Religious Left

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent The Times UK Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God” in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. As Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Williams recommitted the Anglican Communion to its orthodox position that homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture at the Lambeth Conference, which closed on Sunday. However, in an exchange of letters with an evangelical Christian, written eight years ago when he was Archbishop of Wales, he described his belief that biblical passages criticising homosexual sex were not aimed at people who were gay by nature. He argued that scriptural prohibitions were addressed to heterosexuals looking for sexual variety. He wrote: “I concluded that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithful...

by Fiona MacGregor The Scotsman Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Anglican bishop, came to Scotland this week to debate homosexuality and religion. He has maintained his dignity in the face of hostility from the Church, but tells Fiona MacGregor his patience may be running out. "I am losing my patience. I have tried to play by the rules and be respectful and sometimes it would be nice to be shown a little respect back. I try to keep my sympathy (for Williams] and I do worry and pray for him. I don't believe this (refusal to recognise homosexual relationships can have a place within the church) is what's in his heart – unless he's changed very much since he became Archbishop of Canterbury." "As more and more Christians make themselves known to us as gay or lesbian, the more we realise they are not outside the embrace of God – I think that will prove itself over time. But I caution people all the time to be very careful of anyone who says they know what God...

Exclusive by Hans Zeiger in Canterbury Virtue Online News CANTERBURY -A distinguished liberal theologian who led a series of seminars for Anglican bishops about human sexuality has compared the orthodox position on homosexuality to past arguments for slavery and apartheid. The Rev. Dr. Richard Burridge, Dean of Kings College London, said at a Lambeth Conference "fringe" event this week that both sides in the debate over homosexuality claim Scriptural authority, but that the side most often associated with the Bible can be likened to British and American advocates of chattel slavery and South African advocates of apartheid. The title of Burridge's lecture, sponsored by Inclusive Church , was "Being Biblical: Slavery, Sexuality, and the Inclusive Community." Burridge said that it can be simplistic to draw exact parallels between the debates over homosexuality and the debates over past injustices, but "a lot of the rhetoric is very familiar." He said that...

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent Telegraph.co.uk Liberals will be warned that they face being expelled from the heart of Anglicanism unless they respect the ban, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. The American church caused deep divisions between conservatives and liberals when it consecrated Gene Robinson as the first openly homosexual Anglican bishop in 2003. There have been reports that it is prepared to consecrate more gay bishops while the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, told this newspaper that he would be willing to do the same. The proposal to ban future consecrations is the most significant move yet over the issue. The paper, which was commissioned by Dr Rowan Williams, will be debated by 650 bishops tomorrow at the Lambeth conference in Canterbury, the once-a-decade gathering of the Anglican Communion. full article

by Hans Zeiger with David W. Virtue Virtue Online CANTERBURY-The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan today declared that Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, "should resign for the sake of the church." In a press conference at the decennial Lambeth Conference, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul said that homosexual ordination "is not what is found in the Bible" and that it is "not the norm of the Anglican world." Archbishop Bul, who serves as Bishop of Juba as well as primate of the church in Sudan, represents some of the most persecuted Christian minorities in the world. The Episcopal Church of Sudan has grown from eleven dioceses, fifteen years ago, to twenty-four dioceses today. Dr. Bul rose to the archbishopric at the end of 2007. full article

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent timesonline.co.uk The Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev Alan Harper, who is one of 38 primates in the worldwide Anglican Communion, said today that if “reason” were applied to the Bible texts that seem to condemn homosexuality, a different interpretation would be found. He challenged the intellectual rigour of conservatives who use St Paul's epistles — in particular the first chapter of his Letter to the Romans where the Apostle condemns men who commit “unnatural” acts with other men — to bolster their argument that homosexuality is wrong. Archbishop Harper, who will be among the most senior of the 700 bishops at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, Kent, this month said that it was “inappropriate” to “anathematise” homosexuals on the basis of what St Paul says in this and other texts. He gave as an example the Genesis account of creation, where the Bible says God made the world in seven days and that the first woman, Eve, was made from Adam...

Riazat Butt, religoius affairs correspondent and Peter Walker guardian.co.uk The Archbishop of Canterbury accused rebel Anglicans who have launched a breakaway faction within the global communion of lacking legitimacy, authority and, by implication, integrity. Breaking his silence over the threat to the unity of the 77 million-strong communion, Dr Rowan Williams warned leaders of the conservative coalition that "demolishing existing structures" was not the answer to their concerns. "It is ludicrous to say you do not recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury or the see of Canterbury - they are the defining characteristics of Anglicanism," one Lambeth palace official said. "By doing away with the role and the place, these people are becoming a Protestant sect." full article

U.S. Episcopal bishops, fed up with Anglican criticism of their support for gay priests, implored the Anglican spiritual leader to hear their side of the story -- in person. Starting Thursday, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will be in New Orleans for that private talk, hoping he can hold together the increasingly fractured world Anglican family. Williams arrives in the U.S. facing a real danger that the global Anglican Communion could break up on his watch. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-anglican-crisis,0,7650946.story .

Sept. 6, 2007 Dear Rowan, I am delighted that you have agreed to meet with the House of Bishops of the American Episcopal Church in September, even if you appear to be unwilling to come alone. It has seemed strange that you, who have had so much to say about the American Church, have not been willing to do so before now. Your office is still honored by Episcopalians in this country, so our bishops will welcome you warmly and politely. We have some amazingly competent men and women in that body, many of whom have not yet met you. There is clearly an estrangement between that body and you in your role as the Archbishop of Canterbury. I want to share with you my understanding of the sources of that estrangement. First, I believe that most of our senior bishops, including me, were elated, at your appointment by Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Most Americans are not aware that yours is an appointed, not an elected position. Those of us who knew you were keenly aware of yo...