A Statement from The Rt. Rev. Mark S. Sisk on The "Anti-Homosexuality Laws" proposed in Uganda.

December 22, 2009

The Ugandan government's proposal to intensify the sanctions provided in its contemptible laws criminalizing homosexuality has rightly drawn condemnation from those who love justice and respect human dignity.

I write now, very briefly, simply to join my voice with those that have been raised in opposition to this affront. To put the matter bluntly: for a Christian, no matter how many carefully culled Bible passages might be cited, no matter how lofty the spokesperson, there are no circumstances whatsoever that justify such oppression. Such tyranny is an offense to God. Happily the Anglican Communion is clearly on record supporting this view. Among others, I make reference to the actions of several Lambeth Conferences as well as to statements from the Primates Meetings, most recently their Dromantine Communiqué of 2005.

I do understand that in some places, Uganda being one of them, homosexuality is considered either a sin or a sickness (it could not be both); never-the-less neither understanding remotely justifies these terrible laws. I urge all Christian communities in Uganda to join together with a single voice in opposition to this outrage.

Further I urge that each and all of us examine and reexamine our own lives and repent of those injustices of which we are witting and unwitting participants.

New York Time | Episcopal Church Rejects Demand for a 2nd Leadership

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: March 22, 2007

Bishop John Chane of Washington, D.C., said in an interview, "It was very clear that the majority of bishops, wherever they were on the theological spectrum, agreed that this scheme doesn’t match with who we are as the Episcopal Church."

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Several bishops also said in interviews that they believed that the pastoral council arrangement was intended to strengthen the position of conservative parishes or dioceses that want to leave the Episcopal Church and take their property with them. The breakaway parishes could claim that they came under the new pastoral council guided by the primates, and that the council was the highest authority in the Episcopal Church’s hierarchy.

Bishop Mark Sisk, of New York, said in an interview, "The concern is that that would indicate we are, in some sense, subservient to the primates, rather than simply a church in fellowship with them. And that could have significant legal implications."

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"It’s a good day to be an Episcopalian," said the Rev. Terry Martin of Holy Spirit Church, Tuckerton, N.J., who writes a liberal blog that is called fatherjakestopstheworld.

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