Falls Church Episcopal Liberated by Virginia Supreme Court Decision

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Bull Sullivan

Free at Last, Free at Last, Thank God Almighty, We  are Free at Last!

Falls Church Episcopal Liberated by Virginia Supreme Court Decision.

“It’s a compelling story of people who really believe in themselves as a faith community that is loyal to the Episcopal Church, loyal to the Gospel and wants to be good news to the community.” …The Rev. John Ohmer, Rector, Falls Church Episcopal

I am in perfect agreement that the church property rightfully belongs to ECUSA. We are, after all, a nation of laws, many of which, including the Founding Documents, were written by Anglicans, who were, after all, a substantial majority of signers of those documents. Those who now remain faithful to the heritage and doctrine of the Articles of Religion, the Lambeth Quadrilateral, and the 1928 BCP Catechism must surrender their attachment to these and other similar historic buildings, often constructed and maintained over generations by their family’s generous tithes.

In their place we must build and dedicate new Tabernacles for worship of our God, the Father Almighty, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit, The Holy Ghost, and within them we must preach the Holy Word Of God, teaching all of The Old and New Testaments, not just that which seems appropriate to our ideology, and going forth into the world in obedience to the commands of God.

And in that statement is my point. The Reverend Ohmer, in his elocution of hierarchy notably places the faith “community” and the “Episcopal Church” ahead of the Gospel, even equivocating “loyalty” with “belief and obedience” to God’s Holy Word.

In Reverend Ohmer’s theology, the Church exists as a kind of sectarian community center, a place where social justice is meted out in boxes of clothing, hot meals, job counseling, friendship and heart-felt advice, all dictated by the métier of “The Gospel of Jesus Christ as a Social Psychologist” and tinged about the edges with the more palatable tenets of Gutierrez’s and Boff’s Liberation Theology.

Hardy the stuff of our Anglican Founding Fathers; more like the plaintive wails of immigrant Euro-Americans, or the papist rants of late nineteenth century Roman Catholic social reformers. And I might add, all to the good, for we are commanded to care for the widow, the orphan, the prisoner, even to the oath we must affirm of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.

As I read Reverend Ohmer’s words, however, I hear the vocabulary of a progressive reformer, the compassion of the neighborhood organizer, and the diction of the educated social scientist. Again, all to the good of worldly needs and all the words spoken are expected of worldly leaders. The Reverend’s words are meant to seem inspired by the Spirit, but sadly they are inspired by needs of the flesh.  I do not hear in this Priest’s voice the call to salvation, the truth told of human weakness and sin, the need to repent and most importantly the clear and unambiguous assertion that “We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ by Faith, and not by our own works or deservings.” These words, written by our Church’s Fathers, and rooted in Biblical Texts, suggest another world, a world above and beyond the physical universe, and beyond our physical needs; a spiritual world about which we rightly expect our shepherds, our priests , our Bishops, our Church, to teach us.

Good works will never save us, nor save the beneficiaries of such works, and while we may do such works to the glory of God; while we may feed, clothe, seek justice and equality, what is the point, if we do not teach, preach and pray for the salvation of all men, and what vanity and hubris would lead any man to think he can accomplish both tasks.

Water tastes the sweetest when there is greatest thirst.

In every society where material comfort has become the object of human aspiration,  there comes the least desire and greatest need of Divine Inspiration. When Priests become the self imagined objects of Divine Inspiration, not the conduit of it, they have truly lost their way, they can not help but lead their flock astray.

Falls Church Episcopal may now officially join the ranks of Toynbee Hall, Hull House and the thousands of other such institutions which have failed, and continue to fail to relieve, let alone eradicate, poverty, pain, depression and despair. These institutions, and now the Episcopal Church, have however made thousands of educated, progressive and “guilt ridden” middle class men and women volunteers feel good, needed and necessary, if not sufficient, and perpetuated the “Idol” doctrine of Humanism as a means to an end. And of the priests and ministers who promulgate such uses of the tabernacles of worship in the pursuit of good works? Let it be said, were there no God, they would be the heroes of us all.

But, as there is a God, only one God, our God, shouldn’t salvation be the Church’s goal? Do the humble, poor and meek need to feed, clothed and counseled to be saved? Don’t the scriptures suggest otherwise? Aren’t our Christian Churches, first and foremost, meant to be places of worship of God, of His Son Jesus Christ, of spiritual nourishment and strength through the Holy Spirit, of repentance for our sins, of thanks for our blessings?

