JULY 9 - LETTER TO THIS EDITOR
Today is Monday, July 9, 2018. The letter today focuses on GAFCON (Global Anglican Futures Conference), a group of dissident Anglicans which the independent Diocese of South Carolina and its new denomination, the Anglican Church in North America, strongly support. The one factor that ties together all of these groups is opposition to human rights for homosexual persons in the context of Anglican religion. In fact, GAFCON was created in 2008 to oppose equal rights for homosexuals in the Anglican world. ACNA was created in 2009, primarily by GAFCON, to be the replacement church for the homosexual-rights-friendly Episcopal Church. For years, GAFCON has worked to expel TEC from the Anglican Communion and to replace it with the ACNA. The "Letter to the Churches" issued by the recent GAFCON conference demanded that TEC be excluded from the 2020 Lambeth Conference and replaced by ACNA. If not, they threatened boycott.
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LETTER TO THIS EDITOR
Recently in The Post and Courier, some leaders of Charleston churches affiliated with the breakaway Diocese of South Carolina referred to Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh as an example of Christian "orthodoxy." Okoh is one of the most powerful Anglican leaders in Africa, and presides over a political movement known as GAFCON.
Okoh is a prominent advocate for the criminalization of homosexual acts in Nigeria. According to one source: "Peeved by the growing malaise of sexual immorality in the country, Primate, Church of Nigeria, the Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh, has described the practice of homosexuality, lesbianism and gay marriage as great evils that must neither be condoned nor allowed to further exist in our society." (find it here ).
Today in 34 African countries, members of the LGBT community can be legally imprisoned and tortured. In some countries, courts can give them life sentences or have them stoned to death. In Nigeria, LGBT people can be arrested for simply trying to have a meeting. The Anglican bishops of Nigeria are on record supporting harsh laws against homosexuals.
"Orthodox" Anglican leaders not only tolerate this, they encourage it, suggesting that LGBT Christians are outside the Kingdom of God and deserve persecution and death. They justify this by using the usual Biblical "clobber passages" typically invoked to condone hatred against this community.
It is curious how some Biblical passages are highlighted, while others are ignored. Members of the breakaway Diocese of South Carolina that uphold Okoh's view on same-sex marriage seem to have evolved on other (formerly) strict "Orthodox" Biblical interpretations concerning opposite-sex marriage. For example, they now allow divorce and remarriage, even amongst priests and deacons.
Similarly, they no longer condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. It seems that in these cases, at least, the Bible may have said it, but that did not quite settle it. I rejoice that grace, generosity, and love has been extended to these Christians while questioning why such compassion is withheld from their siblings who are called to same-sex marriage.
Most of us cherry-pick scripture to justify our prejudices. But when we do so we ignore The Gospel of Jesus, which is the Good News for ALL.
Jesus said we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves; he didn't place any qualifications on that love. I can understand how loving people can disagree on matters of theology. But I cannot understand how any prayerful Christian could point to Archbishop Okoh and see a manifestation of Jesus' love worthy of emulation.
Wayne Helmly
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Bravo, bravo, and thank you, Wayne Helmly, for submitting this letter. There are two great commandments. One is to love your neighbor as yourself. Need we say more?
Okoh has been widely reported and quoted in his strong hostility to rights for homosexuals. Perhaps the best source is Okoh himself. If you have the endurance, you can watch the video of his hour long "sermon" denouncing homosexuality here . Other revealing sources on Okoh are here and here .
Okoh has been widely reported and quoted in his strong hostility to rights for homosexuals. Perhaps the best source is Okoh himself. If you have the endurance, you can watch the video of his hour long "sermon" denouncing homosexuality here . Other revealing sources on Okoh are here and here .
I encourage everyone to send me your letters. You may think you have nothing to say, but I disagree. We all have something worthwhile to say whether you have been a part of the schism or just an observer. We need to hear your voice.
The "Letters to This Editor" feature on this blog has turned out to be enormously popular. Thousands of people have accessed them. So, there you are. People want to know what you have to say just as much as I do.
ronaldcaldwell1210@gmail.com
