I continued to think today about my experiences in Thailand. Several thoughts came to mind. First, I thought of what appeared to be a "live and let live" attitude. Buddhists and Christians live side by side with each other, with little apparent difficulty. Baptists and Presbyterians work beside each other in the Church of Christ in Thailand without seeming difficulty, even though they have different understandings of sacraments. Heterosexuals and homosexuals live, work, and socialize together in what appears to be great acceptance. Is this good? Is this bad? Is it neither good nor bad? Is it both good and bad?
That started me thinking again -- and not in a condemnatory way. What it got me to thinking about is why such a high value is placed on sexual behavior. If one goes down through the Ten Commandments, sexual behavior doesn't rank very high on the "don't do" list. Yet, sexual behavior and misbehavior seems to be of more importance than having other gods; not keeping the sabbath holy; misusing God's name; lying; or cheating on one's income tax. Why is that?
I cannot remember ever knowing, or hearing of a pastor being put under church discipline for misusing God's name. I cannot remember ever knowing, or hearing of a pastor being defrocked for failure to worship. I cannot remember ever knowing, or hearing of a pastor being removed from the clergy roster for lying. Nevertheless, for sexual misbehavior, whether heterosexual or homosexual, clergy are disciplined; defrocked; removed from the clergy roster. Is this good? Is this bad? Is this neither good nor bad? Is it both good and bad? Um.....
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