, which may materialize after earthly existence.
Both denominations, Catholic and Anglican, recognize the Sermon on the Mount as the pinnacle of wisdom and what is to guide the conduct of those who are followers of Christ. Then disagree about whether women should enter the priesthood or not, a subject about which Jesus Christ had no explicit statement was contained in the Gospels, which, in turn, deserve neither blind faith, it is well known that they were written years and even decades after Christ's death for public and for very specific purposes. Each of these texts, there are many more than the four officially recognized, highlighted certain aspects of the personality and teachings of Jesus and understandably rejected others.
At a time when there was no scientific mentality, technique or position which prevails at present, one can approximate the mind of Christ in these areas considering the way they treated the adulterous woman and the other who had had seven husbands and that also was not Jewish, but Samaritan and, therefore, despised by the compatriots of Jesus. It is also telling that at the foot of the cross were the Mother of Jesus and at least a couple of other brave women, who accompanied him to the end, unlike what happened with his apostles, with the exception, precisely John, the beloved disciple. There is surprising, too, that as the Gospel story, the risen Christ was manifested primarily to women, though in the society of the females were in a situation of obvious contempt.
All signs, therefore, suggest that Jesus was against such discrimination. And while did not call women to accompany him in his wanderings routine for three years to preach his Gospel, we know he had friends, and very close to Mary Magdalene and Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus.
For homosexuals, there is not any reference in the Gospels. However, an undeniable track is always open attitude of Jesus Christ for the excluded, starting with the poor, the sick, especially lepers, who, in violation of rules, laws and health at the time, receives and deals with special affection.
therefore hold, as does the Catholic Church, that Jesus deliberately chose not to accept women in the priesthood is a breach of trust, the same could be said about homosexuality.
law of God and the Human Mind
A very different are the attitudes that over the centuries and millennia have been accumulated in societies and cultures and have raised speculation that correspond to the teaching of the Gospel or the Law of God. Are we to take God's law as the Old Testament, it is better to discard the temptation because it tells of a vengeful God, who does not hesitate to sacrifice thousands of innocents to protect a chosen people, supposedly his favorite, to the detriment of all the rest. A bloodthirsty God, a God too in the image of towns mentality pre-Christian.
The truth is what will set us free, Jesus proclaims. And the truth is that between the Catholic and Anglican hierarchies differences remain on issues which give them meaning, but not of greatest importance from the point of view of faith and the great principles behind Christianity and which distinguish , categorically and inherently, the mentality of neoliberalism which is now choking the Chileans, the Western world and, to a large extent, much of the planet.
Therefore, the Christians of one or another denomination, Catholics, Anglicans and we might add, by the way, Lutherans and Baptists and so a large should pressure their hierarchies for the cut one day, hopefully near this scandal to maintain divisions that are due to projections of their own fears, hormonal deficiencies or psychiatric, rather than the text, let alone the spirit of the Gospels. Because if one examines the spirit beyond the letter of the texts of the New Testament, and especially the Gospel, you will discover that the priesthood or not the women, the unmarried or married, and the intimate lives of gay people are literally tail hairs.
The power of the Gospel lies in the heart of his teachings, not on these issues frankly less, to the point that one can seriously claim that if Jesus had been gay, that does not erode in the slightest, not weaken or even in the least the value and strength of the message He brought to the world. ____________________________________________________________
WARNING: This article was published in http://www.granvalparaiso.cl/religetic/jesus/pelosdelacola.htm. GRANVALPARAISO.CL is an electronic journal of comments and views on national and local issues, subject to continuous updating, owned by journalist Raúl Gutiérrez Gerardo Valenzuela. Raúl Gutiérrez Valenzuela graduated in the School of Journalism at the University of Chile in 1967, and serves as director and legal representative electrónico.Obviamente this means, do not share all the findings, opinions and views of the journalist, who does not write to entertain but to provoke. But this is further proof that some things are changing in Chilean society.
