Anglicans & (non) equality ...

There was a time - years ago - in South Africa, when the Anglican Church elected Desmond Tutu, a wonderfully gifted & godly man, as it's leader, in a country that sought to oppress and silence all people of colour under apartheid. I was proud to be an Anglican then.

Since then, the Anglican Church has systematically focused on who it can exclude from it's pews & pulpits, whether that be gays, lesbians, transgendered people or women.

The Church of England is now happy to 'allow' women to minister, as long as they don't ever feel called to the Episcopate, and as long as - in many cases - they offer their ministry for free as NSM's or work under a man.  It is also happy to allow LGBT people to minister, as long as they look and act like straight people, and either remain single or sign a document stating that their relationships are purely platonic.

I have not been proud to be Anglican for a long time. Sad and shameful times

Homophobes and bigots?

Some people are desperately upset that Cardinal Keith O'Brien has been awarded Stonewall's Bigot of the Year award, and feel the word is too strong and counter-productive.

He has described same-sex marriage as a grotesque subversion, and said that it would "denegrate society", and has accused homosexual people of being "captives of sexual aberrations." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_O%27Brien#Views_on_homosexuality )

By his language and his own subversive tactics, he has - like it or lump it - shown himself to be a bigot, identified by his actions & words ( http://infobeautiful2.s3.amazonaws.com/RhetoricalFallacy_SameSexMarriage.png ). What amazes me is why he's so upset by it ... surely if he set out to be an enemy to the LGBT community, the fact that he's achieved that should - for him - be a source of pride?

I'd like to say he will move on, but the worry is that the Catholic Church seems to be growing increasingly bigoted, withdrawn, exclusive & arrogant.
Many Catholics are themselves struggling with the fact that their church is retreating back to times of clergy-are-all ministry, and 'Father always knows best', and 'Don't question authority'.

Who knows where it will end, but we shall continue to be a thorn in their side until their attitudes change.  This is not because of a desire to be militant, but because by their attitude to who we are, they can only experience us as such ... yet who we are is all we can be.  Theirs is the choice.