The Rev. Frank Schaefer, stripped of his clergy credentials by The United Methodist Church for performing the same gender loving marriage of his son, has been reinstated on appeal. That’s a good decision, and the right one, but if The UMC wants to take credit for doing something good in his case I am afraid they are too late – the damage has been done, and the doctrine is still on the books that would allow the same thing to happen to another clergy person. There has been fairly widespread disobedience on the issue since Pastor Schaefer was convicted, and the door is still open for small-minded Church officials to start more trials. If they want to do something good, The United Methodist Church will strike the outdated and hate filled teaching from their books and issue a formal apology for those hurt by their refusal to see what most of the rest of the Church has begrudgingly come to see over the past decade or two. Don’t hold your breath. Bigotry and fear die hard.