But none of the other major denominations sees AIDS among its clergy as a significant problem. And none demands celibacy of its clergy, as does the Catholic Church. The deaths have forced religious denominations to confront the uncomfortable reality of homosexuality within their ranks. Homosexuality is one of the deepest issues dividing churches today, threatening to split some denominations as members refuse to budge on their beliefs. Attitudes toward homosexuals range from calling them to repentance and conversion, a view espoused by the Southern Baptists, to ordaining noncelibate gays, a position of the United Church of Christ.
Most large denominations fall somewhere in between.
It is described by the Scripture as being sinful, aberrant, a perversion of ordinary sexuality, and it has been given the value judgment by God himself as being an abomination. He added that the Scriptures also assert that all kinds of sin, including homosexuality, are forgivable. In November, Georgia's Southern Baptists voted to expel two churches that allowed homosexuals to serve as leaders. The national convention expelled two North Carolina churches in the early '90s on similar grounds. The church does not ordain sexually active homosexuals, and it prohibits same-sex unions.