But now they Episcopal Church has done it again. Await ructions, as Christian is set against Christian, as swords are unsheathed, as battle commences with much wailing, rending of garments and gnashing of teeth.
Mary Glasspool, who hails from Baltimore, has been elected an assistant bishop in the Los Angeles diocese, although she needs a majority of national Episcopal Church heads to back her actual consecration.
It’s a simple argument, according to the BBC report linked to above: “Conservatives insist the Bible unequivocally outlaws homosexuality, whereas liberals believe the Bible should be reinterpreted in the light of contemporary wisdom.”
The story continues:
BBC religious affairs correspondent Chris Landau says that for an Anglican Communion already fracturing over the issue of homosexuality, this election is yet more evidence of the church’s divisions.
He says that for many in the US, electing openly homosexual bishops is simply a reflection of the diversity long affirmed by that Church.
[The] Episcopal Church leader, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, has said she will consecrate any bishop whose election follows the rules.
Mary Glasspool is 55 and has been a canon in the Diocese of Maryland for eight years, Associated Press news agency reports.
We’re sure this won’t go away in a hurry. And, if only two out of the entire Anglican Communion are out gays, how many are closeted gays? We suspect thousands. We can only hope that Glasspool will encourage others and the bigots will just have to accept that lots and lots of people are gay – get used to it!
This reminds me of the split between Sunni and Shi'a. It all has to do with order of succession after the prophet.
ReplyDeleteAnd here we see the same thing going on in the Episcopal church. On the one side the conservative literalists, on the other those who understand interpretation based on modern thought.
The latter is guilty of the transgression of failing to think.