Election of gay priest as bishop is old hat!
Aug 12, 2003
<b>Letter from Toronto</b><br><br>THE loudest voices protesting the election of openly gay Anglican priest Gene Robinson has come almost exclusively from developing countries, especially Africa where the Anglican Church is experiencing the largest growth.
By Opiyo Oloya
THE loudest voices protesting the election of openly gay Anglican priest Gene Robinson has come almost exclusively from developing countries, especially Africa where the Anglican Church is experiencing the largest growth.
The African branches of the Anglican Church are outraged that an openly homosexual clergyman could assume such a high position in the Church. The New York Times reported the Rev Joseph Mutie Kanuku, bishop of the Machakos Diocese in Kenya, as saying, “It’s wrong and it’s against the Bible.â€
Meanwhile head of the 17.5 million Anglican Church of Nigeria, the Most Rev Peter Akinola, is reported to be ready to cut ties with the Episcopalian Church of the United States of America. Two months ago, he ordered his churches to sever ties with the Vancouver Diocese in western Canada after officials there ratified the liturgy for same-sex union.
Moreover, Anglican Church leaders in Africa argue that delegates to the 1998 Lambeth Conference which sets policy guidelines every 10 years for the 38 branches of the Anglican Church, voted 526 to 70 that homosexual practices are incompatible with the Scriptures, thereby denouncing same-sex relationships and openly homosexual clergymen.
Yet, ignoring all this, the American Episcopal Church with 2.3 million members approved the election of New Hampshire priest V. Gene Robinson, 56, a divorced father of two lovely daughters who lives openly with his gay male partner, Mark Andrew. Oblivious of the concern brewing out there, the bishop-elect, his 21-year-old daughter Elia and his partner were shown last Tuesday reacting with whopping joy moments after receiving news of his confirmation. What is going on here, one would ask.
Though outrageous in the eyes of most Africans regardless of religious persuasion, the election of a gay church minister or same sex marriage is not considered all that radical in the North American context for a couple of reasons.
Foremost, continental North America has slowly accepted the reality of gays and lesbians living openly in society. Textbooks in many public-funded schools now avoid defining traditional family as consisting of a mother and a father because there are many well publicised cases of two dads or two mothers rearing children.
Once closeted, gays and lesbians can now openly organise concerts and events like the Toronto Annual Gay and Lesbian Parade and expect more than half of the people attending to be straight families. Interestingly, a recent poll found that many Canadians are less concerned with the legal union between same sex couples with 25.6% strongly supporting the idea, 23.7% somewhat supporting the idea, 11.8% somewhat opposing the idea. Only 36% came strongly in opposition to same-sex marriage.
Secondly, unlike in Africa where morality and social norms still rule, legislations and courts are defining how North Americans relate to gays and lesbians by looking at individual rights and freedom. In Canada, for example, three court rulings in three provinces have spelt out that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the wake of those rulings, the Government of Canada began debate on expanding the definition of marriage to include same sex couples.
As matters stand now, lesbian and gay couples may legally marry in Ontario and British Columbia. The federal bill would extend these rights to the rest of Canada.
In other words, instead of dealing with the issues of morality and homosexuality which are raised in the Bible (see Genesis Chapter 19; Leviticus 18: 22; 1 Corinthian 6:9; 1 Timothy 1: 8-10) and the Koran which Africans continue to hold dear in their spiritual and moral growth, north America and Europe have deftly focused only on the legality involving individual rights.
It’s precisely for this reason that many westerners were shocked beyond words to hear the president of the Funtua appeal court tell Nigerian Amina Lawal, 31, on Monday August 19, 2002 that she would be stoned to death for having a child outside marriage.
Somehow, the idea that the state would has any jurisdiction, and a harsh one at that, in the affairs of two consenting adults is outrageous to most North American and European sensibilities.
In the end, the firestorm sweeping the Anglican Church over the election of the first openly gay Anglican bishop will likely boil to a showdown between Western and African values. Whether African Anglican clergy decide to break away from the Church of England, an unlikely event, or sever ties with the Episcopal Church of America, a more likely scenario, remains to be seen.
