LGBT Anglicans are back on the chopping block based on the work of the Windsor Continuation Group. While we recognize that this is a long-term process, sadly, what was continued today was the process of institutionalizing bigotry and marginalizing the LGBT baptized. Acceptance of these recommendations would result in de facto sacramental apartheid.
“We applaud the strong testimony in today’s hearings from TEC bishops who are committed to be pastoral to all the sheep in their flock, not just the straight ones. We call on them to take that witness to their Indaba groups. We ask them to remember the 1976 commitment of the Episcopal Church to ‘full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church’ for the LGBT baptized.
“It is a sad thing indeed that the message today’s report sends out from the Anglican Communion to the world is that homosexuals getting married in California are of more concern to the church than are homosexuals being mugged in Nigeria.
“As Integrity continues to offer our witness here at Lambeth Conference, we demonstrate our deep commitment to our ongoing relationship with the rest of the global Anglican Communion. At the same time, we will witness to our conviction that the vocations and relationships of the LGBT baptized are not for sale as bargaining chips in this game of global Anglican politics. At the end of the day, too high a price to pay for institutional unity.”
One can only be grateful for Integrity thoughtful and nuanced statements of victimhood.
[blockquote] This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. [/blockquote]
I don’t fall into the above category. I accept I will never be a bishop. You can fight the word of God, and you may succeed for a time. But ultimately that word will prove true, and there will be a cost for following your own way. Humbly accept what the word says, even though you may not understand why, and you will have an easier and more productive life. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Which is explained nicely in the Matthew Henry concise commentary:
Call me jaded, but I’ve come to believe that if Integrity DOESN’T like something that it must be OK or acceptable to the most in the main. “Victimhood” and entitlement have worn just that thin on me.
Note the use of the words “LGBT baptized”. This is the theology of TEC; that baptism = salvation. Jesus is not required. Sad, sad commentary on Integrity.
“It is a sad thing indeed that the message today’s report sends out from the Anglican Communion to the world is that homosexuals getting married in California are of more concern to the church than are homosexuals being mugged in Nigeria. ”
The Church, through Bishops such as +Andrus, is encouraging and abetting the “marriages” of homosexuals in California. The Church is not mugging homosexuals in Nigeria.
Here is an interesting essay from the University of Indiana Press about Anglo-Catholicism and Homosexuality. It may provide some insight on the development of the movement within the Church of England/Anglican Communion.
http://anglicanhistory.org/academic/hilliard_unenglish.pdf
#4 David-I think you have hit on a serious theological problem that has arisen out of the ’79 rite (“You are sealed as Christ’s own forever), with the help of its editors and their students and sympathizers. Those of us sticking with TEC need to confront this head-on. (I don’t necessarily think the problem is the rite itself, but the teaching that has arisen from it.)
One of the blogging bishops at Fulcrum (+Baines) at some good commentary on this session. This is most interesting:
…This is significant in the light of this afternoon’s second ‘hearing’. Of 27 speakers, 23 were westerners (American, English, Irish, Canadian and Australian. Of those 23, 15 were from TEC and they ran the gamut of TEC complexions. Once again, they spoke with passion and clarity, but what was not said about their province was as significant as what they did say. What I think was most significant about this was that the Americans cannot say that their voice has not been listened to and heard. (The other speakers were from Sudan, South India and Egypt.)…
Randall
[blockquote]It is a sad thing indeed that the message today’s report sends out from the Anglican Communion to the world is that homosexuals getting married in California are of more concern to the church than are homosexuals being mugged in Nigeria.[/blockquote]
Standard meme. Vilify Nigeria. Actually the clergy and laity of the can feel blessed:
[blockquote] Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.[/blockquote]
No wishy washiness here. They may be heretics, but you don’t have any trouble figuring out which side of the fence they are on. I have more respect for them than I do for Rowan Williams.
ICXC NIKA
[url=http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/]John[/url]
“At the same time, we will witness to our conviction that the vocations and relationships of the LGBT baptized are not for sale as bargaining chips in this game of global Anglican politics. At the end of the day, too high a price to pay for institutional unity.”
Line drawn in the sand?
David Keller 4:
The kind of “all baptized are our brothers and sisters” theology promoted by liberals reminds me of what some theologians have warned throughout the centuries: a theological error that looks harmless and innocent now, if accepted into the Church, will come back and bite you on the butt one day. That’s a paraphrase; no Doctor of the Church I know of said that exactly.
