Posted on 05/22/2006 2:41:20 PM PDT by sionnsar
And now the church has an openly gay bishop, the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.
He is the first honest gay bishop. We’ve had gay bishops and priests for years.
Do you honestly see this acceptance of gay bishops as an inevitable development in the life of the church?
Yes. I grew up as a racist in a segregated world (in Charlotte, N.C.). Over time, my mother changed — but not a lot. I changed more because I had more opportunities. I grew up looking forward to having a wife who was a servant, and then I looked in the eyes of my daughters and I didn’t want them to be part of that.
It used to be that gay people were (considered) mentally sick or morally depraved, that they needed to be cured or converted. If you couldn’t cure them or convert them, it was OK to repress them, even to kill them. And then came Matthew Shepherd, who was killed seven years ago. We still have hate crimes, but we condemn them; we didn’t condemn them back in the 1930s in the South. All those people went to church, and they didn’t condemn the Klan and they weren’t convicted for lynching.
These are examples of the “change of consciousness” that you talk about?
It has to do with the fact that human life is always rolling. We elect a president every four years and, in those four years, people die and we have new voters. There can be a complete turnover in four years. That goes on with prejudices, too.
And it doesn’t worry you that this issue could break the American Episcopal Church apart from the larger Anglican Communion?
I’ve lived too long. We were told when we ordained blacks that it would split the church; when women were ordained, it would split the church; when women became bishops, it would split the church. The issue is what is right and what is wrong. I have never known a church to be helped by what is wrong. Unity is a virtue in the church, but not the supreme one. Truth is higher.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Isn't Bishop Spong dead?
""It used to be that gay people were (considered) mentally sick or morally depraved, that they needed to be cured or converted.""
Um, "used to" ? There are many of us who still feel that way, actually. And Matthew Shephard's death, while tragic, was not a hate crime. One of the attacker's girlfriends recanted her testimony later on and stated that it was a robbery over a drug deal gone bad.
This case has been a lightning rod for homosexual activists, but it has been based on a lie.
The answer could depend upon the interpretation of your question...
An enigma of Harry Potter-like proportions, I guess ...
LOL.
"Unity is a virtue in the church, but not the supreme one. Truth is higher."
The only intelligent words I've ever read from this Spong person.
TC, how's the newest chick doing...and more importantly, how are you doing?
Excellent point, K. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, as it were.
We're doing fine. Vlad is almost 4 months old, and very big, very cheerful. His Baptism is June 4, which is also Pentecost on our calendar. I'm in the 130's, sleeping decently, recovered from my foot injury (tried to run :-), and wrapping up the school year. Life is good!
How are you?
...nope, you're thinking of his liberal predecessor, Bishop Pike who died in the desert of the Holy Land.
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