Critics of Homosexual Bishop's Confirmation Lament 'Sad Day for Christians'

CNSNews.com ^ | 8/06/03 | Steve Brown

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - Some Christian activists expressed disappointment Tuesday over the election of the Episcopalian Church's first openly homosexual bishop - a vote that occurred after church officials meeting in Minneapolis, Minn., concluded allegations of past sexual misconduct on the part of Rev. Gene Robinson were baseless.

"It's a sad day for Christians everywhere," Peter LaBarbera, senior policy analyst with Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute, told CNSNews.com.

The vote by the House of Bishops had been postponed Monday following the 11th-hour allegations that Robinson had engaged in inappropriate touching with another man at a church event. An investigation was quickly launched into that charge, as well as one revolving around whether a website belonging to an organization Robinson founded for homosexual Episcopalian youth also contained a link to Internet pornography.

Robinson was cleared of any wrongdoing, and the final vote by the House of Bishops was 62 to 45 for approval.

"I'm thrilled we're going forward, and I'm very hopeful," Rev. Michael Hopkins, president of Integrity, an Episcopalian group of homosexuals - told CNSnews.com after learning the results of the investigation.

Hopkins said the vote confirming Robinson as bishop sends a "great message" from the church that its doors are "open wide."

However, not all Episcopalians applauded the decision or agreed with Hopkins on the message being sent. Rev. David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council (AAC), had previously told reporters that Robinson's confirmation would be a "fatal bullet" to the Anglican Communion, the church of Great Britain that includes the Episcopalian Church in America and has 77 million members worldwide.

"We are on the deck of the Titanic, saying to the captain, the presiding bishop, that there's an iceberg dead ahead. For God's sake, steer us away from it. Don't hit it," Anderson said.

According to a petition on the AAC's website, "to confirm a non-celibate homosexual as a bishop of this Communion or to approve the creation of liturgies for the blessing of relationships outside of marriage would shatter the church," a reference to the decision of some Episcopalian officials to bless civil unions.

According to the AAC petition, the decision to confirm Robinson would:

-- Separate the church from historic Christian faith and teaching;

-- Alienate it from the fellowship and accountability of the worldwide Anglican family; and

-- Confuse the witness of the church to the love and joy of Christian marriage.

According to press reports, the AAC is planning a meeting in October to decide whether to break away from the Episcopalian Church or take some other action. Like-minded Anglicans overseas were also reported as saying they would consider severing ties with the American Episcopalian branch.

The 1998 Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade gathering of Anglican leaders, approved a resolution calling homosexuality "incompatible with Scripture."

Yet Hopkins and other supporters expressed some doubt about the convictions of those threatening a church split.

"I hope that it's more bluster than reality. We'll see what they decide to do," Hopkins said. "I think in the end, there's more that holds us together than drives us apart."

Hopkins conceded that the church had lost some members when it decided to ordain women as priests, but he noted that then, as now, there were predictions of "a real worldwide split" in the church, which never came to pass.

Susan Russell, director of communications for Integrity, recently told reporters that Robinson's elevation to the position of bishop would increase church membership, which according to press reports has fallen 5.3 percent in the last decade.

"The same threats of schism were all around, and in my experience as an ordained woman in this church, the ordination of women has only strengthened our ministry and enhanced our ability to proclaim the good news of God in Jesus Christ to those yearning to hear it," Russell told reporters. "I think the Episcopal Church is poised on what we call a kairos moment, offering to the world a vision of a progressive, inclusive gospel, which is another step forward."

Critics like LaBarbera disagree. The "saddest thing" about Robinson's ordination, he said, is that it confuses children.

"It tells them that wrong is right, that it doesn't matter if a man has a (sexual) relationship with a woman or a man. It's just tragic that they are choosing to elevate something that is a sin, and all the young people are going to see this. The liberals are teaching the kids that sin is okay, and it's very sad," LaBarbera said.

He stressed that this issue is far from over within the Episcopalian Church and the larger society.

"The funny thing is that these people think they can change immutable standards by a vote. You don't change moral law by some liberal political action. God will not be mocked," LaBarbera said.

See Earlier Story:
Child Porn Link Delays Vote on Homosexual Bishop (Aug. 5, 2003)

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Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

[rollo tomasi]

"I think the Episcopal Church is poised on what we call a kairos moment, offering to the world a vision of a progressive,..."

Cancer is progressive to. Does that mean it is good for the entire body? Also does anybody know where the alimony payments come from when an Esp. priest or priestess divorces? Does the congregation with their hard earned 10% support the divorce?

[hellinahandcart]

Well I'm a member of an Episcopal church, and I feel like nailing something to the door myself.

Not necessarily my church. They don't send anyone to this convention, because (as one of the priests put it) "every time they meet, they manage to drive more people away from the church".

But I am very interested in learning where "Don, Frank, and Catherine our bishops", for whom I am supposed to pray every Sunday, stand on this issue.

[Clint N. Suhks]

Do these people even own a Bible?

Good question. I can and do welcome those who practice perversion into our congregation with the understanding that we are ALL sinners. However, I do not believe that we should have emboldened and unrepentant sinners in positions of authority. I am deeply saddened and at a loss for what to do.

[Clint N. Suhks]

So, go to your church and abide by its rules, but leave other churches to make their own.

Words of wisdom from a self described reprobate.

[Bush2000]

Whats the big deal? Catholics have been ordaining queers and child molesters for decades...

