More discussion of homosexuality and the church
The discussion continues on the topic of homosexuality over at Emergent Voyageurs. Some of my original comments to Jamie's post have been quoted in the new post.
It is always difficult when engaging 'orthodox' Christians on this subject. Often times people want to constrain the discussion to biblical 'certainties', and sometimes the most progressive or liberal Christians can display a remarkable obsession with proof texts and 'natural law' arguments when it comes to their understanding of sexuality and sexual minorities. It is difficult to bring the focus forward to the lives and experiences of real people (like the one in my preceeding post).
In my view, theology is a living process of dialogue with and about the Divine. Theology that is not contextualized through dialogue with real people (both inside and outside the church) is at its best scholasticism, and at it worst, philosophical tyranny -- witness the false 'discussion' within Catholicism about 'intrinsically disordered persons'. While theology may engage in the process of discussing and elaborating beliefs and convictions it is only authentic if it leads to theopraxis, which is the living out of our understanding of God's grace and what it means to follow Christ in the community and in the world.