Well all the bluster of the Episcopal Bishops meeting is now over. It was suppose to be the great show down between the hysterical right and the progressives of the Anglican Church. Here is what the New York Times said:
In a voice vote, all but one bishop supported a resolution, called “A Response to Questions and Concerns Raised by Our Anglican Communion Partners.” Several conservative bishops who are considering leaving the Episcopal Church were not in attendance. The resolution affirmed the status quo of the Episcopal Church, both theological conservatives and liberals said.
It states, for example, that it “reconfirms” a call to bishops “to exercise restraint” by not consenting to the consecration of a partnered gay bishop. It also says the bishops promise not to authorize “any public rites of blessing of same-sex unions.”
What?
“I think it lessens the possibility of schism,” said Bishop M. Thomas Shaw of Massachusetts. “I think this is going to meet the needs of the archbishop of Canterbury, and it shows how much we want to be part of the Anglican Communion.”
(Boston Globe: Episcopal leaders act to avert a schism from Gay Religion: news of religion and GLBT folks by Thomas c Jackson)
REALLY, and what about the needs of the LGBTQ folks who are apart of the community…these people talk like we are not even in the room.
The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, referred to the statement as a clarification of positions already articulated by the US bishops, but said she hopes that “our sacrificial actions and united actions” will help stave off schism.
(Boston Globe: Episcopal leaders act to avert a schism from Gay Religion: news of religion and LGBTQ folks by Thomas c Jackson)
Oh, I see it is far more important to keep bigots, homophobes and flat out liars in the communion then to tend to the concerns of the sheep. How hypocritical, what crap…what brand of Christianity are these folks following?
The bishops also called for the archbishop of Canterbury, who met with them on Thursday and Friday, to find a way for Robinson to attend next summer’s Lambeth Conference, a decennial conference of Anglican bishops who gather from around the world in Canterbury, even though some conservative bishops do not want him to attend. The bishops also said, “we call for unequivocal and active commitment to the civil rights, safety and dignity of gay and lesbian persons.”
(Boston Globe: Episcopal leaders act to avert a schism from Gay Religion: news of religion and LGBTQ folks by Thomas c Jackson)
Right and I say, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:23-24 New International Version)
Civil rights? They won’t marry us! They won’t allow us the same respect, rights and support that straight people get, who by the way are the ones who have made a mockery of marriage and they say they are committed to our civil rights?
Commitment to our dignity? The have allowed the ridicule of the rightfully call of another Bishop and they are committed to our dignity? They want to “find a way” for Bishop Robinson to attend a gathering? Are they kidding? He is a Bishop, called by God and his people to serve. If they had any dignity or integrity they would demand the good Bishop be there. They ripe our hearts out, call us not worthy to be married or attain the Bishop’s staff and they are committed to our dignity…please I am going to vomit…
Here’s another quote from Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick of Hawai’i, who agreed.
“It was non-adversarial and it was holy,” he said of the efforts of the bishops to craft a statement that all could accept with integrity.”
How is denying the people of God their place in ministry holy? How in God’s name does this Bishop believe they have done something akin to acting with integrity?
I have spent the last week reading everything I could about this great debate and all the hard work that was done…sweat, tears and emotional shouting (at least as emotional as Anglicans get). This was such a monumentus meeting even the Bishop from England showed up…wow!
This is it folks, the earth is going to move and with the ensuing rapture the Anglican Church might just fall apart.
I have read from both sides of the aisle where progressives and foe alike have been saying what happened was a good thing, something to celebrate. This was a step in the right direction. The church is still standing for now.
All though the Bishop “wanna be the pope” from Nigeria said this wasn’t enough…he wants the Americans to repent.
Repent from what? Isn’t this the guy who when he shook the hand of a gay man repelled away like he had been hit with a cattle prod? He wants the American Bishops to repent? Maybe they need to but not because this power hungry sexiest homophobia demands it.
Folks what kind of spin job are these folks doing? Does the world recognize that we as the people of God have been played again?
What crap, there is nothing to celebrate…in fact what we all witnessed was an act of cowardice.
We witnessed a bunch of old fools saying their jobs and the institution are more important then God’s people. We witness what concern for money, property and power will do. Yes I said that…cause we know that is what it is really about.
We watched a bunch of people in the Bishop’s house say in so many words while God may have created us gay but by damn we are not going to let you have sex, make covenant with the one you love and we damn sure are not going let you be a Bishop…a priest maybe but no more Bishops! We are not going to loose any property over this, people yea but what the hell the church property will be safe!
The American Bishops had the opportunity to be heroic, prophetic…to be the Isaiah of our time, but instead chose to whine and pat themselves on the back for keeping a hypocritical institution intact. If this is the best they can do in the face of God’s people dying, broken apart and set aside then maybe they have come to a time in which they should just close their doors and go home.
My comments sounds angry? Damn right I am angry. My God, look how much time and effort has been spent on this…and as a woman once said to Jesus: “Even the dogs get the crumbs from the table”.
Harry Knox a good friend of mine maybe said it better then I when he said,
“This decision is a profound disappointment to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people everywhere,” said the director of the HRC Religion and Faith Program. “The bishops are in danger of succumbing to the temptation to bow before an idol called church unity when God demands justice.”
“We stand solidly behind the efforts of Integrity to overturn the moratorium at General Convention 2009 and pledge ourselves to redouble our supportive efforts. We will not go away; we will not be silent. Our faith and our lives depend on it.”
If there are those who don’t like treating people as the full people of God…then let them leave and do their own thing elsewhere.
This very point was made when,
“the leader of a Toronto gay Anglican group says he would be sorry to see a split in the church but thinks his own life might be made easier if a conservative wing were to break away.
“I’m getting to the stage where I’m not sure that I want to be perpetually justifying my existence in the church as a gay man,” Chris Ambidge of Integrity Canada said yesterday.”
(Gay Religion: news of religion and GLBT folks by Thomas Jackson)
Amen, So to the Bishop of Nigeria and all who would follow him, if you are that unhappy just leave…walk out the door and don’t let it hit you where the good Lord split you!
All right, I am done with my rant and about to leave for Phoenix Arizona where for the next week I will be one of 50 umpires at the “Gay World Series” of the Amateur Softball Association.
With over 4,000 participants and fans from 56 cities in North America. This Gay Softball World Series (GSWS) is the world’s largest annual Gay and Lesbian sporting event. These players from 150 plus teams will be playing their hearts out to bring back some pride and glory to their respective communities and I dare say I will come back with 4,000 stories as to why the Bishops are so wrong, so very, very wrong.
There will be thousands of stories of challenge, love, sacrifice, integrity, faith and dignity. I wonder if anyone will care?
This is a brave and brilliant post–and I applaud both your courage and your articulateness!
These folks need to remember two salient things: God is awake, watching… and He is not mocked. When the earth moves, some interesting things are going to happen!!
God bless you, brother Paul!