It hasn’t taken long for liberal Anglican cleric, Giles Fraser to point out the inevitable result of the Church of England’s ruling that it will appoint celibate homosexual bishops even if they are in civil partnerships. The candidates will lie about their sex lives. Fraser takes it one step further: homosexual candidates have a moral obligation to lie about their sex lives – to lie for Jesus.
From here:
Sometimes we lie for self-advancement. Morally, it’s a no-brainer that this is wrong. But at other times, we lie because we don’t trust another with the truth. Because we have good reason to believe that they will use it to hurt us or others. In the case of sexually active gay priests and bishops, this fear is wholly justified. It is perfectly proper that ordinarily people should maintain a strong presumption in favour of truth telling. But the situation in which gay people in the church find themselves is far from ordinary. Physical intimacy is a moral good, the very incarnation of love. Those who enforce celibacy on the basis of sexuality are maintaining a system of oppression that brings misery and loneliness to many.
I believe all Christians have a moral duty to resist this cruelty. Lying to the church authorities, in these conditions, is a bit like disobeying an unjust order. It’s a form of non-violent resistance.
There is little doubt that the Church of England is following the path forged by North American Anglicanism: it is attracting an increasing number of homosexual clergy, clergy who have no intention of being celibate. As Fraser goes on to note:
Years ago, a gay priest friend of mine, just coming out, asked me if I’d go along with him to a gay club in Birmingham. He didn’t want to go on his own. But he needn’t have worried. There were loads of priests in the club.
One of the very worst aspects of the Anglican homosexual clergy debacle is the rabid reaction they experience when their self-inflated eligibility for career advancement is thwarted.
Here, the former bishop of Oxford wails about the “terrible terrible trauma” of not making bishop, the anguish of which makes the martyrdom, torture and persecution of myriads of Christians living in hostile lands pale to insignificance.
Speaking about nominating his friend Dr John for bishop, he said: “After initially accepting that nomination, the archbishop was put under from huge pressure from around the Anglican communion and eventually Jeffrey John felt, for the good of the church as a whole, he ought to step down and not accept the position, which was a terrible, terrible trauma for him and for all of us involved.”
Homosexual Western clergy should stop behaving like teenage girls whose feelings have been hurt, grow up, muster a smidgen of humility and do the job they claim God has called them to do. Or they should quit and find a job where they don’t have to lie about their sex lives.
“Homosexual Western clergy should stop behaving like teenage girls whole feelings have been hurt, grow up, muster a smidgen of humility and do the job they claim God has called them to do. Or they should quit and find a job where they don’t have to lie about their sex lives.” – absolutely right! Why is it that so many clergy seem deficient when it comes to humility, and too many are seemingly dedicated to careerism? [but do, please, change “whole” to “whose”]
Unfortunately, Anglicans are not the only Christians who have to tolerate clergy who put their personal careers ahead of the well being of the Church catholic and the proclamation of the gospel. It is very prevalent in the ELCIC.
We have rural congregations that have been searching for a pastor, some for over a decade now, yet we have numerous urban (and declining) congregations that have 2 or more pastors and yet these pastors consistently refuse to serve these rural congregations. Their arrogant sense of entitlement and personal careerism gets in the way of service, often masking their refusal will some sort of a “I am doing what is best for my family,” as if a rural parish would have devastating consequences on the rearing of a family. Sometimes it boils down to that their spouse has a career that often pays more than what they get as a pastor. It is their love of filthy lucre and an upper middle class lifestyle that gets in their way of service and sacrifice. Some also see moving to a rural parish as step down in their career (as they deny that careerism and materialism has anything to do with their sense of calling).
As far as gay clergy lying about who they are and what they do and whom they do it with, well they have been lying about that for centuries so when that question is asked of them, be prepared to hearing lying at its finest. Ask ELCIC national bishop Susan Johnson what her sexual orientation is and if she is in a common law relationship with her “partner” and see what answer you get. Then ask the same question to pastors who serve in the Manitoba/North Western Ontario synod (where she lives) and compare the answers.
Johnson will probably not respond for she has a reputation for not responding to anyone who is not on her bandwagon, but the clergy will give you a whole host of answers ranging from “that is what the gossip is” to “I wouldn’t know anything about that” to “I can’t talk about that.” The pro-sodomy party will answer, “Does that really matter?” or a “so what if it that was true.” What you WILL NOT get is a “there is absolutely no truth to that rumour at all,” and if you do, then you may have asked a professional liar.
If anyone doubted that homosexuality is an evil — and no-one actually does, as we can tell from the stridency with which those advancing it yell their claims — then this would demonstrate that it was. People doing right do not need to engage in these sorts of sleazy self-serving activities.
Many clergy from my experience are professional liars, whether they are straight or gay. How many have you heard complain about their 50 to 60 hour workweeks they must endure over the years?
One local pastor that I know personally very well, a man who is honest almost to a fault, will shake his head when he hears his peers bemoan their workload. He has often said he has no idea what they are doing to have such workweeks. He feels that they are doing stuff they should not be doing, or they are terrible time managers, or they include as work what others would normally not such as hanging out on coffee row, reading a magazine or newspaper or they are simply BS’ing (which is a farmer’s term for lying).
Occasionally, the odd workaholic will put in that type of workweek, which is also pathological. Some suffer from burnout, but most don’t and those that do, it is mostly self-inflicted because they love to control or micro-manage.
When careerism and materialism and partisan politics enters into the call to being an ordained minister, then lying and corruption is inevitable.
Yes, I know these priests who are too busy by half to bother much with the parishioners. They genuinely are busy too, but it’s typically with church politics, political polemics or networking/activism in the service of personal ambition.
I actually thing the orthodox have this thing nailed: clergy serving in a parish can marry but Bishops must surrender their lives to the church and live lives of celibate chastity. The latter is a wonderful tesitmony to personal sacrifice and humility.
In my conversations with Ukrainian Orthodox friends the question of “sexuality” rarely comes up in matters concerning clergy. The standard is set. Everyone is expected to abide by it (though I’m sure there are expections. And that is the end of it.
Why can’t it be so clear-cut in the Anglo-Lutheran church?
Thanks for fixing this. I’ve quoted you on my website (I hope that’s OK): http://www.affirmingthefaith.com/more/quotes