Sitting in the sun-kissed grounds of a London church, U.S.Bishop Gene Robinson reflected in sombre mood on what it meant to be the first openly gay bishop in the 450-year history of the Anglican church.
Robinson, a divorced father of two, has received death threats and wore a bulletproof vest at his consecration back in 2003. Two uniformed police officers stood guard last month as he entered into a civil partnership with his longtime partner. He was heckled when preaching in London over the weekend.
“I take the threats very seriously, I have to,” he said. “But I am not interested in being a martyr, I just want to be a bishop.”
Robinson’s visit to Britain concides with the Lambeth Conference, the ten-yearly meeting of bishops from the worldwide Anglican Communion, but he has not been invited to attend. So he has several speaking engagements outside of the conference, including a sermon at Saint Mary’s Church in the Putney section of London on Sunday where he urged Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to show firmer leadership and get conservative foes to tone down homophobic taunts.
In an interview with Reuters, there was no hiding the disappointment in his voice when talking about Williams’ decision not to invite him. And he repeated that he felt it was high time Williams took a stand against Conservative opponents who taunted him with homophobic mockery.
“There is no place in the Christian Church for someone to say Satan has entered the church with my consecration or that gay people are lower than dogs,” the 61-year-old bishop said.
“You cannot say those kind of things about gays and lesbians people and then be shocked when there is violence against them,” he said.
Clearly exasperated with a navel-gazing church obsessed with its own internal problems, he said human sexuality was an important issue but added “I would agree with many Africans that there are so many more important things to be dealing with.”
But he was clearly proud of what he had achieved in trying to sweep hypocrisy away, saying: “I would like to think I have raised the issue of how destructive ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ can be.”
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prisca said: “The Bible, GODS word characterizes sex between those of the same sex as being sin.”
No it doesn’t.
- Posted by Matt Algrengay culture seems like Neverland
- Posted by JDSa lost boys theme pervades
but hopefully is growing up
as old oppression fades
dear ‘the truth is..’
How come the minute a person becomes adamant in their views against homosexuality , they are accused of being a closet homosexual or a homophobe. So to according to many who are pro gay-to oppose this activity as being sinful means you either secretly want to do it, or you are afraid of it. Oh come on–try to find an intellectually honest response. How about you simply believe the word of God on the matter.
The Bible, GODS word characterizes sex between those of the same sex as being sin. And there are other stronger adjectives He uses to discribe it as well. SO if you want to call her a bogot closeted homosexual then I guess that is waht you are calling God as well, becasue she is simply in line with what the bible says this activity is.
- Posted by priscaOf course I know lots of Gay people. I am not playing any games. I told you my cousin is Gay and so is my Brother in Law. My closest neighbors are lesbians. In my line of work a very large percentage of the people are Gay. I hold Gay people to the same standards I hold everyone. I expect people to exercise some self control and not act like junk yard dogs breeding in a vacant lot. Adultery is condemned in the Bible more than homosexual acts but our country doesn’t seem to even notice that. Matt you don’t have the right to judge me. Divorce is wrong in all but the most extreme situations but since the 70s our culture has lowered the standards to about six inches above the ground. All sexual relations that are acts of lust not love are a sin as far as I am concerned. If you idnore the Bible how can you say you are Christian I ask you?
- Posted by Mrs. BoyleMrs Boyle, I smell a rat and you are playing loose with the truth when you claim to have known lots of gay people. Rubbish and balderdash!
You are not, by your own language, anything near to being a Christian.
Preaching condemnation in such a excrementally disingenuous fashion sees you foisted by your own petard: perhaps YOU need to come out of the closet?
Perhaps you are so ashamed of yourself that you seek to cast attention from you to others, and in doing so make people believe that you are not at all gay?
You are typical of your kind, dishonest, slanderous and full of vile rancour.
Pray to God you can be saved!
- Posted by The Truth Is...Mrs. Boyle, I feel comfortable saying that you are the most bigoted person I’ve come across in YEARS. You’ve exposed your hypocrisy for everyone to see.
If it’s just the same, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t identify yourself as Christian anymore. Your demeanor here is antithetical to everything He stands for.
- Posted by Matt AlgrenOf all the Gay people I have known over the past 30 years about 1% have stayed in monogamous relationships for over 5 years. HIV cases are on the steep rise again especially in young men. Show me how Gay people are not selfish? Show me how they live the lives Christ would have them live. Prove to me its about love not just sex? Sorry I just don’t see it. My own cousin cheated on his lover. Everyone knows the truth, Guys you fool only yourselves.
- Posted by Mrs. Boylelisa:
Odd that you think homosexuality was the reason for Sodom’s destruction, especially since the Bible says otherwise. (Ezk. 16:49-50)
Bishop Robinson is doing exactly what he should do. He’s defending the Church against those who would prefer it be exclusive and hate filled.
