from “Anthem”, by Leonard Cohen

Monday, September 23, 2013

Numbers (updated June, 2015)




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.

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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