The Lead

It took a while to be noticed, but ACNA recently issued a "Communique from the First Annual Provincial Council". According to the communique issued December 11, "The Provincial Council is the governing body of the Anglican Church in North America and consists of bishops, clergy and laity representing each of the twenty-eight constituent dioceses, clusters or networks."

The communique did not say much, but if you read towards the end you find a statement on the anti-homosexuals bill before the Ugandan parliament. ACNA says:

And, mindful of the controversy surrounding a bill concerning homosexual behavior that is being considered by the Uganda parliament, restated our commitment to the sacredness of every human person as made in the image of God, from conception to natural death and without regard for religious convictions or manner of life. We also gave thanks for the faithful witness of the Anglican Church of Uganda and encouraged them to stand firm against all forms of sexual exploitation and in their publicly stated commitment that “the Church is a safe place” for all persons, especially “those struggling with sexual brokenness.”

You might think that means they condemn the bill. But think again. The Anglican Church of Uganda has not condemned the bill, nor has ACNA. What ACNA and the C of U say is identical -- actually the C of U is able to bring itself to saying it opposes the death penalty for any crime and ACNA does not. But compare ACNA's statement with the C of U statement and see if you don't agree there is no difference.

[Addendum. Lionel Deimel has an excellent analysis of ACNA's statement on Uganda.]

There is growing evidence that the Church of Uganda does support the bill. Will ACNA have something to say about that? Remember the C of U recognizes ACNA and Bishop of John Guernsey of ACNA continues to have a very close connection the Church of Uganda.

The political climate is driving not just homosexuals underground reports NPR in its story this morning, Taboos Silence Opponents Of Uganda Anti-Gay Bill:

Erias Lukwago, a first-term lawmaker, says he doesn't like the bill but can't afford to disagree with it in parliament.

"I'm telling you I cannot. I fear the reaction of society to be associated with gays — highly stigmatized, ostracized. Even for this interview alone it might be perceived that the gay community is paying me," he says.

This in a country where 36% of the population is Anglican. But it's not surprising because that's exactly the avowed perception of Archbishop Orombi and his American allies. Passage of this legislation is likely.

Monday, on the occasion of Human Rights Week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made her most direct condemnation yet of the Ugandan bill:

President Obama’s speech also reminded us that our basic values, the ones enshrined in our Declaration of Independence – the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – are not only the source of our strength and endurance; they are the birthright of every woman, man, and child on earth. ... That, however, is a dangerous belief to many who hold power and who construct their position against an “other” – another tribe or religion or race or gender or political party. ... [G]overnments should be vigilant in preventing law from becoming an instrument of oppression, as bills like the one under consideration in Uganda would do to criminalize homosexuality.

And then in response to an audience question on LGBT rights she responded:

[O]ver this past year, we have elevated into our human rights dialogues and our public statements a very clear message about protecting the rights of the LGBT community worldwide. ... We have expressed our concerns [about the Ugandan legislation] directly, indirectly, and we will continue to do so. The bill has not gone through the Ugandan legislature, but it has a lot of public support by various groups, including religious leaders in Uganda. And we view it as a very serious potential violation of human rights.

The independent Monitor reports this and other international opposition to the bill. For instance, in an editorial the Sunday Times of South Africa says if the bill passes we can "sit back and watch as Uganda is dragged back to the dark and evil days of Idi Amin."

Comments (3)

Please note that today, December 16th Rwanda is set to vote on a bill to criminalize homosexuality and Burundi passed such a bill in April of 2009.

We should not be surprised that ACNA takes a vague and ultimately disingenuous position....it is their esse to do so in all things.

The ultimate irony is that the ++ABC will come to the Desmond Tutu center in NYC January 26th 2010 to speak on Human Rights! Something he has largely been silent about with respect to the gay community.

Posted by Michael Russell | December 16, 2009 12:34 PM

Thanks for the note, Michael. Our very next post happens to be on the Rwandan bill.

Posted by John B. Chilton | December 16, 2009 12:54 PM

John, I disagreed you with on identifying Rowan Williams and the position of the Ugandan church. I agree with you 100% on this one.

ACNA's statement is crafted in homophobic doublespeak, and actually puts them markedly to the right even of Exodus Ministries, who, to my surprise have spoken explicitly against the bill, all of it -

http://www.exodusinternational.org/content/view/1007/37/

RC gay theologian James Alison repeatedly insists that there's a single underlying question - do gay people actually EXIST, or is gay sex actually a thing bad, sinful, misguided, or somehow deluded straight people DO?

Reading this bit with James's eye the carefully articulated homophobia is glaring -

"And, mindful of the controversy surrounding a bill concerning homosexual behavior..."

so they're careful to imply that behavior (not 'persons') means the bill is actually about something like sinful or evil choices of people whom God created for heterosexual marriage.

"...that is being considered by the Uganda parliament, restated our commitment to the sacredness of every human person as made in the image of God..."

And here the key phrase there is "as made" (which, by the way has no relation to actually scientific observation of multi-gendered nuances and same sex behavior in all mammals, reptiles, and fish, because ACNA types can as readily interpret such evidence in terms of the bondage of all creation to sin on account of Adam's fall as they can dodge scientific evidence for evolution.

"...from conception to natural death and without regard for religious convictions or manner of life."

"Natural death" appears gratuitous, but the theology we're hearing claims everything they say and do is to protect God's intention in creation from a unified agenda that includes promoting homosexuality and legalizing euthanasia. Meanwhile "without regard for religious convictions of manner of life" offers us nothing more than a God who loves even heretics and sinners. If we pursue this with them, we'll also hear that "God loves the sinner but hates the sin," language I hope we can banish from our own theological discourse.

"We also gave thanks for the faithful witness of the Anglican Church of Uganda and encouraged them to stand firm against all forms of sexual exploitation..."

'Faithful witness'? That's terrifying by itself in the present circumstances, and as it goes on we see the implicit identification of homosexuality and pedophilia (one evident referent of "exploitation"). Other statements and claims from Uganda connect this 'exploitation' with tales of neo-colonialism, European and Western efforts to impose homosexuality on Africa, bribery, and in ACNA's terms recruiting people to the 'homosexual agenda.'

"...and finally in their publicly stated commitment that 'the Church is a safe place' for all persons, especially 'those struggling with sexual brokenness..."

we see an ACNA move to claim for their own language of 'safe church' as they've claimed 'orthodox' and 'Biblical.'

Posted by Donald Schell | December 16, 2009 1:07 PM

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