RELIGION-GERMANY: Book Rekindles Controversy over Homosexuals

BONN, Nov 11 (IPS) - A book released on Friday which protests the possibility of the Evangelical Church permitting homosexuals and lesbians to serve as pastors rekindled a heated controversy among progressive and conservative sectors of the church.

Protesting the position of a sector of the church which has argued for the acceptance of homosexuals - the Rhine regional branch - the book 'Christian Faith and Homosexuality' was presented in Bonn on Friday.

The Rhine branch, one of the 24 divisions which make up the German Evangelical Church, was the first to take up the issue of homosexuality, and in January 1995 will hold a synod to adopt a definitive stance.

"The fundamental question is whether or not homosexual love exists. Love was created by God. Thus, it is not a matter of the church talking about the practice of homosexuality, but for it to focus on people, asking that question," Rhine Church Pastor Markus Homann told IPS.

"The issue becomes another question: does the same love exist among homosexual couples as in heterosexual relationships? If that love is the same, then the Church has to acknowledge homosexuals."

Homann said it is true that in the bible there are several passages condemning homosexuality, but he added that homosexuals cannot continue to be victims of discrimination which often leads to violence, and said a church decision is urgently needed.

"We must ask ourselves if those condemnations are valid in today's reality. We believe that the bible should not be read in an isolated form, but in the context of the period. The Rhine Church was the first to see things this way, and later others followed suit.

"Homosexuals are, in practice, acknowledged. The question is whether they can carry out functions within the institution such as that of pastor, or caring for children in Sunday schools.

"The Church has to find new ways by which to integrate (homosexuals) because they are God's people just like everyone else. Furthermore, many are people with talents, and it would be stupid on the part of the Church not to integrate them," Homann said.

Homosexuals make up from six to 10 percent of Germany's total population of 81 million, according to the Federation of German Homosexuals, which includes several religious associations - such as Berlin's Homosexuality and Church - as members.

The document which sparked the Evangelical Church's discussion of the issue is titled 'Homosexual Love' and came out of a synod held by the Rhine Church in 1992.

The book 'Christian Faith and Homosexuality' presented by the "Evangelical Reform of the Central Rhine" (EAM - a self- proclaimed "citizens initiative" group) and 24 additional associations poses as an answer to that document.

Evangelical Pastor Wolfgang Sickinger told a press conference that the book is "the first broad response" to the "misinformation" which the Rhine synod document presents, and added that copies have been distributed throughout the church.

"The homosexual way of life is justified in an intolerably unilateral manner" in the Rhine Church document, which "indirectly but clearly recommends that the church officially acknowledge and praise homosexual relationships," Sickinger stated.

He added that the new book is an attempt to clear up confusion generated by 'Homosexual Love', adding that the Rhine synod document claims that "according to the bible God says yes to the sinner but no to the sin."

EAM President Heinz Juergen Fischbach said the church should help homosexuals and protect them from discrimination, but added that the task the bible sets is to help them overcome their homosexuality.

While 'Homosexual Love' stated that "sexuality is a gift from God that is not only for reproduction," 'Christian Faith and Homosexuality' responds that the bible firmly establishes reproduction as the principal reason for sexuality.

The 1992 synod document stated that "sexuality does not only have a place within marriage", to which the EAM book responds "the very foundations of the institution of marriage are (thus) devalued."

Sickinger warned that "if the 1995 synod takes the step we fear - acknowledging homosexuals, blessing homosexual couples and even permitting them to serve as pastors - a division among Church leadership would occur.

"If the step is taken we will reflect. We won't separate; we want to remain in our church. But it would produce a situation (unprecedented) in the entire history of the Evangelical Church."

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service