Nigerian to install his own bishop in the U.S. & conservatives should worry

By Diane Silver

The Associated Press bills the entry of Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Anglican Church of Nigeria into the U.S. as a proof of a widening rift within the Episcopal Church. But does the tiny group of conservative Episcopal congregations really understand what they're doing by allying with Akiola?

It's one thing to oppose the expansion of gay rights. It's quite another thing to put yourself under the control of a church leader who wants to legally limit people's right to assemble or even to speak. These Nigerian proposals had the smell of Nazism, and Akiola was all for them.

See:

• Poisonous legislation targets gays in Nigeria
• Anglican Communion turns gays into "21st Century scapegoats"

If God is love, why do so many religious people hate?

By Nancy Jane Moore

If God is great and God is good
Why is your heaven so small?

That's from the song "Heaven So Small," by Susan Werner (pictured at above right), on her new album "The Gospel Truth."

I heard her on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday this morning and immediately flashed on the Phelps family. Of course, they are just one example of religious haters.

Different religious traditions often hate others: Muslims and Jews both trace their heritage back to Abraham, but are at each others' throats. The Crusades were partly intended to bring Christianity to the Muslim world, either by conversion or by killing off Muslims. The conflict between India and Pakistan has a lot to do with conflicts between Hindus and Muslims -- aggravated by Christians during the British control of the subcontinent.

But even within religious traditions there is a lot of hate. We see it in the conflicts between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq right now, but the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland has always brought the conflict home to me -- perhaps because a chunk of my ancestors were Irish. If people who come from the same ethnic background and worship the same God as Christians are killing each other in the name of that God, somebody clearly wasn't listening to Jesus. (I've got my fingers crossed about the recent resolution of this fight.)

And yes, I know that all those conflicts also have a lot to do with politics and money, but religion always fans the flames. People who are not willing to fight to make their leaders wealthy will often enthusiastically go to war if they're told it's in the name of God.

This hate in the name of God exists in many smaller venues. I recall once visiting a Baptist Sunday School class with a friend. The teacher spent most of the time telling us how evil Roman Catholics were, and then, realizing that she had guests, said, "I hope none of you are Catholic." I regret to this day that I didn't say "I am."

In Washington, D.C., the local joke is that the most segregated hour of the week is 11 AM on Sunday morning -- an embarrassing legacy of slavery and its aftermath.

The Episcopal Church -- the church of my childhood and once a denomination associated more with wealth and privilege than anything else -- has become one of the few established churches trying to open its doors to all. There are historically black and historically white Episcopal congregations, but they're starting to merge. The church was one of the earliest to ordain women, and then to accept gays in the priesthood and now even as bishops. This has caused conflict within the church -- and even more within the larger Anglican communion -- but the Episcopalians are struggling to survive these fights while remaining open to all.

Alas, the Phelps family is only one of the more extreme examples of those who call themselves Christians but preach a gospel of hate.

The Episcopalians appear to have a very expansive view of heaven. With Susan Werner, I ask all the religious haters, "Why is your heaven so small?"

Hearty applause for the Episcopal bishops for standing up for fairness & equality

Just in: The bishops of the Episcopal Church have rebuffed demands from the worldwide Anglican Communion that the church back away from its support of lesbians and gays. The bishops were meeting in Houston.

The New York Times reports:

The bishops have a “deep longing” to remain part of the Communion, they said, but they are unwilling to compromise the Episcopal Church’s autonomy and its commitment to full equality for all people, including gay men and lesbians.

Is that the sound of cheering I hear?

For more on the continuing controversy in the Episcopal Church, see In This Moment's coverage here and scroll down through the posts.

"Poisonous" legislation targets gays in Nigeria & local Anglicans applaud

By Diane Silver

The New York Times editorializes today about a horrible bill that would target lesbians and gays in Nigeria for the kinds of repression the Nazis made famous. The Times writes:

A poisonous piece of legislation is quickly making its way through the Nigerian National Assembly. Billed as an anti-gay-marriage act, it is a far-reaching assault on basic rights of association, assembly and expression. Chillingly, the legislation — proposed last year by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo — has the full and enthusiastic support of the leader of Nigeria’s powerful Anglican church. Unless the international community speaks out quickly and forcefully against the bill, it is almost certain to become law.

Kudos to The Times for sounding a call of alarm about this awful proposal, and shame on the conservative Episcopal Churches who want to ally with the Nigerian church. The conservatives' reason for pursuing such a ridiculous relationship is that they agree with Nigeria's ideas about lesbians and gays. Uh huh.