I don’t mean to be provocative, but in this case the error was the tolerance of the Catholic doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. If infants are truly regenerated at baptism, then we must regard them as brothers and sisters in need only of Sanctification, no matter what they believe or how they live. The Liberals have now taken full advantage of the acceptance of that error and are using it to ravage the Church.
Toral
Very well said, Observing, [url=http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/14861/#258343]#2[/url]. Thank you for this insight.
Integrity = Propaganda.
CatBraganca:
There is no “University of Indiana Press”.
There is no “University of Indiana”.
Indeed, not even [url=http://www.iup.edu/] Indiana University of Pennsylvania [/url] is called the “University of Indiana”.
I suppose that we are also putting on the “chopping block” all the other sinners in the world whose behavior the Church dares to condemn. The “sacrifice” to LGBT folks is no greater or of more significance (there is an insidious sort of self-importance here) than the sacrifice of the millions of heterosexuals who are asked to live in celibacy or Christian marriage, all the normal baptized who are asked to abandon violence against their neighbors, all the children who are asked by their parents not to lie or steal. Sure: some sins are harder to resist than others, and by some people more than others. But it is the universal call to sacrificial discipleship that is the “inclusive” message of the Gospel, and it is precisely the sacrificial nature of our differences — the battle scars of our personal struggles (whether with sexuality or with any other thing) — that brings us to the crown which Our Lady has already so gloriously attained. Yes, LGBT folks are on the chopping block, as are we all; but Jesus has put his sacred head in our place.
[blockquote]It is a sad thing indeed that the message today’s report sends out from the Anglican Communion to the world is that homosexuals getting married in California are of more concern to the church than are homosexuals being mugged in Nigeria.[/blockquote]
This statement will be null and void (apologies to Mr. Beers) when the voters make their comment on the matter come November. Time to work up a new straw man Integrity.
Intercessor
[blockquote]No wishy washiness here. They may be heretics, but you don’t have any trouble figuring out which side of the fence they are on.[/blockquote]
Wow…now that is a back handed compliment for the ages.
Intercessor
Then, unfortunately, you should take your unrepentant lifestyle, unnatual and confusing as it is and causing others to be confused and led astray, and go. Since you have no willingness to give it up to seek and receive help, form your own community. Don’t take mine! If you want help, I’m here. But not to confirm what you’re doing.
“A man who the police say entered a Unitarian Church in Knoxville during Sunday services and shot 8 people, killing two, was motivated by a hatred for liberals and homosexuals, Chief Sterling P. Owen IV of the Knoxville Police Department said Monday.
“It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement,” Chief Owen said of the suspect, Jim D. Adkisson, 58. “We have recovered a four-page letter in which he describes his feelings and the reason that he claims he committed these offenses.””
Sadly, there is the world we live in. It’s not just in Nigeria. And it doesn’t just hurt homosexuals. Hate is insidious; and i’m sad to say, now and then a little too obvious here. So i will ask, as i have asked before…what’s Plan B?????
I said it before, and this only reinforces my point: The assumption underlying all of these jeremiads is that homosexuals are incapable of not having sex. Few and far between are those that want to bar homosexuals per se…the issue is behavior and teaching, not orientation.
If there are any good anglo-catholics hanging around, I would appreciate your commentary on what I said in #7, and also this from # 11. Thanks!
…I don’t mean to be provocative, but in this case the error was the tolerance of the Catholic doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. If infants are truly regenerated at baptism, then we must regard them as brothers and sisters in need only of Sanctification, no matter what they believe or how they live. The Liberals have now taken full advantage of the acceptance of that error and are using it to ravage the Church….
Re 11
Toral
You wrote…
[blockquote] I don’t mean to be provocative, but in this case the error was the tolerance of the Catholic doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. If infants are truly regenerated at baptism, then we must regard them as brothers and sisters in need only of Sanctification, no matter what they believe or how they live. The Liberals have now taken full advantage of the acceptance of that error and are using it to ravage the Church.[/blockquote]
Actually the error lies in the Western rejection of the lack of sacramental grace outside of The Church. Read Cyprian’s treatise on the Unity of the Church. There are no Mysteries outside The Church.