There have certainly been some bad guys ordained but, quite frankly, badmouthing the entire Catholic Church because of the actions of a few is not only ridiculous but insulting.

[bonfire]

Check your Bishop's website. Our Bishop, Stanton, wrote a daily log to his "flock".

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

It's a sort of post-modern "red letter" phrarasaism. If it isn't found expressly forbidden in the red-letter verses of the New Testament, it's fully allowable. This interesting twist on the pharasaical model of extreme legalism is employed with great zeal to justify and excuse licentious behavior.

And if it is prohibited, they can just invoke the "Who are you to judge?"

Eventually they'll get right down to the Satanic basics, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law"

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"How hard would it be to make such a pillar and sculpt it into the form of a woman looking over her shoulder?"

It might be easier to make a clay image, coat it with glue, and cover the glue with salt.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Cancer is progressive to. Does that mean it is good for the entire body?"

Ouch!

[Dataman]

Can somebody define "kairos" for me?

It's a Greek word meaning "perfect timing."

[Dataman]

In only 30 years we have gone from classifying homosexuality as a mental illness to putting them in charge of children. What of the next 30 years?

[hellinahandcart]

Well, I was wrong about a name. It's Mark (Sisk), not Frank, and he voted to confirm Robinson.

Bishop Catherine is a member of Integrity, the Episcopal LGBT organization.

So I know now that two out of the three aren't worth a crap. That leaves Bishop Don...

[Ronin]

Sounds like a plan. I hope someone takes action as appropriate.

[bonfire]

Well, my priest voted "no", but wrote to us that he isn't as "disturbed" by this as our Bishop. I'm wondering if the fact that our Priest has an out of the closet sister-in-law living in sin and raising an adopted child has anything to do with his feelings????

sigh....

[diamond6]

"The E-piss-scum-palians are toast."

Well I don't think this is a very charitable description of the members of the Anglican community. I'm Catholic but the name calling is really pushing it. You can not punish the members for the sins of some of the leaders i.e. the Catholic Church as well. I went to an Anglican mass and they were very very reverent of Christ! The scum are the leaders who voted Gene in and also the people who went along with it.
Just my thoughts.

[DreamWeaver]

There is a storm on the horizon and only those Christians who hunker down close to God will survive and be a beacon of light in that darkness.

Amen to THAT !! Mary.

Not too long ago, two very prominent men, Billy Graham and Charleton Heston made some very profound statments and I remember them so very well:

Billy Graham: If pumishment is not met out for this country, then He owes an apology to Soddom and Gomorrah.

Charleton Heston. Our God is a very just God and because He is just, I shudder for my country.

[Marysecretary]

Did you see Charlton Heston when he received an award from President Bush? He was just a hollow shell of his former self. I couldn't believe how quickly he has gone down hill. He needs our prayers. He was a wise man and now he probably can't remember how to tie his shoes. Sad, isn't it?

Hope all is well, my FRiend. Maryxxx

[JesseHousman]

It's just another milestone on the highway mapped out by those generals who march forward with the Homosexual Agenda For America tucked under their arm!

For over three decades, homosexual activists have tirelessly pursued their satanic vision of an America in which their behavior is affirmed and their critics are silenced.

The Supreme Court's ruling overturning sodomy laws opens the door to the complete triumph of the homosexual agenda -- and the end of free-speech rights for all who have faith-based objections to endorsing, funding or supporting homosexual behavior.

A six-point strategy was laid out by two homosexual leaders in the late 1980s, to radically alter America's understanding of homosexual behavior. How all six of these points are being carried out in present-day American culture.

Homosexual activists have made progress by infiltrating, influencing and intimidating people in every major power structure -- including the media, education, government, corporate America, and even the major churches.

Homosexual activists are using corporate employment policies to promote homosexual behavior -- and to stigmatize, isolate and silence employees who express opposition.

"Gay rights" legislation in many states sets severe punishments for those who do not agree with its demands while the homosexual agenda is being pushed to elementary school children, starting in kindergarten. Then there's the little-known proposal to implement a full-scale indoctrination of children to accept and affirm homosexual behavior. Unfortunately, the indoctrination in our public schools has been all too successful while liberal churches exist for little more than promoting homosexual behavior.

Homosexual propagandists have been extremely skillful in portraying anyone who opposes them as sympathetic to, or even complicit in, violence against homosexuals.

They have succeeded in "piggybacking" their agenda on legitimate causes such as equal rights for racial minorities and Hollywood helps by replacing old stereotypes with new ones that idealize homosexuals and demonize their opponents.

The fundraising power of the homosexual movement extorts money from corporations and foundations while, thanks to the Lavender Tower, homosexual behavior and its promotion have become pervasive at colleges and universities.

"Domestic partner" policies and "civil unions" are aimed at the wholesale destruction of marriage (as one influential homosexual writer actually boasted) are aimed at homosexual adoption: a devastating critique of the sloppy, poorly-documented studies that helped it gain acceptance.

[DreamWeaver]

He needs our prayers. He was a wise man and now he probably can't remember how to tie his shoes. Sad, isn't it?

Hope all is well, my FRiend. Maryxxx

No, I didn't get to see him at that award, it would have broken my heart as I'm sure it did yours . My prayers will go out for him, a very loved & wise gentleman he is.

Hope all is well with you and yours too, my friend, God Bless.. XXXX