On lesbians, gays, the Episcopal Church & desperate delusions

[updated 2/26 with new link]

By Diane Silver

Two articles published today provide perspective on the struggle between the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion over fairness and inclusion for lesbians and gays.

First, The New York Times does a good job of putting the battle into historic perspective in an article that, unfortunately, is stuck behind the Time Select paywall. The article doesn't come to any conclusions about who will win, but it does note that this could easily split the Anglican Church. The piece also provides context by comparing the current fight to church battles over slavery and the ordination of women.

[The Times article now seems to be more widely available here. Only free registration is required. If you have any interest in the Episcopal crisis, I would urge you to read it. The story is a eye opener.]

The historic roots of the Episcopal Church's obsession with unity are also detailed. In the battle over slavery, for example, the freedom of blacks was sacrificed. John L. Kater, a lecturer in Anglican Studies at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, in Berkeley, Calif., talked about this in detail, noting:

"I think it was shameful, that the church considered that unity was more important than slavery.”

Judging from this statement and from the rest of the piece, it does seem possible that the Episcopal Church could sacrifice its lesbian and gay parishioners on the alter of unity.

Meanwhile, a British site provides a podcast and written report of Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's defense of her actions.

What strikes me about her comments is that she seems to think something much different happened at the recent Anglican Primates meeting in Tanzania than the New York Times reports. Jefferts Schori defends signing a document by claiming that the agreement gives the worldwide communion time to talk and grow into accepting lesbians and gays. However, The Times reporters described the document as an ultimatum.

Last week, Episcopalians were handed an ultimatum by the top leaders in the Anglican Communion: stop authorizing blessings of gay couples and ordaining gay bishops -- or face banishment from the Communion. They were given until Sept. 30 to decide.

I remain baffled by Jefferts Schori. A few months doesn't sound like enough time for anyone to consider anything. It certainly isn't enough time for Americans to convince their conservative opponents to change their minds about homosexuality. Is she living in a dream world or merely refusing to state the truth?

Anglican Communion turns lesbians & gays into "21st Century scapegoats"

By Diane Silver

I don’t know whether to be sad, angry, or simply perplexed by the turmoil in the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church.

The conservative dominated worldwide communion this week handed the Episcopal Church in the United States an ultimatum: Bar lesbians and gays from becoming bishops and stop official blessings of same-sex unions by Sept. 30, or else.

I’m saddened for my sisters and brothers in the Episcopal Church who are being turned into what the Rev. John Kirkley of San Francisco calls "21st Century scapegoats."

I’m infuriated by the conservative-dominated Anglican Communion, which seems to be more concerned with stoning people than loving them.

And I have to admit to being perplexed by the actions of some Episcopal officials, including Katharine Jefferts Schori, the new presiding bishop of the church. Jefferts Schori actually signed the document that condemns lesbians and gays in her church to second-class status.

What in the world is she thinking?

Folks like her seem more concerned with appeasing the ultra-conservatives who have got the worldwide communion by the throat, than with ministering to LGBT Episcopalians who have done nothing more threatening than exist. And that, apparently, is a terrible crime in the eyes of some people in the Anglican Communion.

Actually being lesbian, gay or bisexual is a horrible crime in the home country of the archbishop who has led the charge to ostracize the Episcopal Church. Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola, of Nigeria is the same bishop some conservative Episcopal leaders have even said they want to take over their churches.

In a bill reminiscent of Nazi legislation limiting the activities of Jews, the Nigerian National Assembly is considering a proposal that would make it a crime for gays to, well, be alive.

The bill makes anyone who engages in a same-sex marriage, or a same-sex relationship a criminal. A person could be thrown in jail for doing nothing more than saying that lesbians and gays should have rights. Simply attending a lesbian or gay club or support group could send a person to jail. Heterosexuals who speak positively of fairness or equality, or even sell a gay person a house, could be penalized.

The bill is moving through the legislative process in Nigeria and could come up for a vote as early as next month. A copy of the bill and a report on the grim life of lesbians and gays in Nigeria is available online.

According to Wikipedia, Akinola supports the bill and has issued this statement.

"The Church commends the law-makers for their prompt reaction to outlaw same-sex relationships in Nigeria and calls for the bill to be passed since the idea expressed in the bill is the moral position of Nigerians regarding human sexuality."

I ask again: What is going on with the Anglican Communion? Have you lost all sense of balance? Have you lost all sense of decency? Have you forgotten Jesus’ most basic teachings?