The only reality is the growing divide between the Africans and the developed countries in North America and Europe. With their mighty economic carrot and powerful cultural onslaught on captive Africa, the developed nations will prevail at some point. What do you think?
oloyao@ycdsb.edu.on.ca
THE loudest voices protesting the election of openly gay Anglican priest Gene Robinson has come almost exclusively from developing countries, especially Africa where the Anglican Church is experiencing the largest growth.
The African branches of the Anglican Church are outraged that an openly homosexual clergyman could assume such a high position in the Church. The New York Times reported the Rev Joseph Mutie Kanuku, bishop of the Machakos Diocese in Kenya, as saying, “It’s wrong and it’s against the Bible.â€
Meanwhile head of the 17.5 million Anglican Church of Nigeria, the Most Rev Peter Akinola, is reported to be ready to cut ties with the Episcopalian Church of the United States of America. Two months ago, he ordered his churches to sever ties with the Vancouver Diocese in western Canada after officials there ratified the liturgy for same-sex union.
Moreover, Anglican Church leaders in Africa argue that delegates to the 1998 Lambeth Conference which sets policy guidelines every 10 years for the 38 branches of the Anglican Church, voted 526 to 70 that homosexual practices are incompatible with the Scriptures, thereby denouncing same-sex relationships and openly homosexual clergymen.
Yet, ignoring all this, the American Episcopal Church with 2.3 million members approved the election of New Hampshire priest V. Gene Robinson, 56, a divorced father of two lovely daughters who lives openly with his gay male partner, Mark Andrew. Oblivious of the concern brewing out there, the bishop-elect, his 21-year-old daughter Elia and his partner were shown last Tuesday reacting with whopping joy moments after receiving news of his confirmation. What is going on here, one would ask.
Though outrageous in the eyes of most Africans regardless of religious persuasion, the election of a gay church minister or same sex marriage is not considered all that radical in the North American context for a couple of reasons.
Foremost, continental North America has slowly accepted the reality of gays and lesbians living openly in society. Textbooks in many public-funded schools now avoid defining traditional family as consisting of a mother and a father because there are many well publicised cases of two dads or two mothers rearing children.
Once closeted, gays and lesbians can now openly organise concerts and events like the Toronto Annual Gay and Lesbian Parade and expect more than half of the people attending to be straight families. Interestingly, a recent poll found that many Canadians are less concerned with the legal union between same sex couples with 25.6% strongly supporting the idea, 23.7% somewhat supporting the idea, 11.8% somewhat opposing the idea. Only 36% came strongly in opposition to same-sex marriage.
Secondly, unlike in Africa where morality and social norms still rule, legislations and courts are defining how North Americans relate to gays and lesbians by looking at individual rights and freedom. In Canada, for example, three court rulings in three provinces have spelt out that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the wake of those rulings, the Government of Canada began debate on expanding the definition of marriage to include same sex couples.
As matters stand now, lesbian and gay couples may legally marry in Ontario and British Columbia. The federal bill would extend these rights to the rest of Canada.
In other words, instead of dealing with the issues of morality and homosexuality which are raised in the Bible (see Genesis Chapter 19; Leviticus 18: 22; 1 Corinthian 6:9; 1 Timothy 1: 8-10) and the Koran which Africans continue to hold dear in their spiritual and moral growth, north America and Europe have deftly focused only on the legality involving individual rights.
It’s precisely for this reason that many westerners were shocked beyond words to hear the president of the Funtua appeal court tell Nigerian Amina Lawal, 31, on Monday August 19, 2002 that she would be stoned to death for having a child outside marriage.
Somehow, the idea that the state would has any jurisdiction, and a harsh one at that, in the affairs of two consenting adults is outrageous to most North American and European sensibilities.
In the end, the firestorm sweeping the Anglican Church over the election of the first openly gay Anglican bishop will likely boil to a showdown between Western and African values. Whether African Anglican clergy decide to break away from the Church of England, an unlikely event, or sever ties with the Episcopal Church of America, a more likely scenario, remains to be seen.
The only reality is the growing divide between the Africans and the developed countries in North America and Europe. With their mighty economic carrot and powerful cultural onslaught on captive Africa, the developed nations will prevail at some point. What do you think?
oloyao@ycdsb.edu.on.ca