ICXC NIKA
[url=http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/]John[/url]
Just for the record, #7 BCP28, you’ve misquoted BCP79. The words are “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.” This is a bad thing?
You can’t fault them for their rhetoric. Sacramental apartheid. Institutionalized bigotry. And then the most powerful moment:
Then it occurs to me, sacrificial service was at the heart of Jesus’ vocation. I wonder if these folks have read Philippians 2, or maybe Mark 10:45? I am pretty sure Jesus [i] gave his life [/i] for the sake of the church, and liberals, of all people, call us to follow his example. Maybe the folks at Integrity should ponder this for the sake of unity.
The Victim Card……ALWAYS the Victim Card. Rather tiring, I think.
#14 – Sorry, wrong title. Correct title is Indiana University Press.
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is a publishing house at Indiana University that engages in academic publishing, specializing in the humanities and social sciences. It was founded in 1950. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana.
IU Press is currently one of the largest public university presses in the United States. It publishes 140 new books annually, in addition to 30 journals. Its current catalog comprises some 2,000 titles.
To questions above: As a Catholic I do believe in baptismal regeneration. But the next part of Catholic teaching is that we can fall from grace. We wound that life within us by venial sin, and we kill it by mortal sin. The only way back to the “Christ Life” is through repentance with perfect contrition or (for Catholics) sacramental confession with perfect or imperfect contrition.
Surely LGBT behavior (as well as many other sexual behaviors) contains the grave matter to constitute mortal sin and it is also quite likely that the other two criteria have been met in most cases: knowledge of the wrongness of the behavior, and full consent of the will.
seems that the reasserters are playing the victim card here…
“LGBT Anglicans are back on the chopping block based on the work of the Windsor Continuation Group.”
I believe this statement is a euphemism for “thrown under the bus.”
There’s your victim card, John.
At such a moment as Lambeth, there’s no room for such attempts at guilt-laden manipulation, no matter who your card partner is.
And if you find a fellowship or association of ‘reasserters’ saying in a public statement, “Reasserting Anglicans are back on the chopping block again”, then know that my comment here applies to them, too.
So let the objections ring out free, John.
#14,
The journal, Victorian Studies, from which the article CatBraganca linked to comes, is available online from Project Muse as well, published by IUP press as stated. Only the issues from 1999 on are available online, but I don’t think we need to be too concerned that the folks at Project Canterbury would post anything they knew to be fake if that is your concern.
Sad event in Knoxville, deaconmark. I don’t think the actions of an unbalanced man in Tennessee mark all conservative Christians (if that’s what he is) as dangerous any more than reported assaults on Nigerian “gays” mark Nigerian Christians as dangerous. Your thesis would seem to be that disapproval and criticism equal violence. Not proven.
As an odd aside, headlines said the Tennessee man “had problems with Christianity.” If so, why he went after UUs is a mystery, since they’re not Christian. This is simply a man with problems.
I will say it again. The two sides juxtaposed to each other have both rejected this plan. The EC and the ACoC have had 3 strike and are out. Giving them a fourth strike changes nothing. They will continue to proclaim their proclamation of truth and justice…that LGBT are victims and not sinners.
To the blind, #28, nothing is as it seems. That is, what it seems is not how it is, because they are looking through lenses of their own making which distort everything: unrepentant sinners are “victims”, and the orthodox pointing out the ridiculousness of this are “playing the victim”. These people live beyond the Looking Glass.
You WILL accept us as your priests and your Bishops, dammit! And if you believe you can’t accept us as your spiritual guides, well that’s just unacceptable!
#34 illustrates the confusion. No one is demanding that +Gene gets accepted. Nigeria, for example, doesn’t need to invite Gene or ordain any gay people. When they say they’ve been hurt by Gene’s ordination they themselves are guilty of the same crime of victimhood they accuse the gltb camp of. No reasserter is forced to go to New Hampshire.
What we think is ridiculous is that the reasserters have premission to bully people around who have decided for themselves that God does not hate gay people, and have decided that they can be agnostic about the issue. Reasserters do not own God, nor do they know for certain what God thinks about the issue.
They can only say for certain what they think God thinks about the issue.
I will say, #2 is perfectly correct. Fortunately, +Robinson denied the closet, and became obdient to Jesus’ love, giving him inward joy and peace. He has been delivered from wrath and guilt. By being open, he need not engage in promiscuous behavior, but now has one partner.