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| Guest Writer: Rick Schulte |
Some would say liberal. Some would even say radical. All are entitled to their opinions. Churches, like all of society, have members from all points of the spectrum.
Personally, the political slants of my friends are as diverse as can be, ranging from left of the Occupy Movement and to right of Rush Limbaugh.
I’ll note some of my own personal beliefs. I have voted for both Democrats and Republicans. I love and hate some of the things Gov. Rick Snyder has done. I like the spirit of the Occupy Movement but have some serious misgivings about its execution and messages. I believe the poor need help and social programs can be very helpful, but I’m not a fan of achieving this through enormous tax increases. I support gay marriage but also respect the opinions those who feel marriage is only meant between a man and a woman.
If only the world was a black and white place, in terms of issues and answers. As most of us know, it’s not.
Which leads me back to the original idea for the reputation of our church, which leans to the left.
A friend of mine, an Episcopalian, recently noted: “Our church is welcoming and inclusive. As long as you follow its liberal agenda, that is.
Those can be stinging words. But many members of our church also see them as accurate.
So what is the right answer?
Well, that’s the beauty – and the challenge – of who we are. There is no one right answer. For some issues, there may be a sense of prevailing opinion. But that doesn’t mean our answers are etched in stone.
Many mainstream religions have a fallback answer to questions regarding social issues: The only real truth is found in the Bible. Although many churches have their stance on specific issues such as abortion, gay marriage, married and gay clergy and other so-called “hot button” topics, many of their members quietly question these stances. Sometimes, they not-so-quietly question these stances. Either way, if you mention the name of a religion and a topic, you often know what the stance is on any given subject.
Even in this church, issues are approached differently. One church may openly embrace the concept of female clergy or LGBT acceptance. Others may have more “traditional” views that do not look on either with much approval.
Does that mean one church is more Episcopal than another? Is one church any less right? Of course not. It may be a hard pill to swallow in listening to the views of someone who is similar to you in many ways, but a polar opposite in others.
I have had friends ask me, rather pointedly, why my bishop (Bishop Wendell Gibbs Jr.) simply does not enforce one doctrine for all churches to follow. (If you haven’t guessed, those friends are from another religion). As much as I’d like to see that sometimes, that wouldn’t be who we are as a church. You see, for as open and inclusive as we like to think we are of all lifestyles and choices, that also has to include those who don’t agree with us.
It would be rather hypocritical if we believed otherwise.
Rick Schulte is the Director of Communications for
The Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.
