9 million - number of gay people in
the USA.
8 million - number of United
Methodists in the USA.
56% - percent of people in our
country who support gay marriage.
78% - percent of people between
the age of 18 and 30 who support gay marriage.
63% - percent of the Upper New York
United Methodist Conference who voted to support gay marriage at the last conference
4 - the statistical number of gay teenagers
who commit suicide, for every "non-gay" teen who commits suicide.
0 - number of the top 6 medical and mental
health associations who believe it is possible to change a person's sexual
orientation.
6 - number of those top 6 which believe that trying to become straight instead of
gay will be emotionally or medically
harmful.
6 - number
of Bible references teaching homosexuality is wrong.
6 - number
of Bible references teaching that Galileo's astronomy is wrong.
20 - minimum
number of Bible references supporting polygamy.
60 -
minimum number of Bible references supporting slavery.
140 -
minimum number of Bible references supporting the subordination of women.
2000 - fewest possible Bible references teaching
that God desires mercy, not judgment; forgiveness, not self-righteousness; and
grace, wastefully and freely given, especially to the most vulnerable among us.
358 -
number of years after Galileo's death before the Roman Catholic Church
apologized for its role against him.
389 -
number of years after slavery began in this country until the year when the UMC
apologized for our role in supporting racism.
2,700 -
approximate number of years from when the first misogynous words in Scripture
were recorded by scribes, until the current era.
44- the least number of years for which the
United Methodist Church will eventually need to apologize for adding the words
"homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching" to our Discipline.
613 -
number of commandments in the Old Testament.
10 - number of commandments in Moses'
summary.
3 - number of
teachings in John Wesley's summary -
(do
no harm, do good, love God)
2 - number
of teachings in Jesus' summary -
(love
God, love your neighbor)
1 - number
of people it takes to love enough to make a difference.
- - - - - -
The 6
Professional Associations referenced above -
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
American Medical Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
National Association of Social Workers
