ACNA BISHOPS CONDEMN HOMOSEXUALITY, AGAIN

Apparently, the schismatics in the Anglican Church in North America are having some sort of internal dissension concerning their group's interface with homosexuality. A few days ago, the ACNA bishops felt it necessary to issue a long, detailed letter condemning homosexuality, again. One would think they had already made this perfectly clear when the new denomination was set up in 2010. The ACNA was created to keep active homosexuals from acceptance and women from equality in the life of the church, as opposed to what had happened in the Episcopal Church which had given full inclusion and equality to homosexuals and women.

The ACNA bishops declared, again, that homosexuality is a "disorder:" While same-sex attraction is one manifest type of disordered affection..." They went on to pronounce adultery and divorce as other kinds of disorder, but the letter says nothing more about these. Apparently, all "disorders" are not equal in ACNA. (BTW, retired Ugandan archbishop Stanley Ntagali, a prime leader in the fight against TEC and the "sin" of homosexuality in the Anglican Communion, just admitted adultery.)  Moreover, the bishops rejected the idea that homosexuality is an inborn, lifetime reality, instead, insisting that one's sexual orientation is changeable. Of course, the bishops, again, condemned same-sex marriage as against scripture. Curiously enough, the longest section of the letter insists that the term "gay Christian" not be used, instead "Christians who experience same-sex attraction," again, implying that homosexuality is changeable. Finally, the bishops declared that their view to be that of "biblical orthodoxy." There was really nothing new here, so one can only wonder why the bishops felt it necessary to issue this statement.

One should be cautious about declaring certain social mores to be biblical orthodoxy. Our understandings of social relationships change just as our understandings of right and wrong human behavior evolve over time. For instance, between 1619 and 1865, practically every southern preacher extolled the biblical orthodoxy of slavery. In fact, the Bible is indeed replete with references recognizing slavery. One can make a much stronger case that the Bible defends slavery than that it condemns homosexuality. There is only a handful of references to homosexuality in the entire Bible and all of them are controversial when placed in context. Yet, no one in his or her right mind today would defend slavery as biblical orthodoxy. Our understanding of slavery and of morality have changed a great deal in the last century and a half since the Civil War. And too, our understandings of homosexuality have changed drastically in the past half-century. What may be seen as biblical orthodox today may not be seen the same way over time. Indeed, Christianity, while based on certain fundamental truths of the Gospels, is an evolving religion, interpreting and reinterpreting the basics. The Christianity of today is a far cry from that of the First Century.

It is helpful to keep the ACNA in the context of the great contemporary culture war of which it is a definite expression. The schism in South Carolina, and the birth of ACNA, were sparked by the Episcopal Church's embrace of open homosexuals. As we all know, the direct cause of the SC schism in 2012 was TEC's move to bless same-sex unions. The people who made the schism, and the ACNA, were reacting against the great democratic revolution that swept America, and the Episcopal Church in the second half of the Twentieth Century and the first part of the Twenty-First Century. In that period, Americans' understanding of homosexuality went from mental illness to acceptability and inclusion. The people who made the schism, and ACNA, wanted to keep the pre-revolutionary culture where power rested among the heterosexual white males. And so, the schismatics are resolved to keep homosexuals and women from inclusion and power in the church. Hence, last week's reiteration of their condemnation of homosexuality. What we do not know is why they felt they had to do this at this time. Is there a crack in ACNA's solid wall of homophobia that the bishops are trying to patch up?

I think we have to be very careful about having the church declare human arrangements as unchangeably "orthodox." Historically, such rigidity has cost the church dearly. For instance, in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, the church taught a definite physical description of the universe derived from religious understandings of the Middle Ages. As science developed and proved that view to be wrong, it was science that developed as the great purveyor of knowledge about nature. The church's credibility suffered, and religion's role in society has declined ever since. For a great many people, science and technology now define reality.

It is clear that the anti-revolutionary religionists are fighting hard to retain the traditional social structures of the pre-revolutionary period. They are the counter-revolutionaries in the great democratic revolution. This has taken a very definite turn in American politics. Only a couple of weeks ago, the Rev. Franklin Graham declared that the Republican members of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of President Trump's impeachment were Judases, as if Trump were the Christ figure. Indeed, some 80% of white "evangelical Christians" voted for Trump, not once, but twice. They were an essential base of Trump's support. Why? Because they see in him a savior figure who would roll back the social reforms of the great democratic revolution and keep what they see as biblical orthodoxy. In the same way, the schismatics in South Carolina, and the ACNA, are fighting hard to keep their understanding of orthodoxy. Time and the tide of history are against them but that does not stop them from trying to stop the clock.

Meanwhile, all of us should bear in mind one of the fundamental truths of the Gospels, the great commandments, love God and love neighbor. Love is the common quality that lifts us beyond ourselves into right relationships with God and our fellow human beings, all of whom were made in God's image.