It has been with great interest that we have carefully watched–from afar–the amicable divorce occurring in the (less than) United Methodist Church. For those unfamiliar with the situation, Liberals comprise the majority of Methodists in the United States, however if you look at the overall world wide membership you find that Conservatives are the actual majority. As such, the Liberals have insisted, without compromise, that liberal doctrine and policies be adopted by the entire church; a move that does no set well with American conservative Methodists and the majority of Methodists world wide. Thus, a divorce–so to speak–has been arranged. Already we have seen American congregations separating from the communion so that they might worship in a manner that upholds traditional values.
Our primary source for observing this situation has been the writings of Mark Tooley at Juicy Ecumenism; The Institute on Religion and Democracy’s blog. On June 28 2022 he wrote:
Some think United Methodism’s split is over LGBTQIA+. But official United Methodism’s angry reaction to the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade evinces it is much, much more.
He named The United Methodist Council of Bishops, United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, the United Methodist women’s group, and General Commission on Women in Society, and General Board of Global Ministries as having denounced the Supreme Court’s finding that there was no constitutional right to abortion.
To begin the making of his case regarding how that not only LGBT issues has played a role in the fracture of the UMC but other issues as well:
Their statements ignored that the 2016 General Conference revoked United Methodism’s official support for Roe v. Wade dating to 1976 and that United Methodism has been moving in a more pro-life direction since first backing abortion rights in 1970. They also ignored that the court’s decision did not address the ethics of abortion but only found that the Constitution, which does not mention abortion, doesn’t prevent states from restricting abortion.
As a side note, we find it very illuminating that while the left decries the end of democracy, it is democracy in action in which the citizens of about half of the states have elected legislatures running on the platform to end abortion as we currently know it. On the other hand about half of the sates are apparently moving to enshrine protections for abortion, based on the expectations of the citizens. Is this not how democracy works?
Tooley went on to point out;
Far more importantly, these United Methodist statements were theologically and ethically vacuous, ignoring two thousand years of rich ecumenical Christian teaching about the sacredness of all human life. They spoke instead in contemporary secular political language of equal access, autonomy, and therapeutic contextualization. The value and purpose of human life from a Christian understanding was unaddressed. Christianity, which is always biased in favor of the defenseless and the voiceless, for 2000 years has cherished the unborn and argued for their protection. The divine Savior of the world entered into his earthly existence as a human embryo and then a fetus. John the Baptist, in the womb of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, leapt for joy when the Virgin announced she had conceived. The unborn are important actors in God’s view of human affairs.
Tooly posits that the liberals in charge of the UMC insist that the ninety-five percent that affirms traditional teachings are wrong, simply wrong. Not just wrong, but oppressive and retrograde.
This postmodern view of the church does not conceive a timeless and boundaryless Body of Christ but rather a discordant collection of willful and self-actualized individuals, each of whom decides what is best. It’s not a very appealing vision. But this different version of the church is what is splitting United Methodism, not sexuality per se.
[…]this interpretation separates Western progressive Protestants from the rest of Christianity. Post-split, progressive United Methodism, like other U.S.-based declining liberal Mainline Protestant denominations, will reject the church universal’s historic and global ecumenical consensus on the sacredness of all human life and God’s core purposes for the human person. Traditional Methodists will join global Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, and other Christians, today and in past centuries, who heed the life-affirming traditions of our common faith.
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