the past does matter.

I was recently in a conversation with a friend about their church. Like most churches, they are evolving, and like many churches, this means that they have very different demographics that are trying to evolve together. 

Always complicated.

But the conversation came down to an older white gentleman who has been at the church for 50+ years and a much more recent gay African American who has been attending.  

The conversation boiled down to this: someone is going to suffer. Someone is going to be forced to set their convictions aside and be in a community that they disagree with if the church takes a stance on homosexuality of any kind. Or if it doesn't. 

Who do you choose to hurt? 

The conversation was a long one with many complex twists and turns and I realize summarizing the conclusion in a paragraph can be dangerous - but if you'll allow me. 

History matters. Some groups of people have had a history (that still continues) of pain and oppression and struggle because of skin colors and sexual preferences and some groups have had much less. Those who have had much less, I hope, can handle a little discomfort in trying to prove that those who have suffered are, actually, as equal as those who have not.

You can't make up history but there is a lot of making up to do.