Eucharist homily

Source: archbishopcranmer.com

True Anglicans in Great Britain must sometimes wonder why they have bishops given the example of the bishop of Buckingham.

In his blog 'Archbishop Cranmer' gives a reasoned explanation of why an Imam should not be preaching the sermon at a Eucharist service. The reaction of the bishop of Buckingham was simply to say that objections to the Imam's sermon were “ridiculous”. In Islamic terms the bishop, along with other non-Muslims, is of course a mere infidel.

Imam Monawar Hussain MBE is Muslim tutor at Eton College and the founder of the Oxford Foundation which promotes religious and racial harmony. His response was that there are many different voices in all our traditions. Some Muslims might not be happy at my presence at the church so I’m not surprised at the objections but there are so many more Christian friends who are pleased I’ll be there. We need to be building trust and working together.

Building trust and working together amounts to little more than making Islam acceptable to the population of Britain. The authorities have become paralysed as race relations and political correctness have been deemed more important than safeguarding children. Any references to problems with religious ideological differences are met with accusations of Islamophobia.

The twenty men who have recently been found guilty of being part of a grooming gang that raped and abused girls as young as 11 in Huddersfield are described as "British Asians mainly of Pakistani heritage".

Seven of the gang are named Mohammed which may have led "Anti-Muslim activist" Tommy Robinson, founder of the English Defence League, to assume that they were Muslim. It has been claimed that "far-right figures have used the crimes to argue that 'Muslim grooming gangs' pose a particular threat to Britain".

Not all British Asians of mainly Pakistani heritage are Muslim. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali is probably the best Archbishop of Canterbury we never had. In this lecture bishop Michael explains how Islam became dominant in the Arab world and how Christianity became almost extinct in the Middle East:

In his blog Archbishop Cranmer explains that Imam Monawar Hussain, "being a Muslim of orthodox belief, does not believe in the divinity of Jesus: Isa, as the Lord is called in the Qur’an, is not the Son of God, nor was he crucified at Calvary. But Isa is not the Lord, for the Jesus of the Qur’an did not die on a cross, and neither was he resurrected. Yes, he was born to the virgin Mary; yes, he worked miracles; yes, he preached in Judæa and had disciples. But the Jesus in whom Imam Monawar Hussain believes is not the Jesus of the Bible, for he believes the al-Injīl (the Gospel) to have been corrupted. In Islam, Jesus is a nabī (prophet) and rasūl (messenger) of God. He is abd-Allāh (a servant of God), wadjih (worthy of esteem), and mubārak (blessed). But for Imam Monawar Hussain, Jesus did not die on a cross, he did not lie in a grave, and was not resurrected on the third day. Imam Monawar Hussain believes in another Jesus (2Cor 11:4). Preaching the University Sermon on Sunday, Imam Monawar Hussain will deny by his presence in the pulpit the very body and blood of Christ commemorated by the Eucharist; he will refute by his mere being: 'God from God, Light from Light, of one very substance with the Father…'. "

Bishop of Buckingham take note.

"Gay marriage is here to stay",

thus says the Bishop of Buckingham (hat tip to Anglican Mainstream).

Well know for his trendy social intercourse the Rt Rev'd Dr Alan Wilson graced the Queering Paradigms network to deliver the keynote speech in which he claimed that "nothing bad happened in the UK after the introduction of same-sex marriage two years ago and that the Church of England is slowly accepting the concept" before adding the latest LGBT clerical mantra, "it was merely a matter of time before the controversy surrounding gay and transgender unions would turn to acceptance everywhere, even in his church".

The fact that same sex marriage is tearing the Church apart is obviously irrelevant to +Buckingham.

The Queering Paradigms network is "dedicated to examining the current state and future challenges of Queer Studies from a broad trans-disciplinary and polythetic perspective, and by interrogating numerous social, political, cultural and academic agendas". Professor Bee Scherer introduces himself as the founder of Queering Paradigms and Professor of Religious Studies and Gender Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University.

In the video the professor explains Queer Theory as "An academic area challenging traditional concepts of binary genders and other ideas around sexuality". He described it as "a daring and rebellious form of thinking about who we are and assumptions about fixed gender". Rebellious indeed.

That anyone can hold such a position let alone indoctrinate our young people with such notions is bad enough but to be supported by a bishop of the Church of England expounding views contrary the Church's position on marriage shows the level to which some of our bishops have sunk. Will any stand up for the faith?

Fretting

In his piece for Pink News the Bishop of Buckingham said that having come out for gay marriage most letters received by him as a Church of England bishop are in favour of gay marriage and non-Christian people in society have moved on from fretting about the subject because 'gay people are just people like them'. Well I have been fretting, not on the subject referred to but on the attitude displayed by the bishop and others with remarks that appear calculated to imply that there is something seriously lacking with people not of their persuasion in this area. 

In evidence to the Commons Committee on the Marriage (Same Sex) Bill there were similar claims that a lack of mail received against the proposal implied acceptance of the Bill, for example, "I have received two e-mails from people in my own diocese asking me if I would “clarify my position”. I received one e-mail from someone who takes a rather more conservative view... The sense I get from that is that the opposition might not be as widespread as some might think it." On the contrary, over 641,000 people have already made their views abundantly clear only to be ignored by the government! It should be obvious to members of the episcopate that unless all views are canvassed their mail will be weighted in favour of the course they advance as the bishop has discovered.

There may be some 'church people' whose attitude to homosexuality is less than charitable but that is no different to society in general. In my experience church people are far more tolerant than + Wilson suggests but his comments appear to be designed to tell his audience what they want to hear. Also some of the MPs on the Commons Committee have been using their membership not as an opportunity to gather evidence but as a platform for their particular lifestyles. Homosexuality is a fact but it does not mean that gay marriage should follow any more than those opposed to gay marriage because it is contrary to an established principle are against equality. What leaves me fretting is political and religious leaders playing to the gallery with outrageous accusations of homophobia and bigotry instead of engaging in reasoned debate.