Today’s Supreme Court decision on same-gender relationships is important because it reflects our baptismal vow to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being” and our commitment to justice and mercy for all people.
The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has been a leader in working for the rights of all people in the State of California, and that work is honored in today’s ruling. The canons of our church, under “Rights of the Laity” (Canon 1:17.5), forbid discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, disabilities or age. We affirm equal rights for all.
We will continue to advocate for equality in the future and will do so at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which will meet in Anaheim in 2009.
I celebrate and give thanks for this decision of the court and look forward with joy and excitement to a future of justice and mercy for all people in the State of California and the Episcopal Church.
To paraphrase St. Paul, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, gay nor straight in Jesus Christ our Lord.
–(The Rt. Rev.) J. Jon Bruno is Bishop of Los Angeles
I really think that a “crusade” for polygamy will not be far behind.
“Inter-generational” love …
Inter-species “love” …
The core problem is that most Baby-Boomers have no vision or perspective beyond their next orgasm.
It’s precisely because we respect the dignity of every human being that orthodox Christians say ‘no’ to blessing same-gender relationships or marrying the same.
There’s the ’79 “baptismal covenant” again. Talk about a Trojan horse! And I wouldn’t want to be in this bishop’s shoes when St. Paul is able to tell him what he thinks of his paraphrase.
If Bishop Bruno is allowed to go to lambeth after this statement then there is absolutely no real requirement to abide by windsor or really work towards a covenant that will solve our problems. I know at some point the shock should wear off, but this is an absolute shame. Do we lack all courage to oppose the culture or better yet speak the truth in love to it?
Is there another denomination that even approaches the insanity of TEC?
Oddly, that is not a paraphrase of scripture it is re scripting, a new addition, it changes it entirely. Paul would not agree.
I’m taking bets. Sometime in the near future, most likely during the Lambeth Conference, +Bruno and others, if not the PB herself, will use this finding as their justification to weasle away from the “answer” the HOB gave the Communion last September.
RS Bunker
I’m with you Katherine. That damned “Baptismal Vow” from the ’79 book is the touchstone of the heretics, used to justify all of their Leftist agenda. Every time I hear mention of it, I cringe and wait for the next outrage.
Thanks be to God for this just ruling.
#6, the answer to your question is YES i.e. the United Church of Christ
One day, the issue of full inclusion of GLBT Christians, I believe, will be looked at in the same way and with the same shame we remember the church and state’s support of slavery in this country and too the treatment of women. The same shrill cries of demise went up from those who were against the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of women. Thy sky is not falling but justice is rolling down like a river. Jesus Christ be praised!
Exactly right, Bart Hall. When the revisionists bleat, “God is love,” as their touchstone, you have to put their idea of “love” in the context of a muddy orgy at Woodstock.
Another quote from Bruno:
“Where are we going? Why are we in this handbasket?”
4. Dear Kate, Please don’t worry about Paul telling Bruno anything. There is little likelilhood the two will ever meet. Remember, the Lord has already said something about adding one jot or tittle to His word.
Best wishes, –Stan
Well, folks, I don’t really think same-sex “marriage” is as big of a problem societally than “remarriage” with a second or third spouse after divorce. Jesus effectively banned remarriage when he called it adultery in Matthew 5 and 19, Mark 10 and Luke (sorry, I forgot the chapter and don’t have a Bible near me). We opened the door to this sort of nonsense long ago. Our families have been ripped apart for decades now, and our entire society is groaning with the pain of it. Same-sex “marriage” will never become as widespread a problem as divorce.
#10 archangelica – Please read the following post on Stand Firm in Faith. I know it likely will not change your opinion, but I found to be both fascinating and compelling. It provided a new perspective for me and reinforced my belief that the Spirit is not “working a new thing.” It is just an old thing, repackaged in a post-modern shell. I admit to anger at the LGBT lobby and their attempt to force me to celebrate their lifestyle choice, but I also feel an immense sadness about the path they have chosen and the damage it is inflicting on our society.
Bp. Bruno’s statement was crafted mainly and perhaps brilliantly for one prime purpose: to curry favor with the California Supreme Court same-sex-marriage justices who with their colleagues on the bench are considering an appeal in a case involving estranged Episcopal parishes in his diocese. The decision in that case will determine whether church property disputes in California are to be settled in deference to the hierarchy (a win for Bp. Bruno, KJS, et al ) or according to neutral principles of law (the people win).
Does anyone know if some of those justices are Episcopalians?
w.w.
