{"id":1049,"date":"2012-02-09T17:54:51","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T17:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/experts.patheos.com\/expert\/paulpeterjesep\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2012-02-09T17:54:51","modified_gmt":"2012-02-09T17:54:51","slug":"elvis-has-left-the-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Elvis has left the building!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The bus left.\u00a0 The train departed.\u00a0 The horses fled the barn.\u00a0 Elvis has left the building!\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Increasingly, more of the faithful are ignoring religious leaders due to false humility, being out of touch, or just getting it wrong too many times and not having the security to admit it.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve observed many times in the past the strength, endurance, timelessness, and truth in Christianity is evident in its effortless ability to overcome the obstacles put in place by men and to a lesser degree women who run corporate religion.<\/p>\n

Contraception, abortion or reproductive rights, and same-gender marriage or threats to traditional families, for example, are issues here to stay.\u00a0 They are being addressed by religious leaders in ways that are often unrealistic, politically sophomoric, and addressed with an authority absent logic, reason, or commonsense.<\/p>\n

Abortion, for example, is what it is.\u00a0 Christian leaders opposed to it should\u00a0 think of better ways to expand adoption services, encourage mothers not to abort babies, and work harder to find common ground with reproductive rights advocates.\u00a0 Generally speaking, there is a consensus that there are too many abortions in America.\u00a0 Ongoing confrontation solves nothing.<\/p>\n

Contraception is no different.\u00a0 The vast majority of Catholics in the United States embrace it.\u00a0 Church leadership is not going to stop its widespread use for health and sociological reasons.\u00a0 Insistence that the faithful stop is like \"\"<\/a>King Canute ordering the ocean not to roll back onto the beach.\u00a0 Maybe it suggests that the faithful in this case know more than the church hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Religious leaders are still calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-gender marriage.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 This is either breathtakingly disingenuous or a sad reflection of how little people know about the process.<\/p>\n

Assuming three-fourths of each chamber of Congress passed such an amendment then three-fourths of the states must do so as well.\u00a0 Currently six states, Washington will soon make it seven, allow same-gender marriage while another twelve permit civil unions, domestic partnerships, or some form of legal recognition.\u00a0 Hence, nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow some form of legal rights.\u00a0 If each state granting some level of rights vote down an amendment, then the thirty-eight states needed to amend the Constitution can\u2019t be reached.<\/p>\n

This is not to suggest that a state preferring civil unions or domestic partnerships over same-gender marriage wouldn\u2019t support such a constitutional change, but realistically, what are the odds?\u00a0 Public sentiment in favor of same-gender marriage is growing, not diminishing.<\/p>\n

If religious hierarchy had the benefit of spiritually mature leadership then it should be making the case for civil unions for all \u2013 gay and straight.\u00a0 Anyone wanting a \u201cmarriage\u201d should find a priest, rabbi, pastor, or mullah to solemnize the union.\u00a0 Government should have no role in defining or defending a sacrament.\u00a0 The role of government is to ensure that all citizens are treated equally under civil law.\u00a0 Increasingly, state governments have recognized \u201cmarriage\u201d for same-gender couples because religious leaders have allowed it to become secular, in part, by serving as agents of government.<\/p>\n

Pushing strident religious dogma must end.\u00a0 Reconciliation is long overdue.\u00a0 Failure to reflect on and better understand a changing world means that more churches and \"\"<\/a>parishes will close.\u00a0 More people will hunger for spiritual sustenance and guidance.\u00a0 They will continue to seek alternatives.\u00a0 Christianity is alive and well.\u00a0 Yet the spiritual needs of millions go unaddressed.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Lack of leadership.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bus left.\u00a0 The train departed.\u00a0 The horses fled the barn.\u00a0 Elvis has left the building!\u00a0 Increasingly, more of the faithful are ignoring religious leaders due to false humility, being out of touch, or just getting it wrong too many times and not having the security to admit it. As I\u2019ve observed many times in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":969,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nElvis has left the building!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The bus left.\u00a0 The train departed.\u00a0 The horses fled the barn.\u00a0 Elvis has left the building!\u00a0 Increasingly, more of the faithful are ignoring religious\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elvis has left the building!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The bus left.\u00a0 The train departed.\u00a0 The horses fled the barn.\u00a0 Elvis has left the building!\u00a0 Increasingly, more of the faithful are ignoring religious\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith With Wisdom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-09T17:54:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/files\/2012\/02\/big-image-elvis1-150x150.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Jesep\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Jesep\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/\",\"name\":\"Elvis has left the building!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-09T17:54:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-09T17:54:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/#\/schema\/person\/9041d07da9411554ce5032c101fc58c6\"},\"description\":\"The bus left.\u00a0 The train departed.\u00a0 The horses fled the barn.\u00a0 Elvis has left the building!\u00a0 Increasingly, more of the faithful are ignoring religious\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/2012\/02\/elvis-has-left-the-building\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Elvis has left the building!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/\",\"name\":\"Faith With Wisdom\",\"description\":\"This blog is a spiritual reflection that faith and religion must be balanced with logic, science, and common sense as guided by Holy Sophia, the Holy Spirit.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/#\/schema\/person\/9041d07da9411554ce5032c101fc58c6\",\"name\":\"Paul Jesep\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwithwisdom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/89196de8d63e18f35c57bd99a7aca232?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/89196de8d63e18f35c57bd99a7aca232?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Jesep\"},\"description\":\"Paul is an attorney and corporate chaplain. 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