The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America is preparing for a big vote this week on whether to allow openly gay clergy. Oh, get it over with already.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the largest Christian denominations in the country, will decide this week whether to allow gay people in relationships to serve as clergy.

Currently, sexually active gay people are not permitted to serve in the clergy, but celibate gay people are. By Friday, church delegates meeting in Minneapolis are expected to vote on a proposal that would permit congregations to let gay men and lesbians in committed, monogamous relationships serve as clergy.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the latest major denomination to wrestle with the question of gay clergy. The issue has divided the Episcopal Church, which last month voted to make gay people eligible for any ordained ministry, further threatening to split the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which it is a branch. And earlier this year, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted against accepting openly gay pastors, although the margin narrowed compared with a 2001 vote.

Ordinarily I would rail against such a thing, but frankly I am tired. Let’s face it, these mainline protestant churches will all do it eventually, so let’s get it over with. There is nothing to stop the roll down the hill that started centuries ago, it is only now more apparent that we are closer to the bottom. So fine. Permit it all, you know you want to. Spend your inheritance. Get it out of your system and when you finally hit bottom and are eating and sleeping with the pigs, remember that you can always come home to papa.