Philip Christopher Baldwin Gay Times “The Church of England remains a battleground and all LGBT+ people need to advocate for change.”
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love False ideas in the church
Jonathan Clatworthy Château Clâteau Why progressives need God
Jonathan Draper Modern Church The Archbishop of Canterbury, irreconcilable difference and ‘copping out’
Fr Colin Coward is surely correct when he identifies “some clergy and congregations (making) heroic efforts to live and proclaim a faith of great courage and maturity” against “puritanical, dishonest, unbiblical, Victorian Christian teaching and values”. Sadly, the latter are the most ‘successful’ activists in ‘planting’ such puritanical values which most English people find obnoxious and repellent. They are an appalling advertisement for the Faith and will only increase the Church’s alienation by enlarging the number of people who hold such prejudiced views.
Thank you Jonathan Draper: “Being ‘one in Christ’ has never been about simply believing the same things, it’s always been about loving one another in Christ in spite of our differences, whether we are Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, fundamentalist or liberal. Perhaps the Primates could spend some time contemplating that.” This is what I believe too. Unity is not the same as uniformity. Unity is opening our hearts to the love of God (in however many diverse ways) and loving one another. Unity is only truly, eternally, found in Jesus Christ. The expression of that… Read more »
In fact, in many senses, perhaps the journey IS the destination. It’s maybe less important to win theological arguments and arrive at a “pure” church, than to open our hearts to love each step along the way, and in our encounters with people we meet. Maybe that IS the destination, IS the point, and indeed IS the coming of God in our lives and our world. Maybe the whole point is not insistent uniformity (or ‘punishments’ for dissidents)… but the quality of love, even when love has awkward interfaces and becomes sacrificial. How strange if we start to talk in… Read more »
That Jonathan Draper article is shocking. “[Welby] could work towards getting people to understand that the debate is more important than the outcome”. Is it _seriously_ the case that the debate about exclusionary and hate-filled attitudes towards LGBTQ people is more important than actual exclusion and actual hate towards LGBTQ people? “Never mind the consequences, feel the blogging?”
It’s easy to say that if you’re not on the receiving end of the hatred, and don’t particular care about anyone who is. Otherwise, it’s somewhere between narcissism and solipsism.
” When challenged by Campbell on whether his response to same-sex relationships (however faithful, stable and loving they are) was ‘morally a cop-out’, the Archbishop responded: ‘Yes. I am copping out because I am struggling with the issue’.” Well, at least, Archbishop Justin is ‘struggling with the issue’ – which says much for a one-time aficionado of the Brompton school of theology. I believe that many people who have no idea of the struggle of LGBTQI people to survive the cold hostility of the GAFCON Primates would also find difficult the need of the Church to accept that there are… Read more »
“Progressives need God”? I am a progressive BECAUSE I seek God.
I’m not accustomed to being on the same side of issues as Jonathan Clatworthy, but that article is excellent, and makes me think I want to read his book. Engaging with secular people about spiritual questions is one of the main things that floats my boat. Thank you, Jonathan!
Secularism or the term I prefer, Weber’s “disenchantment” ‘Entzauberung,’ is inevitable. Traditional religion is just one of many language-games in this postmodern world. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Those who are religious can stand on the right side on the environment and civil liberties. But most do not, so I see no point in invoking a god to save us.
Gary Paul Gilbert