Re: letter from Timothy Cahn

Dear Editor:

"I don't think that it does much good to rehearse (sic) and rehash arguments concerning Biblical interpretations that have been advanced, and refuted, many times on this web site over the years." Wow. That says a great deal. The Bible is not the issue? Perhaps that is because the position Mr. Cahn advocates is more easily addressed by asserting that homosexuality is as natural as being left-handed. Of course, we would never discriminate against left-handed or ambidextrous people as we do homosexuals and bisexuals. What an analogy and how sensitive to those millions of left-handed people who, along with the vast majority of blacks, do not appreciate being compared to unrepentant sinners.

The Bible is what is at issue here and whether or not we accept it as the complete and authoritative Word of the living God. Over the years, the assertions advanced by those who favour the ordination of unrepentant sinners have focused on analogies to slavery and gender issues like the ordination of women, along with calls to be as accepting and inclusive as Christ...ignoring the crux the matter, which is that Christ died for repentant sinners. These analogies run from the specious to the silly and, indeed, all have been refuted Biblically time and again. There is a definitive truth; therefore both sides cannot be right.

The PCUSA has for the third time in recent years affirmed its commitment to Biblical ordination standards. If the Covenant Network and "That All May Freely Serve" cannot accept the decisions made in due process, then it is time for them to go and leave us in peace. TAMFS insists they are not leaving. So, what now is to be done?

I teach military history and my doctorate is in that area, so for those who are offended by military analogies, quit reading now. I recently concluded three lectures on the American Civil War, a conflict which went on far longer than necessary. Its duration was due in part to the fact that at the conclusion of each bloody battle neither side could exploit its victory to the total destruction of the other. From First and Second Bull Run to Antietam to Gettysburg, when the battle was over the victors were as mauled and exhausted as the vanquished and in operational and tactical disarray. It therefore was impossible to follow-up with a pursuit to destroy the opposing force. Had that happened in the immediate aftermath of either battle at Manassas or after Antietam or following Pickett's disastrous charge at Gettysburg, further bloodshed could have been avoided with an immediate conclusion to the war. But neither side had the ability to do so, and the Civil War became a war of attrition until one side was totally exhausted, ravished and defeated. The result was half the Americans killed in all our wars from 1774 to Afghanistan died at our own hands between 1861 and 1865.

The emergence of the Confessing Church Movement along with this overwhelming repudiation of gay and lesbian ordination represents a significant victory for evangelical and conservative Christians within the PCUSA. It is time now to further the cause by moving boldly to conclude matters in such a way that this issue can be resolved once and for all. This and this alone will restore the unity and purity of the Church, just as the Union was restored in 1865.

Finally, throughout history civil wars, have been the most bitter of conflicts and they almost never end until one side prevails, vanquishing the other. I think that will be the case in the PCUSA. Otherwise, we will continue with a perpetual internecine conflict. This will exhaust us and leave us not a more united Church, but a worn shell. The victory won in this vote was not unlike that at Gettysburg. Confederate forces put everything they had into the battle epitomized in futile charges into the teeth of Union forces entrenched on high ground. General George Meade's Army of the Potomac won a decisive victory on July 3, 1863, but Meade failed to exploit the victory by pursuing Robert E. Lee's broken Army of Northern Virginia, so the war went on for two more bloody years. It is time to end this fighting. And the only way to do so decisively is for one side to prevail and for the other to accept it...unconditionally. We have had our Gettysburg...what we need is an Appomattox.

With Charity for All,