Any doubt where this is heading? Integrity already feels pumped enough to demand an official SSB at next year’s Convention. Time for us to be shed of each other once and for all. No more “dialog”, “encounters”, or any inane African phrases to wear us down. Let’s just get it over with. Integrity and Bruno can have the stale 1/2 million ASA while the other 300,000 get on with it.
Congratulations to those who killed off TEC with this kind of stuff. You’re something else.
Galatians 3:28 is apparently the only verse written by Paul that was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
More and more I am of the opinion that the change in the Baptismal covenant in the 1979 BCP is heresy. It is a prescription for Idolatry.
#10 has just validated once again the straight line from 1976 to this. And yes, we (those of us who follow the traditional religion, not the new one) need to face the divorce problem honestly.
The slavery thing is a red herring, however. It was never required or encouraged; scripture had to be seriously twisted to make that happen. Not so with divorce.
#19 – does anyone have a link that explains this change in the baptismal covenant in the 1979 BCP?
One may regret the loss of the classical Anglican prayer-books, and one may regret the misuse of the present American BCP, but there is nothing remotely heretical about the baptismal covenant in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, let alone anything “damned” about it. I find that language very bothersome indeed, and I believe that those who use it regarding holy things need to consider their language, and their position, very carefully.
The problem with Bruno’s misuse of the prayer-book is that he, and the rest of his ilk, like all the heretics who have ever lived and taught, pick, chose and ignore whatever does not speak to their benighted point of view. In this particular case it is the rest of the baptismal covenant: to continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers; to persevere in resisting evil, and, to repent and return to the Lord; to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.. They cannot possibly claim to be faithful to these three promises and vows, and, when they do, it is patently obvious that they are lying.
For that matter, I do not believe that men like Bruno are really seeking to serve Christ in all persons and I do not believe they are even respecting the true human dignity of each person in the sense that the collect for the Second Sunday of Christmas speaks of it (“O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature…”). No one who respected the dignity of God’s creation would advocate against God’s intent in that same creation.
Episcopalians who uphold the teaching of the whole Church do not need to cede anything to the Brunos of TEC and we particularly do not need to cede a commitment to peace, justice and human dignity. When these false prophets steal from the BCP we need to hold up the teaching of the whole prayerbook, the whole Gospel and the wholeness of life in Christ.
Father Dean A. Einerson
Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Divorce is against the teaching of Christ. We are in error. This, too, should be changed and divorce disallowed but there is not one single chance in heaven or earth that it will be in TEC. So, we will continue to collect error after error in our theology and life in Christ. (Can it be said we are living in Christ?) Bruno is one big ERROR.
Wedding bells are breaking up that old (TEC) gang of mine . . .
Bruno long ago showed himself to be a total loss as a bishop, as a Christian. Why do we care what he says about anything?
This is what TEC has been waiting for. This is the payoff for their endless equivocation and it is their justification. TEC has won a major battle and they may have won the war as well unless California’s referendum over turns the court. You must admit at last, that a crucial part of America has declared the Anglican church’s disapproval of ssm as illegal. This is where we are now. The California vote will produce a bandwagon effect and it will cripple Anglicanism. T hat is, we will become increasingly irrelevant because the homophile agenda is so widespread, so popular among the Bright White and Overpaid, and so in tune with everything novelty-driven.
The presidential candidates will do nothing substantial. Congress will ignore the problem and hope it goes away.
Can someone tell me why, in the legal debate, t he issue of the civil rights of multiple spouses never arises? This is the rock that ssm will founder on if we can ever drive the ship on that shore. I don’t suppose the Anglican church did anything so intelligent as filing an amicus brief with the court. And yet, if not, why not? Larry
Fr. Einerson, I don’t say that the ’79 baptismal service is heretical on its face. It can be read, as you point out, in an orthodox way. But it can also be easily misused, as Bruno’s statement indicates; I’ve heard this kind of thing countless times. The traditional baptismal service is a lot harder to twist into the new religion.
Fr. Einerson,
Not all the Bruno’s of TEC are heretics. Not, for instance, my 93-year-old mother.
[size=1][color=red][url=http://resurrectioncommunitypersonal.blogspot.com/]The Rabbit[/url][/color][color=gray].[/color][/size]
Katherine,
That may very well be true, but it also seems that in our own day and age there are lot more people who are happy to do the twisting.
Brother Rabbit,
Forgive me for not considering my language more carefully.
