I am completely and gratefully supportive of the action of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in urging its bishops not to discipline clergy living in faithful, same sex unions.

It is time for us all to begin to recognize that there are varieties in the human family that are not evil because they are different and only our lingering ignorance and prejudice continues to call that which is a normal but minority aspect of our common humanity sinful. This battle for full recognition of and inclusion for the gay and lesbian part of our population has already been won. It is time to simply grow into a new consciousness.

I find it embarrassing that the primary opposition to the recognition of gay unions and gay marriage come from the Christian Church. That is not surprising, however, since most of the support for slavery and segregation came from the Bible Belt and most of the negativity toward women's rights has also come from both the Protestant and Catholic sides of Christianity. The Church lost those battles and it will surely lose this one too. The Evangelical Lutherans seem to recognize that.