By John Lane, April 17, 2007
Episcopal Life Online
...The gay and lesbian population in the Episcopal Church is probably not much different than in the rest of society, but we have (in some places) created a climate where people are not afraid to admit their orientation and relationships and do not live in fear that by doing so they will be persecuted.
The battle in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion is not a simple battle between righteousness and sin. Those who have fought for years for the theological truth that we all are seen as equal in the sight of God believe there is something more at stake here than some kind of willy-nilly flouting of the things that God really wants us to concentrate on.
When people throughout the world are losing jobs, are having their houses burned down, cannot gather together in public without breaking the law and are lynched and murdered without their killers being brought to justice, in all these cases because they are gay, then we aren't talking about something inconsequential. As long as we wait to do justice for these people and delay telling the rest of the world that we no longer are willing to live with homophobia and discrimination, then I think we put our mortal souls in peril. This is a faith issue, not just some kind of half-baked sociological exercise.
The archbishop of Nigeria and others already have crossed provincial boundaries and invaded the Episcopal Church and have repeatedly said that they would not stop doing so. Why should we say that we are wrong to be passionate about the place of all God's children in his church, that we admit that we've been bad, and think that making nice for a few years with people whose opinions about gays we abhor will somehow bring love and unity?
The archbishop of Nigeria is standing up for what he believes. Why should we do less?
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