What about the rest of us?
The aftershocks of the Episcopal decision are way beyond just the Anglican Communion. The decision to elect Mary Glasspool affects the entire religious establishment here in America. This is because unlike many other societies, America’s religious individuals interact on a daily basis, regardless of personal faith. Our children play with Jewish classmates at Catholic schools, enjoy matzo ball soup in winter at the local MCC, and munch on kosher falafel pitas with the guru’s daughter after ballet recital. We are the quintessential pluralist society. And because of that, our social experiences have a greater impact on our religious lives than we often time realize (or care to admit).
Gays in religious office is nothing new in North America. Both the Reform and Conservative movements of Judaism recognize gay rabbis. However the Episcopalians are the first mainstream organized Christian denomination to move forward on the issue. No mainstream Islamic organization allows for either gay leadership or membership, anywhere in the world.
While Judaism is itself both a cultural and religious expression (the Jewish people are just that: a people, who happen to largely share a national religion), neither one of its major Abrahamic cousins are. Both Islam and Christianity are strictly moral codes with organized rituals attached, not expressions of ethnic identity. However, what many religious people might find troubling about the Episcopalian tradition now is its blatant disregard for traditional values.
This should be no surprise, the Episcopal Church is one of the most socially liberal faiths in America today. What will be a surprise however, is whether or not other Christian teachings will also be reformed to fit today’s popular culture. Will sex outside of marriage become legitimate? What about the use of recreational drugs? Teenage drinking? What exactly will religion stand for in the next 50 years? Another way of being ‘different’?
These are weighty questions, but what is most important is the ripple effects on other American religious traditions. Due to the ‘marketplace of ideas’, religious communities in America influence each other. Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, and other ‘eastern’ faithfuls belong and live in mainstream society. Future generations of these religious communities, and others, will grow up in a world where homosexuality and traditional religion coincide, and in some instances are one and the same.