Why is it necessary to abandon the Bible to comfort the afflicted? Why has the Church abandoned the message of salvation for the the sake of false compassion and sanctimony? Let the congregants establish and maintain such secular endeavors, let them establish organizations and institutions dedicated to the worldly physical needs of the impoverished, imprisoned or incompetent. Let then guide governments, let them adopt the unwanted, now often aborted, children of their friends and daughters, and of the unloved and abused.  The Church is not a social institution, not an alms house or group home, not a hotel or hospice . Nor is it a social welfare organization, athletic facility, or  rental hall.  All such good works are the byproducts of the Church’s teaching, all are often the creation of Christians, but none are the mission of the Christian Church. The singular purpose of the Church must be Salvation, sharing with each and every child of God the Good News of the Gospels, the Foundations of our Faith, the Love of Christ, the Comfort of the Holy Ghost  and the Fear of God Almighty.

Justice and the Law have been served. The way of the world triumphs. Get over it, American Anglicans. Find a place to pray, and do so now. You lost this tabernacle as the chosen people lost the Temple, you didn’t faithfully obey God.

You did not speak up when weak Bishops sought to ordain woman to the Priesthood, and with your silent consent, your Bishops didn’t prevent practicing homosexuals and philandering heterosexuals from ordination. You didn’t demand that the flood of “profligate postulants”  and “converts of convenience” learn the Articles, the Quadrilateral, the Catechism; your Bishops did not Exam those who who stood before them to be Confirmed in Faith or Received from another Communion, and they certainly demanded no doctrinal purity and orthodoxy of themselves.   Your Priests and Bishops didn’t deny communion to those who supported abortion, or excommunicate those who effected it. Your clergy were, frankly put, poor shepherds of their flocks. And you, faithful communicants, did not demand that the Gospel be preached, and obeyed.  And if penury and parsimony were the excuse for the “open door” policy of the Church’s hierarchy, no one, not clergy or congregants, demanded the discipline of Biblical tithes.

At least, you are not now led into apostasy, your soul is not torn from your flesh by wolves in priest’s clothing preaching a false doctrine. You are not counseled by queer men, and men who feel sorry for queer men, those whose love of the flesh and desire for worldly acceptance of their perverse practices compels them to mislead their flocks with the miasma of “social justice,” deviant sexuality, same sex marriage, and political correctness. You do not draw nourishment from the breast’s of twenty-first century temple whores in clerical collars, many of whom seek pleasure in the beds of other women.

Falls Church Anglicans, and others who have lost and will lose their parish homes, I bid you pray not for your ancestor’s buildings, not for the old brick and flecking mortar, not for the worn polished oak benches, not for illuminated antique stained glass windows or the bright bent daylight of wavy blown glass,  but pray earnestly for those who prevailed in the Supreme Court of Virginia, and other such Courts, pray for those lost souls, but especially for those heretics who now occupy The Falls Church Episcopal Tabernacle .  Absolom, oh Absolom!

+ + +

Referenced Article: 

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/05/15/falls-church-episcopal-celebrates-past-looks-to-future/comment-page-1/#comment-58982

The Virginia Supreme Court Decision:  Falls Church v. The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, et al.

http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1120919.pdf

 

 

 

 

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Comments on Christian Love

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Bull Sullivan

A good man, a friend, a Christian posed this comment on a “Social Media” website, addressed to a group which shares common heritage, and to which I belong. Several of my commentaries reflect this format, and I think it offers a unique opportunity to consider Christian teachings. It is more informal than much of my commentary, but my responses are framed in the context of the seriousness and humor of those posting.

 

The Poster:

Ever since this happened on Sunday, I’ve been trying to think of where I could share it, then I remembered our Men’s Club.

My wife and I went to a Taqueria on Sunday for lunch. The waiter immediately set off my gay-dar. Even my wife, who is usually oblivious to such things, remarked that the waiter was “creepy and overly attentive”, making her uncomfortable.

First he set off my gay-dar, then he started touching my shoulder each time he passed by (EEEEEWWWWW!!!!). He touched me a total of three times before he received my subliminal messages. He also had projectile bad breath, which I discovered as he leaned in to read my menu with me as if he had never seen the menu item I had chosen (????). I was about ready to punch him out, but instead decided to refuse to even look at him. He managed to pick up on my behavior and backed off.

