Regress pressures Rowan

Ultimatum on Anglican church gays

“Conservative Christians will throw down the gauntlet to the Archbishop of Canterbury this week by demanding that he openly disowns the American church over gay bishops.”

I did not post this because I care whether or not the Church of England splits from the American Anglican Church. I noticed this because ultraconservative Wycliffe College at the University of Oxford has recently run afoul of university authorities. However, the entire petulant fiasco is much what one can expect from religionists who threaten boycotts and schisms when their bigotted, narrow, absolutist, hatreds are not honored. My advise: to Anglicans, gain rationality and embrace humanist tolerance; to Church officials, grow up, gain rationality, and embrace humanist tolerance.

At the time of the original furor over New Hampshire’s gay bishop, Gene Robinson, I saw him interviewed on television and was impressed by his genuine ‘goodness’.  This suitability by virtue of personal qualities should be the determinant of election to a post, and it really should not matter what life partner he has chosen.

Apparently, the bigoted fundamentalists of the CofE’s ’Reform’ group are delivering the ultimatum because the ‘Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has said that homosexuality is not a “disease” on the eve of a crucial decision that could split the Anglican Church worldwide.’

One definition of reform is this: ‘make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse and injustices’. [source] Typically, fundamentalist reformers are not interested in moving forward to remove abuse and injustices, but instead wish to return to archaic abuse and injustices.

The bigotted CofE group would have been more honest if they had called themselves ‘Regress’.  I can only hope that Rowan Williams will stand up to their pressure.

C of E faces boycott over gay priests row

8 October 2007: Church of England gay clergy row intensifies

4 October 2007: Church leaders on the brink of schism

26 September 2007: For now, US Anglicans give in to Archbishop

25 September 2007: Anglican Church could split by end of year

23 September 2007: Homosexuality not a ‘disease’, says Archbishop

23 September 2007: Archbishop prays for miracle in gay rights row

16 September 2007: Archbishop fears split over gay clergy