- Posted by Matt Algrenalot of people have said that at the time when the bible was written homosexuality was not understood, mem have loved men , and women loved women almost as old as the earth is , the book of genesis 19 shows sodom being destroyed because of homosexuality , let us take not the men tried to rape a prophet of God , rape is another question but yes! homosexuality existed, people have the right to be what they want to be on their honour and blood.but it is important not to think it is okay when it comes to the laws of God , you can join another faith, live the way you want but do it out side this faith that men have laid down their lives to preserve , let it be done on individual blood, spirt and soul. human beings have changed every law of God to fit their own rules its disheartning and sad but in conclusion let every man be a liar and God be true
- Posted by lisaMrs Boyle
You extravagantly expose your sensationalist tendencies in order to prop-up your own prejudice and fevered adherence to stereotyping and myth making. Shame on you!
Gay men and Lesbians are not all the same and you have absolutely no moral ground to stand on when you preach discrimination and persecution based on lies, misinformation and cant.
And you extravagantly display a complete inability to understand the truth within the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
Mrs Boyle, you personify what’s wrong with the church and you and your kind have formed a boil on the doctrine of Jesus Christ that needs urgent lancing.
The poison you embody is an insult to what Jesus did for us!
- Posted by The Truth Is...Mrs. Boyle said: “…[Jesus] will clear the Church of those who would twist his words for their own purposes.”
On this we agree. You have a lot to answer for.
- Posted by Matt AlgrenI know far more Gay men than just my Brother in Law and Cousin and my neighbors are lesbians. I hear the things they say all the time and I watch how they enjoy making other people squirm. I hear all the comments about how heterosexuals are breeders and how evil the Church is. I read hundreds of stories on line and I can tell you I find the Gay movement for the most part to be very unchristian. In an age where 50% of heterosexuals cohabitate it is ironic Gay people are so hung up on marriage. I am all for civil unions but a marriage is and always will be the joining of a man and a women and you can try all kinds of stunts but marriage is two opposites joining to create something new before God. You can’t have everything you want in life. People in the rest of the world understand that. Only spoiled brats in the West think they can rewrite history and defy natural laws. Jesus in anger turned over the tables of the money changers and people who defiled the temple and he will clear the Church of those who would twist his words for their own purposes.
- Posted by Mrs. BoyleDear Mrs Boyle
Let me apologize on behalf of all Gays everywhere for the extent to which their plight has monopolized your life. I agree that it is both thoughtless and insensitive that they push their agenda at the cost of your peace-of-mind. They should complain about the discriminating tax and impossible immigration laws; about their lack of Constitutional protection or access to fair employment practices; the fact that they are not allowed fair medical visitation rights and are treated pretty much as secondary citizens of this country - they should complain about those things somewhere else. Somewhere where it doesn’t disturb the peace and is out of earshot of those who have all of these things.
You see Mrs Boyle, if I wanted to marry someone from a different country and still call the USA my home I could not; hell, I can’t even get married (which, contrary to popular belief is more about the legal equality than about anything else) and while I “live in sin” with my partner, I don’t get any of the tax breaks heterosexual spouses do, nor could we adopt kids together that would otherwise have no access to emotional stability and financial security. I can’t even visit my partner in hospital as I am not “family”.
Gay rights really are the last in the fight for full civil liberties for all. I’ll bet that Martin Luther King also had people call him arrogant, selfish and conceited. I bet many folks said that he was inappropriate to use his pulpit for his message and for sharing his dream. (Did you know that the first assassination attempt was by a black woman?) But it takes people like him and Gene to make the rest of the world sit up and take notice. I wonder where we would be as a civilized society had it not been for the guts and determination of MLK. I wonder whether we’ve ever thought about how really hard it must be for Gene to do what he is doing. Imagine that you had reached the amazing heights of being a bishop and then were uninvited to an international gathering of all bishops. Do you think Gene really wants to cause a racket because he likes the noise? I bet that this is one of the most painful times in his life; I bet that he would like nothing more than to go silently into the night and not have his face blazing across TV screens the world over.
But he does it - he does it because he sees it as his Christian duty to raise this type of awareness; this type of “enough is enough” noise. He wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t; he wouldn’t be true to himself if he laid low and “let someone else do it”. We are not doing our Christian jobs if all we do is look around for stones to cast at him; we are not really true to our kind if we didn’t want everybody to have what we have. True freedom; true protection; true equality.
But you’re right; enough is enough.
- Posted by DakinMrs. Boyle, the fact that you’re broad brushing an entire group of people because of two that you know is startling.
Please read over your last post and replace occurrences of the word “Gay” with “Colored”. That’s exactly the argument made half a century ago, and it was just as stupid then as it is today.
For what it’s worth, I’d like it if we didn’t have to talk about this issue too. There’s one way to achieve that, and it doesn’t include talk about how The Gays want to “destroy [the church] from within”.
- Posted by Matt AlgrenI thought the use of the term “naval-gazing” was interesting. More properly, naval gazing is known as hesycas and is, to thebest of my knowledge, only practiced by Orthodox Christian’s, who do forbid homosexual conduct for all members of the Church, not just bishops. So, if the Anglican bishops really are beginning to practice hesycasm in an effor to obtain the Holy Spirit, Robinson might have something to fear.
