Monthly Archives: March 2014

Toronto School Board trustees ask whether nudity laws will be enforced at Toronto Pride parade

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The Toronto District School Board is not known for its staunch social conservatism or as a haven for delicate prudes so, when a few of its members hint that they would like Canada’s nudity laws enforced at the Toronto Pride parade, it’s reasonable to take the request seriously.

As one of the members noted:

“This is a municipal matter and it has to do with the policing and the enforcing of the laws of Canada in the streets of Toronto,” he told CBC News. “If you were to do this in any other ward throughout the city at any other time of day during that same period, you’d likely be arrested.”

Naturally, there have been cries of “homophobia”:

Some have criticized the trustees’ motion as homophobic

Yet, if gay men and women truly want their lifestyle to be accepted as normal, surely they would want to be treated just like everyone else in every circumstance; to do otherwise is discriminatory. By not arresting an individual parading himself naked during the Pride Parade, the police are exhibiting  a type of homophobia: the fear of treating homosexuals just like heterosexuals.

Church of England vicar wants to marry his male partner

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From here:

Cain-ForeshewA gay vicar from Kilburn has vowed to marry his partner of 14 years despite the risk that he could be thrown out of the Church of England.

Fr Andrew Cain from St Mary’s with All Souls, revealed his engagement to fiancé Stephen Foreshew, an atheist, on Valentine’s Day.

He stated firmly that he planned to ignore edicts sent down from his own church leaders that described marriage as only a “lifelong union between one man and one woman”.

I have a suggestion for Messrs. Cain and Foreshew: move to Canada. Since the Anglican Church of Canada worships the triune god of Inclusion, Diversity and Homo-erotic sex, along with assorted demigods  – eco-justice, utopianism and smudging among others – you will be welcomed with open arms. The additional benefit of your wife-husband being an atheist would make you a shoe-in. I’d start with an application to the Diocese of Montreal, if I were you.

Anglican Church of Nigeria leaders must renounce homosexuality

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From here:

The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has introduced a clause in its constitution subjecting members, who intend to hold positions in church, to take an oath of allegiance to God denouncing homosexuality.

[…..]

The text of the vow reads: “I declare before God and his Church that I have never been a homosexual/bisexual or (have repented from being homosexual/bisexual) and I vow that I will not indulge in the practise of homosexuality/bisexuality.

“If after this oath I am involved, found to be, or profess to be a homosexual/bisexual against the teachings of the Holy Scriptures as contained in the Bible.

“I bring upon myself the full wrath of God and subject myself willingly to canonical discipline as enshrined in the constitution of the Church of Nigeria, so help me God.’’

One of the oath-takers, Mr Lucky Erhaikhuemen, 43, the Vicar’s warden of the church, said two decades ago the oath would have been of no significance in the Church of Nigeria.

“But with what is happening in Western countries and the churches there, there is a lot a pressure on church leaders and members here to compromise the teachings of the church.

“The oath is a guide and warning that those in leadership positions in the church must uphold scriptural teachings and point to the godly part to the younger generations,’’ he said.

There are a few things I find particularly interesting about this:

The first is that the opposite tends to apply in Western Anglicanism. For example, a priest applying for employment in the Diocese of Niagara can expect to be asked where he stands on same sex blessings. If he gives the wrong answer – the wrong answer is that he is not for them – he might as well move to Nigeria and seek employment there.

The second is, the remarks by the church warden that the oath is a reaction to Western pressure and  20 years ago would have been unnecessary is somewhat heartening. Indaba away, Justin Welby, Nigeria is not going to buckle.

Lastly, the Anglican Church of Nigeria is simply applying a Biblical principle to its choice of leaders. The probability of Western Anglican clerics foaming at the mouth when they hear about it is of no particular import, but as a side-effect, I find the mere anticipation of it profoundly satisfying.

Bishop Melissa Skelton is fully supportive of same-sex blessings

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Rev. Melissa Skelton is being installed as Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster today, replacing Michael Ingham.

For those who may be nursing a hope that the diocese’s policy on blessing same-sex unions might change, this interview should disabuse you (my emphasis):

Q. Since Bishop Ingham was a controversial figure in the 70-million member global Anglican communion, how will you handle his legacy?

A. I intend to listen and learn a lot about what this experience has been like for the diocese — the positive parts of this and the more difficult parts. I’m trying to come to this with a real beginner’s mind, not making assumptions about people’s experience. By the way, I’m fully supportive of offering blessings of covenantal relationships between same-sex couples in the Anglican Church.

What Skelton has already learned from her predecessor is that she can glibly ignore the wishes of the majority in the Anglican Communion and be complacently secure in the conviction that she will not be censured by the Anglican Church of Canada, its Primate, Canterbury or the Archbishop of Canterbury. What God thinks about it, as revealed in the book Skelton claims to follow, might be an entirely different matter; but who cares about him when Fred Hiltz is on your side.