wfn.org | Religious leaders call for consistent sexual ethic

[powellb@ucc.org]

Jan. 21, 2000
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
Andy Lang, press contact
(216) 736-2215
<langa@ucc.org>
On the web: <http://www.ucc.org>

Religious leaders call for consistent sexual ethic

     CLEVELAND -- More than 900 religious Americans
-- including leaders in the Protestant, Anglican, Unitarian
Universalist and Jewish traditions -- have endorsed a
"Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice, and
Healing."  The declaration was announced at a press
conference in New York City Jan. 18.
            The signers include the Rev. John. H. Thomas,
president of the United Church of Christ, along with more
than 130 lay people and clergy in the UCC. The declaration
was organized by the Sexuality Information and Education
Council of the United States (SIECUS).
     The declaration urges a consistent ethic of sexual
behavior that "accepts no double standards and applies to all
persons." Everyone has a right to intimacy and fidelity in
sexual
relationships, the declaration says, but also a responsibility
not to abuse or exploit others.
     "God hears the cries of those who suffer from the
failure of religious communities to address sexuality," the
statement says. "We are called today to see, hear and respond
to the suffering caused by violence against women and sexual
minorities, the HIV pandemic, unsustainable population
growth and over-consumption, and the commercial
exploitation of
sexuality."
     Secular media comment on the declaration centered
on its call for "blessing of same
sex unions," but ignored its implicit criticism of pornography
and the exploitation of sex by mass media for profit.
     Other signers included bishops, priests, ministers and
rabbis in several religious traditions, including the American
Baptist Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),
Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
Presbyterian Church (USA), Roman Catholic Church, United
Methodist Church, and the Reconstructionist and Reform
movements in Judaism.
     Administrators and faculty at several Christian
theological seminaries also signed the document.
     At the Jan. 18 press conference, UCC President
Thomas said he spoke from the perspective of 17 years in
parish ministry "where these questions took on very personal
implications for members of my congregations."
     Sexuality has become a "battleground," Thomas said.
Too much energy has been consumed "staking out positions
rather than helping our people and the society at large
develop a moral, just, and healing approach to sexuality."
     Thomas said he welcomed "this Religious Declaration
as a pastoral word to our faith communities, and as a
prophetic word beyond those congregations of our conviction
that human
sexuality is above all a gift from God, and that we are called
to be responsible and joyful stewards of that gift."
     "We are called to responsibility," Thomas said,
"because the expression of our sexuality is one of the most
intimate dimensions of our lives and is easily and often
distorted by exploitation and abuse. We are called to joy
because sexuality offers us one of the most profound means
of expressing love, nurturing companionship, and reflecting
the character of the divine-human relationship."
     The 1.4-million-member United Church of Christ,
with national offices in Cleveland, has
some 6,100 local churches in the United States and Puerto
Rico.  It was formed by the 1957 union of the Congregational
Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed
Church.

# # #

[EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: Here is the complete text of
the statement made by the Rev. John H. Thomas, President of
the United Church of Christ, at the press conference Jan. 18
announcing the release of the Religious Declaration on
Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing.]

"Good morning. My name is John Thomas. I am President of the
United Church of Christ. I am here today representing the General
Synod of our Church, which for twenty-five years has taken
positions consistent with those of the Religious Declaration. I also
speak out of the context of my work as Ecumenical Officer of the
United Church of Christ where for eight years I grew very aware
of the way contentious debates over sexuality divide our
communions with one another. I also speak from the experience of
17 years in parish ministry, where these questions took on very
personal implications for members of my congregations.

"In far too many religious communities, issues related to human
sexuality have become a battleground. We consume our energy
staking out positions rather than helping our people and the society
at large develop a moral, just, and healing approach to sexuality. I
welcome this Religious Declaration as a pastoral word to our faith
communities, and as a prophetic word beyond those congregations
of our conviction that human sexuality is above all a gift from
God, and that we are called to be responsible and joyful stewards
of that gift. We are called to responsibility because the expression
of our sexuality is one of the most intimate dimensions of our lives
and is easily and often distorted by exploitation and abuse. We are
called to joy because sexuality offers us one of the most profound
means of expressing love, nurturing companionship, and reflecting
the character of the divine-human relationship. Those of us who
have signed this Religious Declaration, representing a wide range
of faith groups and religious traditions, are a witness to what I
believe is a great yearning in our society, a yearning for human
sexuality to be liberated from its captivity to commercial
exploitation on the one hand, and partisan religious debates on the
other, in order that we can once again use our sexuality as a way of
honoring with joy and integrity the God who created us as sexual
beings.

"This Religious Declaration presses the United Church of Christ
and its congregations to be more intentional in providing
opportunities for life-long sexuality education for our members, in
creating settings for theological and Biblical reflection on the
complex moral issues, and encourages us to be bold advocates for
the rights of all persons to express their sexuality in responsible,
caring, and faithful relationships.

"Many of our congregations are already doing this educational and
prophetic task; more need to take on this responsibility. Beyond
this very important goal, I hope the Religious Declaration will
encourage us all to move beyond the acrimonious debates that so
often dominate our reflection on sexuality, and seek common
ground in an ethic lifting up personal responsibility and social
justice as valued and mutually supportive commitments. If we are
able to do that, our religious communities may be able to offer the
hope of reclaiming sexuality from narrow legalism and crass
exploitation, returning it to its rightful place as the gift of the
creator, a sign of holiness and a reflection of the companionship
we are invited to share with God."

# # #

[NOTE:  The full text of the declaration, along with the most
recent list of signers, is available at
<http://www.religionproject.org>.]