- Posted by MattWhat I mean by enough is enough is I am not remaining quiet anymore. It was not a threat. I am fighting back for my rights and for the Church I love. I am sick of being pushed to the wall and of Gay issues dominating the Church is what I meant, Dakin. Gay people are a minority but that is all you hear about in church politics and I am good and sick of it. I am tired of the rude way many Gays act towards the Church as well. You seem like a well educated and very thoughtful person and I respect your very well thought out response. I have watched many interviews and short videos with Gene Robinson speaking and I stand by my observations on his character. The pulpit is no place for a personal fight or for one to constantly hack at ones parishioners about this topic. It is petty and self centered. I believe allot of Gay people would like to see the Church brought to its knees or even would like to destroy it from within. My Brother in Law and my cousin are Gay men and the things they say all the time are not lost on me. I know far more than you might think.
- Posted by Mrs. BoyleDear Mrs Boyle
As a gay man, let me tell you that there are many things in my tribe that I don’t like either - I disagree with the “lesbian slander of ‘breeders’” and the promiscuity that seems to be more prevalent in my orientation group than in yours; but to all of a sudden declare that “enough is enough” and rage this campaign against “the gays” because of it, is not only unfortunate but also slightly misguided.
If I had to say “enough is enough” about the heterosexual world based on all of the government corruption, incompetent presidents sending countries to unnecessary war, business collapses based on fraud and incompetence - I could blame nearly all of the worlds current problems on “heterosexuals” and feel so much better about not really having a hand in any of them - can you see how flawed your argument is?
To call Gene Robinson ’selfish’, ‘conceited’ and ‘arrogant’ makes you a judger. And if you go by the pure Word of God, He and He alone will judge. I have to wonder whether you’ve even met the man? If you haven’t all the more shame on you.
I’d also be interested in the course of your scientific claims that “most science shows it is a set of factors” and ‘isn’t genetic’. Sure, I think its a mix of nature versus nurture but I can tell you than neither I nor the vast majority on my gay friends were molested as children (as your post seems to imply), nor are we statistically more likely to molest ourselves. Genetic predisposition is an imperative in homosexuality; agruably as it also is for pediphilia and certainly as it is to be black. At one point in time all three of those things were on the wrong side of the law; currently only one is (and I would wager my last dollar that it stays that way). To use it as a “scare tactic” of “what next?” is both short-sighted and ill-advised.
My wish for you on this Sunday - as it is for everybody on everyday - is that we act out of love, live out of pease and say jack-shit about things that we know nothing about.
- Posted by DakinI don’t hate anyone but I don’t agree with the stance of Gay people on many issues and can’t condone the hedonistic behavior practiced by so many of them. I am of the Baby Boom generation and am not a puritan and I see what goes on. I know lesbians who go to big events and scream and yell about heterosexuals being”breeders” while the have their genitals pierced. I know of many Gay men with multiple partners who love to get in your face about it too. Sorry, enough it enough. I am a liberal but this stuff has all gone way too far. I am not a bigot either. HIV infection is jumping rapidly again in young men thanks to the laziness and promiscuity. I don’t care if you want to do these things but leave me out of it and leave the Church alone. Gene Robinson cares not for the Church he is selfish and conceited. His arrogance shows me he clearly is not even a Christian for their is nothing of Christ in the way he conducts himself. I am sick or the Pseudo-science saying people are born Gay. It’s not so. Most science shows it’s a set of factors that makes someone choose the same gender for a relationship. People who were abused as children tend to abuse children when they are parents. Should we except that as normal? Pedophiles are said to have a very strong attraction to children they can’t curb. Should we now except that as normal and let them molest children because the poor things can’t help it? NO!
- Posted by Mrs. BoyleWake up all ye misguided people who can’t seem to differentiate the downright savage from what is morally right.
Do we still, as the Old (and partly irrelevant) Testament states, ’stone’ adulterers to death for their sins?
Do we still publicly hang six year old child thieves, as supported by the church - even though it indicates extreme savagery and barbarism?
Do we still ’skin people’ alive as the Old Testament ascribes?
OF COURSE WE DON’T!!!
Get real folks - we move on to a more civilised way of living and the way the church has reformed it’s views on slavery (once supported by the churche), for example, shows that the church is often OUT of kilter with the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Life changes - we learn to be more civilised - more in kilter with Christ’s teachings and NOT old testament passe’ doctrine.
Too much quoting and bible bashing is a bad thing when it FAILS to pay any respect to the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
Do you not understand who Christ was?
Throw away your preaching of condemnation of gay and lesbian people - stop the hate language and the open season ethos where persecution is the logical result.
Hypocricy, cant and bigotry is what lays behind homophobia - as simple as that.
See the light and stop the persecution and hate of people who happen to be a little ‘different’.
- Posted by The Truth Is...Henry Gibson says: “…to say but it is a sin to be a practising homosexual, that’s a simple biblical fact and the church is not ‘homophobic’ to point that out.”
Incorrect. There are plenty of questions on the veracity of the translation and interpretation of the clobber passages.
- Posted by Matt Algren