Here’s a TIP on TIPS: There is NOTHING that will eat away at a waiter’s tip faster than being gay and touching straight men.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it saves me money 😉 but I’d rather just enjoy the meal.

 

My Commentary:

Brother, you missed an opportunity to witness to the poor soul. My preferred technique is to motion the man closer to my face, and say gently, “Do you know about Jesus Christ?” I also do this when women seek to test me. The sin is the sexual act, whether fornication or sodomy. The sinner may be in a perfectly natural state, after all God made both the Homosexual and the Whore, they are both born of woman, and therefore we must conclude their sexual behavior is natural, but we know that such behavior is sinful, it offends God.

The effeminate male and the aggressive female seek satisfaction in sexual gratification. I can not see that this is different from the lust of an unmarried heterosexual male, or female for that matter. It certainly is not different from my adultery, my fornication, in the past, with consenting females. Sin is Sin, I can not judge which offense grieves my Lord more than any other. We are commanded to avoid adultery, we are commanded that marriage is purposed for procreation, and that any sex outside of marriage is a Sin.

I am a sinner, and my sins are no better or worse than those of a “gay man or woman” or a “whore,” or a fornicator of any gender. All sins offend God, turn us from His presence, and all temptations threaten our relationship with Christ. Unlike the profligates of the Old Testament, born with sin, struggling to obey a long list of laws, and social rules, copied word for word from the mouth of God through Prophets, we are born innocent and have the Grace of God, The Holy Ghost, with us always. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all our sins, and he would rather have us seek the lost sheep, especially when they appear in front of us, than stay with those of the flock who follow him.

Christianity is not an intellectual pursuit; it is a life of service to God and our fellow-man. Saving souls in not the exclusive occupation of Priests, Preachers, Ministers, Parsons, Deacons, Elders, or Holy Men…It is what all followers are commanded to do, and it is accomplished by example, and by witness. I might add that I all too often turn from those who offend me, as others have turned away from me for my life’s choices. And all too often, those to whom I address the question asked above, “Do you know about Jesus Christ?” have turned away from me. I still love those who turn from the Word, and would pray that someone, no, that all Christians would ask them again, over and over, “Do you know about Jesus Christ?” And I pray that, and this rarely happens now, that the one asked will say, “No, tell me about him”

Since your story began in a taco stand, I’ll only say, I hope I have given you food for thought. + + +

 

Another Poster:

Brother, take it as a compliment, you good-looking devil. This would not have happened to me or most of us.

 

My Commentary:

1 Peter 4: 7-11, one of the scriptural contexts for my homily on the annoying “gay” waiter:

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever.” Amen, can we say it again, Amen!

 

The Poster:

I don’t know which comment is worse. I was trying to share that “it really creeps me out for a gay man to touch me” feeling. I’ve never discriminated against a gay person, except that gay dentist I didn’t return to see on the off-chance of “sharing fluids” via dentistry.

I did once attend a party with my wife to be, where the men were gay (wife’s friend was dating one of them, both wife and her friend were in denial over his gaydom, he died of aids a few years later). Several guys were touching my shoulder and rubbing my back and I left the party under my fiance’s withering judgment (“He’s not gay, we went to High School together and he’s dating Marsha”). I didn’t care if he was dating Farrah Faucet, he and all the other men at the party were gay, and I didn’t enjoy being touched by them. As for sin, one’s as bad as another, Bull, I agree. Let’s do that suspended lunch and you can teach me about witnessing under those circumstances.

 

My Commentary:

I just read your last comment, brother, and I must confess another sin, Vainglory, for I have always been handsome and appealing to women, and to those sad men who never had a chance…I lived one summer in “Norleans,” in the heart of the Vieux Carre, at 865 Esplanade, and was put upon by deviants day and night! Men pinched my butt as frequently as women, which was horrible for the men, as I was only attracted to women. But I have never been offended that the Lord made others think me beautiful, and that others were attracted to me. Thankfully, the Lord sent me an angel in the form of a Sister of Lesbos, bright and witty, rather like the character of Zelda of Dobie Gillis fame. It was an enlightening summer! In the interest of humility, I must add that not everyone was enamored of me, some found my vanity distasteful, and others thought me way too proud for the gifts I possessed!

