Crystal Cathedral Says LGBT Citizens Can't Sing "Jesus Loves Me"

 

By David Mixner -


The Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California has instituted a policy that in order to sing in their choir you literally have to sign a document proclaiming you are not now and never have been a homosexual. So much for Jesus loving all the little children of the world. This effort by the multi-million dollar glass palace is a new low in the war against freedom by Christianity.
Really? For their members to sing praises to a loving God,they must sign a piece of paper. That way not one LGBT voice will be heard in songs of praise. Really?
The time when Christianity was viewed as a place of liberation, not only of the spirit but also from poverty, oppression and injustice, has become totally passe. Any hint of liberation theology has been wiped from the map. "Organized Religion" has become a place of judgement, division, intolerance and oppression.
There was a time when the abolitionist filled the pews in an effort to end slavery. Or the time when ministers and rabbis singing "We Shall Overcome" filled the jails in the fight for an end to segregation. Nuns and priests walked side by side to end the Vietnam war. Many of us will never forget the heroism of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador who was assassinated in his fight against injustice.
Increasingly organized religion is almost like returning to the times of the Inquisition which was filled with an atmosphere of judgement and fear. Those who dared to live differently or disagreed were to be driven from the land, stripped of their humanity and often killed. Christianity is in the forefront of denying LGBT Americans over 1,200 rights, protections and benefits guaranteed to others.
For those people of faith who still belong to religious institutions who love justice and freedom, you better get busy. Your place of worship could be a place of distrust, hate and oppression and not a welcoming loving congregation. Is that what you want?
Make a joyful noise until the Lord.....unless of course you are homosexual.

for more from David visit Live from Hell's Kitchen.

By Karen Ocamb -

There is trouble at the famed Crystal Cathedral mega-church in California’s Orange County – and it’s not just that they’ve filed for bankruptcy. The church now appears to be vetting its leadership by making them sign a “covenant” promising that they, too, stand against homosexuality.
Crystal Cathedral – the monumental glass structured megachurch renown for Rev. Robert Schuller’s televised “Hour of Power” ministry – has fallen on hard times in the past two years.  The Orange County Register reports that on Oct. 11 – Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They’ve also had to cut staff, sell off property, and cancel their annual tourist-attracting “Glory of Easter” extravaganza.
And now they may lose members because the founder’s daughter and senior pastor, Sheila Schuller Coleman, is requiring that all church leadership – including members of the church choir – sign an explicitly antigay covenant. Part of the covenant reads: “I understand that Crystal Cathedral Ministries teaches that sexual intimacy is intended by God to only be within the bonds of marriage, between one man and one woman.”

Longtime church member Ann Moore Waltz told The Register that she’s upset by this turn of events. Waltz said:

“If I were still in the choir and if that was presented to me, and if a gay person had walked out, I would have walked out with him or her.”

Other church members are upset at being “vetted.”
Coleman issued a statement saying the covenant was intended to “clarify” the church’s expectations of its leaders.
The irony is that the Crystal Cathedral was designed by the late great GAY architect Philip Johnson.


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