Friday, December 2, 2016

DESIREE ALLEN'S DECISION AND OURS

IT'S ALL ABOUT US, IS IT NOT? "A woman can't be a pastor according to the Bible." Said one. "True. Nor speak, if followed literally. But allegory reigns in this era, whether recognized or not. Good point Tarrance ." I replied. The above colloquial exchange took place in the context of a discussion about a woman pastor in New York who had become impregnated by her boyfriend, and who is choosing to have the child and to remain in her pulpit during the period of her parturition. This issue cuts to the quick of so many yet unresolved, yet evolving relationships, between men and women; mankind and religion; and many others. Under it all broods the Bible, which abides whatever to whomever, wherever, or whenever. Its Old and New Testaments and its so-called "Apocrypha," (books not juridically authorized for inclusion as canon), form in very large part the basis of Western civilization, dating from the ancient Roman days. There are other very large parts, of Western Civilization that predate Rome or Greece, that derive from Africa and from Asia. At any event this matter respecting this New Corinthian Baptist Church assistant pastor who is female and unmarried has touched off more than a small amount of controversy as to what, if any, her status ought to be in that or any church given her pregnancy. Although nominally about her, Desiree Allen, it is not really about her or her child, but us.