Don’t get too excited, but I have found a basis for some agreement with John Shelby Spong, the liberal retired Episcopal bishop of Newark, New Jersey. It probably had to happen sooner or later.

The Conservative movement within American Judaism is debating the issue of homosexuality, centered in the questions of the ordination of homosexuals as rabbis and the blessing of same-sex union. As with Christian denominations, the inescapable issue is the authority of the Bible. The Old Testament’s clear words of condemnation for all homosexual behavior would seem to be clear enough, but the Virtual Talmud blog offers this explanation:

The New Republic returns to the issue of Brokeback Mountain in an essay by Christopher Orr on “Masculinity and Brokeback Mountain.” Orr argues that the furor over the movie has to do with the fact that our current cultural context no longer allows two men to be living together without someone (or most observers) assuming them to be homosexual. He laments the disappearance of the cowboy as “archetype” of such male relationships.

“A heads-up to those of you still fretting about the alleged evils of gay marriage: The parade has moved on.” So argues Dahlia Lithwick, writing at Slate.com.

My commentary for today, “The Limits of Conscience and the Authority of the Word of God,” takes a look at the trial of Rev. Jane Adams Spahr within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and considers what it means when an individual claims a right of private conscience in order to violate Scripture and confessions of the church. Her acquittal is a dark day for that denomination — a sign that open defiance of the church’s own policies will not be punished.

Last week Rev. Jane Adams Spahr was found not-guilty of ministerial misconduct, even after the openly lesbian Presbyterian minister had defied the teachings of her church by performing “marriages” for two lesbian couples. Given the current state of mainline Protestantism, the actions by the trial court were not completely unexpected. Nevertheless, this act of rebellion against the church’s law and the clear teachings of Scripture sets the stage for an even larger conflict when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) holds its General Assembly in June.

The New York Times reported Sunday that the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of Conservative Judaism (one of American Judaism’s three main branches) is to meet this week near Baltimore in order to consider a proposal to lift barriers to homosexual rabbis and same-sex unions.

I seriously doubt that many Americans take Dolly Parton’s views on any subject with much concern, but she has decided to join the ranks of the politically correct in a big way. Yesterday, in the pages of USA Today, she made a plea for tolerating different sexualities, lifestyles, etc.