Debate is raging on the pages of The Oregonian over the consecration Bishop Gene Robinson. Conservative political columnist David Reinhard kicked it all off with his column “A gay bishop and the sin of…. pride.”
The Rev. V. Gene Robinson is now a consecrated Episcopalian bishop. Robinson is also famously gay and the divorced father of two girls. He lives with his male lover and has become the gay crusade's latest cause celebre.It's now clear that Robinson is far more interested in representing the gay-rights movement than the one holy, catholic and apostolic church -- the Body of Christ.
Paul Nickell, aka Worldwide Pablo, took on Reinhard Friday on his blog.
Here's the bottom line: A church not caught up in breaking barriers is no church at all. It’s a country club, one that is fixed on maintaining the order as it exists now and has always existed, one that draws the lines of inclusion exactly as they existed before, one that attends to its own needs instead of others, and which is resistant to the ever-evolving, always challenging call of God.
And Saturday, a guest column by Episcopalian Cheryle Jones Cerezo challenged Reinhold’s flawed theology.
David Reinhard's column on the sin of pride ("A gay bishop," Nov. 13) is offensive on so many levels that I almost don't know where to begin. I am a lifelong Episcopalian, the mother of three men -- the oldest is gay -- and all of us have been active and involved in our church for most of my life. I also happen to be the webmaster for the Diocese of New Hampshire's Bishop Search site. All of this gives me a more than casual interest in recent articles and editorials concerning the nomination, election, and consecration of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson.The Anglican Communion can and will survive. It survived the audacious act of splitting from the established Church of England; it survived the defection of many Southerners during the Civil War; it survived the "new" Book of Common Prayer, the ordination of women, and Bishop Spong. It may look different and we may be uneasy with each other for a while, but it will survive. And those who choose to leave are the ones making the choice. I assume that they are responding to what they clearly hear as God's voice, just as Bishop Robinson has responded to what he -- and so many others -- hear as God's voice.