We will do lunch soon…Have your people call my people…Ciao!

 

My Commentary:

Gosh, brother, I at times am so full of myself, what seems humorous to me may offend others. My last line above was disrespectful, even if you knew me well, but as a stranger, it was quite out-of-place, and I apologize if it offended. I really would enjoy meeting you for lunch and fellowship. I manage through-out the day to make time for our Lord and Savior and it would be a blessing to hear your thoughts on Him and our service in His name.

 

The Poster:

I don’t know what you thought might be offensive. I took no offense

 

Yet Another Poster:

There is a song just waiting to be written from this thread.

 

The Poster:

Sing it Friend! Life has those awkward moments, some more awkward than others. I don’t bother gay men, I only ask the same in return. And the waiter’s creepiness wasn’t just that he was gay, he creeped out my wife who is OBLIVIOUS to gay men.

 

My Commentary:

Brother: I always find myself offensive when I am a “smart ass,” (the “…do lunch soon…” comment) I just assume others do also.

The real question I would ask you is how can you love someone who “creeps” you out? Now, I can confess that I “could” intensely dislike any number of people…Yankees, Old White Good ‘Ole Boys, Crackers, Uppity Negros, Anyone who seriously thinks Lincoln was a Great President, Shepherds who lead their flocks astray, Any woman Bishop, Priest, Deacon or Preacher… Well the list is much longer. But I am commanded By Jesus to love my neighbor…as myself… and Graham, for me that’s a whole lotta’ lovin’ going on…

What I must do is realize that I am a really, really special Child of God, He so loved me that He sent His only Son to die for me! Wow, I told you I am special, and, as hard as it may be for me to believe, so is Every Other human on the face of this earth! Everyone, even Lincoln! No favorites, God loves them all as much as He loves me, and He has commanded me to love all of them as much as I love myself!

Now here is the real lesson of this commentary. Some phrase that command as “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” but that not only misses the point, it fails to satisfy God. You must love your neighbor as you love yourself, and wouldn’t you do about anything to make yourself happy?

The fact is, we all are suffused with the Grace of God, by the spirit of God, who we call the Holy Ghost, and we are all special and unique and loved by our Creator, and so we all should love ourselves quite a bit, maybe not to the excess I love myself, but we should love ourselves and our neighbor with “a whole lotta’ lovin’ goin’ on.” And that is where our second “other poster” can hear the music. If we all just loved ourselves, because our Father loves us, and if our parents loved us and we them, and we really loved our children, really loved them, not just gave them toys, money and our “friendship,” why, wouldn’t that make all our lives better?

And if, when we meet that stranger, that illegal alien, that food stamp recipient, that Medicaid patient, that gay waiter, that criminal, that murderer, that sheik, that molester, or that Yankee who moved next door: If when we met those who are different, foreign, even disgusting to us, we saw them as a child of God, just like ourselves, then isn’t it natural and easy to ask them if they “know about Jesus Christ?”

This thread is a song of praise to God, we all have written it, we all live it, and thank God we don’t have to sing it!

 

My Final Commentary:

I’ll soon write more on this topic, but for now let me gently encourage all who read this commentary to consider how easy it is to ask “Do you know about Jesus Christ?” You just face someone odd, new, different, strange or offensive to you and ask the question. The key is not to defend but to share. That’s the point, share. And here’s what should be so easy for all of us Christians, you are not sharing your judgment or opinion about the human you are engaging, you are sharing Christ’s love! When you look into their face, do you not see the “image and likeness” of God? Are they not God’s creation? Look in their eyes, and see a person you know, a brother or sister, regardless of sexual orientation, race, gender, language, religion, another magnificent work of the Hand of God!

What a joy to live for Jesus Christ, what a joy to be a child of God the Father, Almighty!  + + +

 

 

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The Presiding Bishop on: Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013.

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Bull Sullivan

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate introduction of comprehensive immigration reform.

 

We affirm that human beings are made in the image of God, created with dignity and intrinsic value. Dignified and productive work is one way in which people give expression to that divine creativity, and people often migrate in search of it. This Church seeks to uphold the rights of people to seek dignified possibility in life – what this nation calls “the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That includes the ability to seek work which will support and nurture individuals and their families, and the opportunity to contribute to building a just society – what the Church calls a reflection of the kingdom of God. Immigration reform is a proximate, this-worldly, way of moving toward that vision of a just society.