DAE+
Fr. Einerson highlights an important point. Many TEC bishops should be deposed under any objective reading of their vows. In addition to violations of his quoted language, many have violated the vow to uphold the doctrine, discipline, and worship of TEC. As others have noted , the standards are simply being made up as they go, depending upon the “feeling” or “experience” of the moment. However much we may disagree with him, Bp. Bennison was at least honest enough to admit, “We wrote the Bible; we can re-write it.”
Thanks, Fr. Einerson. No offense taken. I’m now getting on a plane (Pittsburgh) to fly into the heart of +Jon’s ‘territory’, where I’ll gather with 240 other men at the Anglican Men’s Weekend, to hear from +Orombi, +Guernsey, +Anderson, and to meet +Cavalcanti for the first time. With goings-on like this within the boundaries of his diocese, +Jon needs a news item like this to boost his spirits.
By the way, the last time I talked with +Jon, he told me, “All Bruno’s are related.” Actually, I don’t think so. His ancestry hails from Sicily, and mine is from Prussia.
[size=1][color=red][url=http://resurrectioncommunitypersonal.blogspot.com/]The Rabbit[/url][/color][color=gray].[/color][/size]
It would seem that the mystical forces of good and evil, light and dark, white and black, positive and negative are lining up so that there will no longer be a balanced middle path to take.
It has been 70-80 years since the world has seen a display of evil at this magnitude.
While I hardly think this is the eschatologic Armageddon, the upcoming Lambeth seems to be taking on more an apocalyptic nature, as we hear that the ABp of Canterbury does not wish to discuss these matters, will have small group sessions (Delphi Technique), and will have “progressive” speakers at plenary sessions. Thus, it seems that RW would again play the fiddle while Canterbury burns around him. The godly bishops must hijack the agenda of this meeting.
If conservatives stay away from Lambeth, then there will be a pseudo-armageddon of sorts in which only one side is represented. In other words, RW will be part of a large violin section. Doubtless, the Anglican Communion will blow to bits in the aftermath of a weak Lambeth, because the General Convention of TEC, ruled by unbridled demons, will see fit to do whatever it wishes without regard for the clear messages of Scripture or Tradition.
Friends, the Beast must be destroyed at Lambeth! The army of the devil must be cast into the eternal rivers of fire! The faithful bishops of the Anglican Communion must unite to take a stand. You can still stop this. Together, you bishops are more powerful than the forces of the Beast, and you know it.
Here’s a Scriptural paraphrase, Bp. Bruno:
Be strong, and be of great courage! Again! Be strong and be very brave! Keep watch over all of the Law that Moses, servant of God, commands! Turn not away to the left or to the right, so that you will be wise in all that you do! Be strong! Have courage! Fear not! For YHVH Elohim is with you wherever you go!
#10
“One day, the issue of full inclusion of GLBT Christians, I believe, will be looked at in the same way and with the same shame we remember the church and state’s support of slavery in this country and too the treatment of women.”
And one day that will be overturned and society will go back to slavery, women at home, and no gay rights. Rinse and repeat, ad nauseum, til Judgement Day.
#1 and others- There is no biblical prohibition on polygamy. Monogamy was only a requirement for deacons, pastors, and bishops, members of the church were not required to repudiate their other wives as a requirement for communion. Such may have been the leaning of the Spirit upon such members after years of communion and worship, and thus became the standard practice of the church, but polygamy is never [i] specifically [/i] prohibited within the 66 books. Let’s start using, say, bestiality, as our new slippery slope. That, along with adultery, divorce, and homosexuality are all soundly condemned.
Finally, as for the good Bishop- I will then paraphrase Mark Twain: There are lies, damn lies, and paraphrasing.
Most of you are whistling in the dark. We have suffered a major defeat and we had better admit it. Now, Schori et al will be able to claim that the Holy Spirit was in fact standing behind their agenda, and the proof is in this particular pudding. What’s more, if this issue rises to the political surface once more, it will separate blue from red againn to a greater degree than previously, and this confrontation will be between t he rednecks and the Bright, White and Overeducated. This confrontation will therefore make resistence to ssm and the homophile agenda coterminous with ignorance and parochialism; the issue will be stupidity against education, blind fundamentalism against flexible rationalism. This is PRECISELY how the media will play the battlefield. In short, we will have acquired allies we really don’t want, for we will be tarred with the same brush.
There is no good news here. Larry
Fr. Dean, with no disrespect to your argument, I hereby reject and renounce any and all utterances of the 1979 Baptismal Covenant. The Episcopal organization secretly redefined the words for nefarious purposes and I was tricked into repeating them. I consider it nothing less than fraud.
Bruno left off the next part of his paraphrase of Jesus: “….there is neither Jew nor Greek….right or wrong.”