The first openly gay Anglican bishop, Gene Robinson, has called for the Roman Catholic church’s attitude to homosexuals to be confronted.
The Bishop of New Hampshire said the Vatican’s ban on ordaining gay men was “vile”, in a speech in London.
He received a standing ovation after his speech, in which he spoke of how he had faced prejudice in his role.
Bishop Robinson said: “We are seeing so many Roman Catholics joining the church.
“Pope Ratzinger may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church.”
He continued: “I find it so vile that they think they are going to end the child abuse scandal by throwing out homosexuals from seminaries.
“It is an act of violence that needs to be confronted.”
His speech at St-Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square, was part of the 10th anniversary of the gay rights group Changing Attitude.
The Bishop said his home state in the US was “the one place in the world where I am not the gay bishop – I’m just the bishop… it is a wonderful feeling”.
See how dangerous equal rights can be — to people whose minds still live in the Dark Ages!
You were expecting religion to be rational?
This isn’t news. Lots of people have been railing against the Church, for one reason or another, for the past 1000 years or so. I don’t think they’d rail so if the church wasn’t relevant, so those crazy Catholics must be doing something right! The Anglican would better serve his cause by simply leading by example instead of exposing his feelings of inadequacy (and demonstrating his lack of thelogical scholarship) by complaining about how someone else’s Church is run. The Church is a theocracy, you idiot, not a democracy, and that isn’t going to change (nor should it)! Follow Martin Luther’s example, only don’t pin challenges on post-it notes to the local Catholic church; it’s been done (and done well) already! Anyway ff this is his method of proselytizing, then he’d better walk very carefully. The first sign of abuse in the Anglican church will bring the whole house of cards down.
The Church’s approach to the child abuse scandal might seem harsh, but the anti-gay rule isn’t vile. Rather, the Church is imposing an anti-open-gay rule. The church can’t accept a clergyman who defies it’s teachings; that would be like a US school hiring a teacher who refuses to speak English. But a priest knowingly takes a vow of celibacy – sexual orientation in a priest is like a fish with a bicycle. The Church doesn’t teach that homosexuals are evil; homosexual practise is a sin. A large portion of the abuse cases were homosexually oriented. If you’re going to clean house, this is the place to start. It’s not the place to stop, either. This is the first step in a process that must be designed and managed to clean out the house and keep it clean.
Eideard, I really shouldn’t be contributing to your post. You’ve been posting subjects that in the end really aren’t newsworthy, but are obviously designed to be provocative and generate pointless traffic on the board. I think you should avoid certain subjects, such as religion, because it can’t really serve a public service. You say the church lives in the Dark Ages, but I know you’re absolutely wrong! OK, so where do we go from here?. We may as well argue about abortion or equal rights for animals, or who makes the best starship captain. We won’t convince each other or anyone else, so you’ve basically generated nothing but contention. I can’t help but think John would consider this basically boring. So what’s it doing on this blog?
Chuckle.
Be quiet! Don’t talk! Don’t think! Especially if the topic is discrimination.
The concept of equal rights is intended to protect people from other people, who by traditional church doctrine are sinners (I don’t know what the anglicans teach). It would be laughable even for the anglicans to try to try to impose human political thought onto one who has the power and sanctity ascribed to God.
If you are going to believe the Bible, then God is a despot who knows even the thoughts of our hearts and from whom there is no escape. Fortunately, he is Good. But he knows his mind and is not in the least fickle. He laughs at those who try to dictate to him.
The Bishop said his home state in the US was “the one place in the world where I am not the gay bishop – I’m just the bishop
I think this statement is more of a negative commentary on the Anglican church in America than it is a negative commentary on the Roman Catholic Church.
He received a standing ovation after his speech, in which he spoke of how he had faced prejudice in his role.
He sounds like the prejudice surprised him. Of course he’s going to face prejudice. An openly gay bishop in the Church is like a person making fat jokes at a weight watchers meeting. It doesn’t take much insight to figure there’s going to be conflict.
Didn’t he say something in his acceptance speech about “Church Unity.” What ever happened to that goal?
Banning gay priests… How can you prove that in a place that demands Chastity? Sounds like a loophole in the law.
Its rare that a religious leader will openly critisize another faith. A religion, whichever it is, has the right to have and keep its faith according to its doctrine.
If Catholics are flocking to other faiths, well thats cool, because they are not in agreement with the doctrine of the Catholic church and thereby are not “real beleivers”
The same would apply to any faith and any fundamental disagreement between its beliefs and those who are meant to beleive in them.
I feel that the Bishop is showing himself as a dinosaur and is using his power to champion gay rights by aiming at an innappropriate target. I have many gay friends who do not feel the need to champion… they are what they are and are proud of it.
Even if homosexuality is genetic, it is still your choice to act on those impulses. The Church says no homosexuals. Their opinion is based on the Bible; which they believe in wholeheartedly. The Church should not have to bend the rules that the Bible establishes so that a man can fulfill his sexual desires and be a Bishop at the same time. Maybe he should have kept who he sleeps with to himself if he really wanted to be a Bishop.
Kzoodata, James, Justin, and Andrew.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!!!
No Church has the supreme right to dictate doctrine to its congregation. Any Church, regardless of belief, MUST follow local laws and regulations. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and start your own church where human sacrifice is practiced. Or even where marijuana is used as a sacrament. Or where sex abuse may be hidden from the public. Or men may take multiple wives or marry children. All religious practices are subject to the laws of the realm, like it or not. Ask David Koresh or Jim Jones.
The fact that most local authorities decline to get involved in religious matters, except when they seriously offend public sensibilities, is irrelevant. More and more public attitudes about homosexuality are changing. What was illegal behavior just a few years ago, is now accepted as a legal practice. Several countries, within the last five years, have legalized unions between homosexuals. Many jurisdictions now prohibit discrimination against homosexuals and more will follow.
The fact that the Roman Catholic Church is so strident against homosexuality belies their own beliefs. They claim to be Christian. They fail to consider what Jesus, their own God, would have preached. Instead, like most extremists, they pull arcane passages, passed down for generations before being written down to be the word of God. Yet, they never seem to answer the question of why they forsake people that God created. Do they believe that God made a mistake when He created homosexuals?
Discrimination is wrong. Believing that any Church is immune to criticism or secular law is wrong. To remain deaf when you have ears is wrong. To ignore Christ’s teachings of love and acceptance of ALL people is wrong.
An abbreviated version of my two cents worth.
Pat: Wrong, wrong, wrong. Very wrong.
A church should be dictating morals to its members. Real problems start when members begin dictating what the church will believe untilit becomes a majority rule institution where the inmates run it.
What an absurd report. While the Anglicans have ordained their first gay bishop – us Catholics are still waiting for our first straight bishop.
I gave up Catholicism for Lent years ago, so take this as a comment from a “jack Catholic” so to speak.
The Roman Catholics (as opposed to the Uniate rites, many of which allow married priests) decided many years ago that their priests, once ordained, should be celibate for the rest or their days. It shouldn’t matter whether a priest is gay or not as long as he stays celibate.
Another issue: celibacy requires that a priest deny something that God suposedly gave him in the first place–his sexuality. Then, said priest is supposed to advise people people about matters related to marriage, when he isn’t allowed to be engaging in such things and so has no experience. What’s wrong with this picture?