The Episcopal Church has long advocated for immigration reform, and we are encouraged by many of the changes proposed in the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. We thank Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John McCain (R-AZ), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) for their tireless work to reach consensus and compromise on this issue.

We are pleased to see a pathway to citizenship for those already living in the United States but caution against a pathway that involves unjust or overly onerous burdens. Unquantifiable expectations for border security are not likely to constitute a fair component of this process.

Family reunification long has been at the heart of our nation’s immigration system, and we are pleased to see that the Senate bill contains significant streamlining and expediting of the reunification process for citizens and green-card holders. We do not support further restrictions on the ability of residents to bring family members to join them. We are gravely disappointed, however, that even as many families will experience the joy of reunification, some families and family members have been excluded from the Senate bill. As the process moves forward, we will strongly urge the inclusion of same-sex partners and spouses in the legislation. Every family deserves to live in unity.

We are delighted at the proposals to expedite the regularizing of the status of children unknowingly brought to this country, and realizing the hopes initially raised in the DREAM Act. The bipartisan bill’s additional protections for vulnerable migrant children, asylum seekers and refugees, and – for the first time under U.S. law – the stateless, also will come as welcome news to Episcopal communities, many of whom work daily to help these populations rebuild their lives peacefully in the United States

Efforts to expand the creativity and productivity of United States society through a variety of guest worker visas that include access to a pathway to citizenship certainly accord with priorities of The Episcopal Church, particularly when they answer the hopes and dreams of those in other parts of the world seeking work. We applaud provisions within the bill to protect foreign workers brought to the U.S. through abuse and trafficking and will continue to advocate that all visas are provided in ways that are not exploitative.

As lawmakers prepare to debate this historic step toward comprehensive immigration reform, Episcopalians stand ready to advocate for policies that build a just and welcoming society for all God’s people.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

Presiding Bishop and Primate

The Episcopal Church

 

My response to the Presiding Bishop’s comments:

 

While I admire the sense of compassion and expressed desire for social justice expressed by the Presiding Bishop, I would beg her indulgence to consider another entirely different point of view. American is truly a land of opportunity, and since the early part of the Nineteenth Century has seen its growth spurred by successive waves of immigrants seeking economic and political justice. It is nation that has overcome many adversities, often due to the hard work and diligence of the children and grandchildren of these immigrants. Many economic and social initiatives and institutions are clearly the result of their presence here in our nation. Social and economic motility expanded exponentially as those exposed to the attainment and fulfillment of the American dream entered our industrial, commercial and educational segments, many others labored on issues of civil rights and social justice, all to our betterment as a nation.

It can honestly and undeniable be asserted that those efforts brightly illuminated human dignity and value, and that had not those generations of immigrants reached our shore, we would be poorer for the experience, and obviously less capable as a nation to act as a beacon of liberty. It was necessary that many cultures came to America in order to spread through-out the world the fruits of our unique experiment in human freedom and democratic self governance. They came from a world largely in the dark, without means of communication; a world of monarchs, despots and oligarchs, who ruled rather than governed, who suppressed rather than inspired, and who sought to limit self expression rather than prize it.

That world still exists, but it is far smaller, and even in its darkest corners, electronic media brings truth and hope to those still too weak, too frightened, and often too hungry to demand change. Those millions are found far and near, and are manifest in every nation of this western hemisphere, even, sadly, in our own nation. There is one other attribute that these millions lack, and that is leadership. I am not referring to Presidents, whether defined by limited or life terms, nor to the wealthy, many of whom inherited their advantage; nor to the academic hierarchy, progressive or regressive; nor the clerical hierarchy, protestant, papal or pagan. I am referring to that class of people that has been the very incubator of the vast majority of our national leaders, the middle class.

And therein lies the rub, at least as I see The Presiding Bishop’s and so many others’ views on immigration. I would stipulate that the very population they would “nationalize” through amnesty and the Dream Act is the very population that has demonstrated initiative, courage and stewardship in both the act of migration and the desire to attain a better life for themselves, but more importantly, for their families, their children. In my opinion, they would be a wonderful element added to our great American stew, and so your effort, as those of others, to add them to the pot is noble. But in Mexico, in Honduras, in Nicaragua, they would be the yeast!

