Conservative and evangelical Christians around the world are obsessed with homosexuality -- and with sex in general, it seems. These Christians are convinced that biblical injunctions against gay sex or any sort of "wrong" sex means that the civil law should be used against homosexuals in society. They are increasingly intolerant of gays within their churches and one has to wonder where it will all lead.
Giles Fraser, vicar of Putney, wrote something in the Guardian a few years ago which still resonates:
Evangelicals define themselves by a love of the Bible. It is thus a tragedy for all Christians that they are now seen as the nasty party. Indeed, some moderate evangelical churches have become so concerned about the association between "evangelical" and a narrow theological chauvinism that they are thinking of dropping the word. They are right to be worried, for in recent years a virulent form of rightwing Christian fundamentalism has infiltrated the evangelical movement. And they are obsessed with gay sex. ...
The contortions some will resort to in order to keep their denunciations of gay sex alive are astonishing. When the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, suggested that the church might change its mind on homosexuality just as it had on slavery, the evangelical English Churchman hit back with an editorial justifying slavery as "a form of social security for which many starving people today would be grateful". One diocesan bishop apparently believes that homosexuality is caused by demons in the anus. Some single clergy have received excrement through their letterboxes.
...What they really want is a return to the Anglican church of the 16th century. It's a world of anti-Catholicism and heresy trials: what has been done to my friend Jeffrey John is the modern equivalent of burning witches and heretics.
The conflict within the Church of England is becoming more and more contentious over time. One of the consequences is that people are coming to see the evangelical Christians as representative of bigotry and intolerance rather than of social welfare and concern, which used to be the case.
This change seems to be in large part due to significant shifts within the evangelical movement, shifts that are causing them to move more and more to the right, theologically and socially. This, in turn, is increasingly out of step with the rest of British society which has continued on a liberal course. It's also increasingly out of step with American society, though in America the liberal course has been travelled more slowly.
No comments:
Post a Comment