Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Methodists drop church charges against minister who conducted gay wedding
A topic that seems to regularly be mention on this blog: Gay Marriage. A Methodist minister defied the church and his religion in order to preside the wedding of his son and his son's partner. He claims the marriage to be an act of love he was prosecuted for.
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Other churches should learn from what McLee did. It was a very brave thing for him to do by dropping the charges against Ogletree because there were probably many of those who wanted him defrocked. To go against many's wishes in order to do what he thought was right was very courageous of him. I have to say that I'm confused on the church's policy on gay and lesbian members. It says that they are welcomed, yet same-sex marriages can't be performed there. How welcomed are gay and lesbian members when they're not allowed to get married there?
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see that some progress is being made in the religious sphere on marriage equality. Although Ogletree's trial being dropped is a small victory, hopefully it will inspire more actions like it in the future. As Ogletree said, his act was one of love and there is no reason why he should be persecuted for it. If the Methodist Church allows gays and lesbians to be members, I don't see why they shouldn't have the same right as everyone else to be married in the church or by a Methodist minister.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that this is a step forward, no matter how small, in the LGBT movement. If just in December Frank Schaefer was defrocked for doing the same thing Ogletree did recently, it shows that perspectives are changing in this church community. It is definitely a shame that Schaefer was punished for officiating his son's same-sex marriage, but the fact that he recognized the different outcome for Ogletree was a victory shows bravery all on its own.
ReplyDeleteBy even allowing Ogletree to be tried, this is a step forward for the Methodist church. With homosexuality against their religion, I was surprised to see that his case was dropped without any reprimand. However, it does seem unfair that one minister was defrocked, while the other received no punishment. But, like Frank Schaefer said in the article, he was happy to be defrocked if it meant that the church would start to change their views and become more accepting.
ReplyDeleteThis is really inspirational. This minister put everything on the line for something he believed in and in the end the Methodist church saw things from his point of view. I think that this sets an important precedent for the Methodist Church. Overall this has been a great couple of months for the the Gay community in relation to religion. The pope has been accepting of gays, and now the Methodist church is not persecuting a minister for performing a same-sex marriage. I predict that there will be no issues with gay marriage in states or major religions ten years from now.
ReplyDeleteI'm sick and tired of seeing all of this stuff in the news about conflicts and complaints about same sex marriages over and over again, but it's a good thing that this is a step forward for the LGBT movement. However, as I've said a few times before, marriage is something personal that government shouldn't be butting into and interfering with. I understand that religion has a more opposing view of homosexuality, but the fact that the chargers against Ogletree were dropped is a good thing. Despite this, I still think marriage is something that should be dealt with privately and laws and government should not have any say in who a person can marry.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see a figure in the church take a stand on the disallowance of same sex marriage. I hope that Ogletree becomes a household name in the future for being one of the first members of a church to take a step forward for the LBGT movement. What I found interesting about this article was that the United Methodist Church was going to hold a trial for him among 13 clergy members as the jury. I am not well-versed in how a church functions and deals with a situation such as this. I find it interesting, however, that it is not only the church that has infected the state but also the state that has infected the church. By that I mean, the politics of churches become increasingly more prevalent as years pass, and it seems (to me at least) that they only provide negative attention.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that two ministers were charged for officiating their sons wedding is crazy. No matter what gender they are. A father should have the right to wed his son with whomever the son wants. I am glad to see that the charges were dropped. I can not imagine how much anger the fathers and sons must have been feeling. They also probably do not being in the spotlight as they are. They just wanted a wedding like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteOgletree may have changed the standards of the church for the future. His move was bold and amazing; he truly took a stand for what he believed in, although it went against his church's religion. As my classmates said, the fact that Ogletree was not immediately prosecuted is great news for the LGBT community alone. It's about time that the view of gay members changes within all types of church communities. Not only was this act brave, but it could change the Methodist an perhaps other church communities or religions for the better.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a more difficult issue than the issue of allowing gay marriage in the secular part of the nation. While I think the Government should without a doubt allow all consenting capable adults to marry whomever they love, its harder to moderate this in religion. I hope that churches will soon accept gay marriage, (there's essentially no biblical standing for not allowing gay marriage), and the fact that the church dropped the charges is a good step in the right direction and hopefully this trend continues.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good step forward for the LGBT community and I hope that other churches can learn from what happened here. It's great to see someone standing up for what they believe in. Like Kevin though, I still think that marriage is something that should be dealt with personally and it should not be interfered with by the government or any type of law.
ReplyDeleteI am exhilarated that the United Methodist Church has taken these first couple of steps to helping the LGBT movement progress further down the path to becoming a improvement towards society for the future generations of our nation. It was unfair that in a similar case with the same circumstances ended with Pastor Schaefer being defrocked (fired) for presiding over his sons same-sex wedding. If the same organization can take such a dramatic turn around in mere matter of months it seems that maybe a turning point for the LGBT community to become successful in their efforts for equal civil rights. Whereas the government should allow for this without question it is curious that a religious organization could do this very radical move surprises me, but makes have hope for the future.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's ridiculous for someone to have charges brought against them for marrying people. I think the church took the right step by dropping the charges. This is a good turning point, and I hope that in the future, charges won't even be brought against anyone, but for now this is a great start.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great to see that people are willing to publicly stand up for what is right even though may have to face personal consequences. I am glad to see that the church dropped the charges because it would have been ridiculous for this minister to be punished for an act of love.
ReplyDelete