The Church of England issued the very brief press release below this evening. There was an earlier press release on the adoption of a definition of antisemitism which we reported here.
College of Bishops
12/09/2018
The College of Bishops met in Oxford from 10th to 12th September 2018.
The meeting provided an opportunity for the bishops to engage with the work of the Pastoral Advisory Group and review progress of {italicise}Living in Love and Faith, the Church of England’s teaching resource on relationships, marriage, identity and sexuality, which is currently under development.
The bishops voted formally to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, including all its examples, on behalf of the Church, and issued a call to everyone in public life to reject any language or action which could cause prejudice, stigma or hatred towards people on the grounds of their religion, culture, origins, identity or beliefs.
Time was also spent in meditative retreat.
reject any language or action which could cause prejudice, stigma or hatred towards people on the grounds of their religion, culture, origins, identity or beliefs. Matthew 27:25 – are we saying that this could not cause prejudice, stigma or hatred, when we know that over the years it has? ….. I know that sensible exegesis denies it, but there is no reasonableness test in the statement. Or is this the bishops saying that it is unacceptable for clergy to say or do anything that might cause prejudice, stigma or hatred against gay people (identity)? As clergy are people in public… Read more »
The statement is interesting.
There is a growing anti-trans movement in the UK led by some trans exclusionary radfem groups. They are calling for the abolition of the Gender Recognition Act and seeking bathroom bills like we saw in the USA. If the statement can be taken at face value, the Church of England has come out in opposition to that nasty anti-trans movement. That should also mean that CofE schools also don’t adopt anti-trans policies.
My fear, however, is that it is hollow words and that in practice it won’t be lived values.
Lots of people say they are Jewish, Christian or Muslim etc based on distant heritage and non religious cultural connections but were never practicing members of those faiths. I think this statement tries to cover that. The mixed nature of the press release does make it confusing though.
We live in a sceptical age. Nothing makes young people distrust something more than to be told the establishment want them to believe it. The fourth example, denying various aspects of the Holocaust, seems to call into question events still in living memory, and so still beyond all doubt. “Let nobody say X”, immediately makes us wonder who has said X, and whether it might be true, and how would we know. Would it be anti-Protestant to question the accuracy of any aspect of Foxe’s Martyrs? The Sixth Example concerns accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to .. the… Read more »