by David W. Scott (from UM-Insight)
September 23, 2019
As The United Methodist Church continues to react to GC2019, plan for GC2020, and try to come to grips with the all-consuming debate over gay ordination and gay marriage in the church, it seems that the church may be settling into a Mexican standoff between US (and Western European) centrists and progressives, US traditionalists, and African (and Eastern European) leaders.
In technical terms, a Mexican standoff is a conflict in which none of the parties can achieve their goals, nor can they retreat from the conflict. Thus, the parties remain in a deadlocked state....
Here’s a run-down of the parties in the current UMC Mexican standoff, why they can’t achieve what they want, and why they are not willing to retreat. [Continue reading.]