 

I need not remind you of the value of yeast, or of a mustard seed. It takes such a small number of patriots to influence a nation’s course of events, as was the case in our own American Revolution. It takes a mere handful of men and women to alter the fabric of a culture, inspire heaving social changes, destroy empires, and rend temple curtains. We have in America today the leaven needed to unalterably change the patriarchal, misogynistic and oligarchic nature of Central and South American cultures.

Your support of any theory that excludes consideration of the fact that this body of Hispanic speaking immigrants has the very attributes and character traits so sorely needed in their native lands is regrettable. It is my belief that we miss an incredible opportunity to encourage and more importantly enable the repatriation of these Americans to their native lands. By offering education, job skills, and economic assistance, wages and benefits, to each repatriated immigrant, and a limited period of overseas service, perhaps along with their parents or with their extended families, to all native born children of these immigrants, we could see develop a peaceful social revolution at a far more rapid pace than our national emphasis on trade and interdependency could ever realize.

Rather than encourage and supporting a program that seeks to make these people regular American Citizens, sitting nightly on a couch, sipping beer and watching the Simpson’s, and ignoring, as most of us do, the core teachings of Christ; we could be invigorating a movement through-out the Western Hemisphere that would surely be as important and iconic as our own Civil Rights Movement.

Jesus Christ did not speak in platitudes, but in parables, as a means of teaching what we now acknowledge to be universal truths. Surely His titular heads on earth can do better than quote progressive ideals and hew to the “party” line, “they do work other Americans will not do,” or “we need them in the fields.” Please, can we not do better than just providing jobs? Wouldn’t a commitment to social justice, economic reform and human rights in these despotic, fascist states south of our border be far more meaningful?

As my Fundamentalist and Southern Baptist friends say, “What would Jesus do?” Or better said, as I say, “What would Jesus have me do?” + + +

 

______________________________________________________________

A note for those who follow my commentary. Many of you will observe that I find the Presiding Bishop’s statement a heart-felt, compassionate and compelling statement on the Episcopal Church’s understanding of and call to action for social justice.

And, you will no doubt question my sincerity as I am well known as an opponent of Holy Orders for women, and highly critical of the Church’s disregard for the literal Laws of God as recorded by Prophets and Apostles in the Holy Bible. To put a cap on it, it can be fairly said I think the Presiding Bishop exists in a perpetual state of sin, pride and vainglory, even hubris before the Almighty. That said about her, others may say that about me, and it may be well true of me. God often chooses sinners, and aren’t we all, to do His work on Earth.

Had the Church early-on followed the teaching of Bishop James Pike, regarding loving and accepting sexually active homosexuals into our Communion, and not segregating and chastising them as being unnatural, in essence and in fact understanding them as the sinners they are, and we are, and as we rightly view adulterers and all unmarried persons who engage in sexual relations, we might well have seen the Church promulgate a very different and far more Christian orthodoxy regarding all manner of sexual sin and abuse.

To those of you who would maintain the argument that homosexual behavior is an “abomination” before God, I will not disagree; but I would emphatically assert that Bestiality and Onanism are “abominations” as well, resulting during the Age of the Old Testament in harsh punishment and eternal damnation.

The message of the New Testament is that Our Father sent his only begotten Son “Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.” If God can in this Age forgive all sins, and love all His children, offering Eternal Life to those who will but obey His Laws, or at the least, “truly repent and unfeignedly believe his Holy Gospel” then surely the Church could have accepted the notion that any sex outside of its natural purpose, procreation, is sinful, indulgent of the most base emotions, and praise God, forgivable. It would then follow both logically and spiritually, that the Church should preach the beauty of sexual intimacy in marriage between a man and a woman.

No one can doubt that we all are sinners, nor that fornication, masturbation and sodomy are among our chief earthly pleasures. There is pain in life, and the temporal, fleeting satisfaction of sexual sin can not be denied. But the teachings of the Church today are exemplary in demonstrating the result of the failure of approving carnal behavior within a moral context: there can be no moral authority when the very hierarchy of a Christian Church, through its example and magisterium, encourages promiscuity and heresy.

It is from this perspective that I can both commend the Presiding Bishop for encouraging thought and action on issues of social justice, and condemn the Presiding Bishop for promulgating moral depravity and suborning heresy.

 

 

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