Jew, Gentile, Gay, Straight. . .

Roman Catholic and Jesuit moral theologian James F. Keenan was quoted as saying: I do not think that the present anxiety about recognizing the 'gay' [Roman] Catholic is unlike the first-century anxiety regarding the Gentiles becoming Christians.  Thus you find the state of moral and Biblical theology among those sometimes regarded as an elite of theologians in Rome.  Jesus sees the problem of multiple sexual orientations and gender identities as the unfolding of the same wall that once kept Gentiles from among the faithful.  Hmmmm, anyone see anything slightly off in this colorization of Jesus and the contemporary situation?

But that is the problem, isn't it.  The liberal and progressive position presumes that all you need is time and the once forbidden things of yesterday will become the new normal for today and tomorrow.  The problem is that they are largely correct.  The sins of the fathers become the virtues of their sons and daughters (and every other gender), it would seem.  Once you begin with that, it is a short hike to God blessing the sin and vindicating the sinner by placing the blame on the narrow minded judgmental folk who refuse to go where God is leading.

The state of affairs in Rome has deteriorated rapidly under Pope Francis.  In his own Harper-Collins autobiography soon to be released, Pope Francis says this:

"It is right that these people who are living the gift of love can have legal coverage like everyone else. Jesus often went out to meet people who lived on the margins, and that's what the Church should do today with people from the LGBTQ+ community, who within the Church are often marginalized: make them feel at home, especially those who have received baptism and are in effect part of God's people. And those who have not received baptism and wish to receive it, or those who wish to be godparents, please let them be welcomed."

Rome offers many things appealing to Lutherans stuck between a rock and a hard place -- the liberal Lutherans for whom the faith is barely more than an excuse and justification for cultural liberalism and progressivism and the conservative forms that too often degenerate into a congregationalistic church which grows smaller by the day.  What Rome does not offer is a refuge against the strides and progress of cultural and moral liberalism.  Indeed, it would seem that Rome finds itself incapable of saying anything remotely close to what Jesus has to say about LGBTQ+ and its culture of desire or the fluid gender identity defined simply by feelings.  If for this reason alone, Rome offers us even less than what we struggle with in the problems of our own communion.