Texas Methodist Church - Statement in Opposition to Proposition 2

[BigEdMustapha]

Glad to see my church (although I readily admit they are far from perfect) supporting this...

The following is a statement by the Texas Conference Board of Church & Society. Statement in Opposition to Proposition 2 to Amend the Texas Constitution

First, do no harm.... (John Wesley: 2004 United Methodist Book of Discipline, ¶101: Doctrine and Discipline in the Christian Life, p. 48)

In November the people of Texas will be asked to vote on an amendment to our Bill of Rights of the State Constitution "providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

While we acknowledge the theological disagreement within The United Methodist Church on the subject of homosexuality in general, our United Methodist Discipline unambiguously commits The United Methodist Church to the support of the civil rights of homosexual persons.

"Certain basic human rights and civil liberties are due all persons. We are committed to supporting these rights and liberties for homosexual persons. We see a clear issue of simple justice in protecting their rightful claims where they have shared material resources, pensions, guardian relationships, mutual powers of attorney, and other such lawful claims typically attendant to contractual responsibilities and equal protection before the law." (¶162H, 2004 United Methodist Book of Discipline)

Proposition 2 denies the very civil rights we as a church support. If passed, it would have harmful consequences extending far beyond a definition of marriage. As United Methodists in Texas, we believe it is important to defeat this proposed amendment and urge all United Methodists to prayerfully support the position of our church, defending the civil rights of many of our families, friends and neighbors, by voting against Proposition 2.

[efhmc]

1. That is good to see.

[intheflow]

2. I'm afraid there's a split coming in the Methodist church.

It's great to see your church speaking out on this so soon after the Methodist ruling against GBLT's as clergy and members. I am going to pass this piece along to my friends at the Methodist seminary I attended here in Denver. They'll be heartened! Thanks for posting! :hi:

[yellowdogintexas]

3. Our senior pastor wrote an excellent article in this same

general vein for the United Methodist Reporter. I am very proud of him.
This article is a conference wide statment, though which is even better.

http://www.fumcftw.org/NEWS/2001/UMR/2005/October-28-2005.pdf