Via DailyKos: One of Greece's respected religious leaders says homosexuals are created by God and deserve respect

Jan 05, 2016 3:47pm BRST by Walter Einenkel

About a month ago, Greece passed a law recognizing same-sex unions. It is the first step towards the inevitable downfall of civilization—or so we have been told for the past 3000 years (give or take a few hundred years). Predictably, there has been a bit of push back, specifically from the more religious elements in Greek society. More specifically from high ranking Greek Orthodox bishops publicly saying that gay people should be spit on and beaten. 

However, a few days ago Chrysostomos, the Metropolitan of Messinia was quoted in a interview with news site Pappas Post saying that homosexuals are like all humans and should be accorded the same respect.

“Homosexuals, like all humans, are a creation of God and they deserve the same respect and honor, and not violence and rejection. We shouldn’t forget the way Christ responded to the sinful woman, according to the Gospels, which became his word. ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’”

“That canon should be our guiding principle for the way in which we should handle every person and fellow human, regardless of their otherness or differences. The church doesn’t reject people.”

Bishop Chrysostomos diocese covers most of southern Greece and is one of twelve in the country. Now, Chrysostomos didn’t go so far as to say that homosexuality was an acceptable spiritual way of living but, after the very harsh and dangerous rhetoric being thrown around by other church officials, it is nice to see some dissent in opinion. Even if that dissent shows more a degree of difference than actual ideological progress. Considering that the Greek Orthodox church is the oldest Christian sect in the world, there is something to be said about how similar they are to more modern religious sects like fundamentalism, and how they must swim or sink with the changing times. 

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