Posted on 06/24/2007 3:21:28 PM PDT by Clive
WINNIPEG -- After a weekend of emotional debate, the Anglican Church of Canada has rejected a long campaign by its most liberal members to let priests bless the partnerships of same sex couples.
About 300 delegates to the church's national meeting in Winnipeg voted Sunday against allowing blessing ceremonies for gays and lesbians.
The decision complicates the position and future of the church because earlier in the day delegates approved a historic motion that said same-sex blessings did not violate the "core doctrines" of the church.
The voting Sunday followed years of squabbling over the matter and theological study within the church. Currently the United Church is the only large, mainstream denomination in this country to bless or marry same sex couples.
While the decision to deny same-sex blessings will please many conservative Anglicans -- and help preserve the unity of the mostly-orthodox global Anglican Communion -- it is a stinging setback for thousands of gay and lesbian worshippers and their champions, who have been pressing the issue for more than a decade.
Just a question, where in the Bible did God or Christ ever put the doctrines of the gospel up for a vote?
It isn't, except for those who have abandoned the authority of scripture long ago. 40 years ago even the most liberal churchmen never comtemplated this bitter fruit of the "sexual revolution." If you'd asked Bultmann or even Tillich their external sexual morality (not internal...for Tillich) they would have both been what is now considered "conservative" in this area. However, their rejection of biblical authority sowed the seeds of this issue...as when the sodomists came knocking, there wasn't a good answer other than "why not?"
If there is no authority outside the mind and institutions of mankind, no revealed will of God in scripture, there are really no limits to what the moral (or really amoral or immoral) rationalizations of humans will allow.
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