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Why does Rowan Williams bow down before those belligerent African Anglican bishops and their conservative supporters who view homosexuality as "unnatural" and a "sin"? By doing so he is not only betraying the spiritual welfare of gay Anglican communicants but also undermining any claims his church has to be established.
Dr Williams has ended this decade's Lambeth Conference claiming he is "content" with the way things have gone but this is only papering over a crack that will widen into schism. Two hundred conservative bishops didn't turn up for the conference at all, while the man who personifies the clash of cultures, the Right Rev Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, was refused an invitation on the grounds of his sexuality.
The Archbishop may assert that there is scriptural authority for the denial of equal opportunities to gay Anglicans, yet this is the same Old Testament fundamentalism that leads to denying the discoveries of Galileo or Darwin - not something he subscribes to at all. Besides, his is an explicitly political church - he owes his own appointment to a prime minister - and Britain is a nation where gay rights are enshrined in law, including the right to same-sex union. If Dr Williams wants his church to remain the official state religion in this country, he and his male bishops should get with the programme when it comes to the full recognition of women and homosexuals, instead of insisting that there be a moratorium on any further ordinations of openly gay priests, let alone - gulp! - women bishops.
But, most worryingly, the Archbishop's position gives ammunition to those regimes where institutionalised homophobia and misogyny have truly tragic consequences. Two of the bishops who've been vocal in their lambasting of the liberals hail from Uganda and Nigeria, states where punitive laws against homosexuals are still on the statute book: a man was sentenced to death for being gay by sharia courts in northern Nigeria only last month.
In an interview yesterday, Williams speaks of how the worldwide Anglican communion is important because "there may be a complicated development-issue we can broker". This idea of Anglicans as auxiliary peacekeepers is a nonsense, and for once I agree with those African conservative bishops who accuse Lambeth Palace of neo-colonialism.
The Anglican church, as constituted, is first and foremost the Church of England, and is charged expressly with ministering to the spiritual needs of all of us, regardless of whether we even believe in God. You would think that with his church's attendance still declining, Williams would want to reach out to everyone who genuinely understood the New Testament ethic of tolerance and love - and leave those who still want to be bigots to join other denominations.
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Reader views (14)
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Since, sex appears to be the only real constant topic for "orthodox" African Bishops, why don't they spend at least as much time railing against polygamy in Africa? They need to get the mote out of their own eye in their own backyard.
- Sam Cole, Memphis, TN.
Will quotes the "the New Testament ethic of tolerance and love". Must be a different New Testament to the one I've read.
- Mikko Takala, Drumnadrochit, Scotland
Andrew - all kinds of acts are described as sins in the new testament and as Will Self points out, the Archbishop does not subscribe to all of them - who decides which ones are right and wrong? I thought God was the only one who could do that?
The CofE is a political religion - if the church wants to be the church of England with it's leader as our head of state, it has a duty to represent and encourage all British people to enter the church and not exclude them on grounds that the wider society have decided is illegal.
Pandering to bigoted sects will weaken the church not strengthen it - if they want membership to increase show some strength and stand up for what they believe.
Failing that, remove them as the official religion - if they can't follow the law, they have no right to be there. Personally, Jediism is looking good right now.
- Rg, London
