Users

Source: Twitter

It is a sad reflection of society today that I am again pushed for my first comment on the news in 2023 onto a familiar theme.

It is hard not to take notice when images such as that above appear with ridiculous claims that are contrary to biblical truth. 

The latest person to claim 'God's will' is the 'first non-binary Church of England priest'. A 'first' the Church in Wales has missed out on.

As friction over LGBTQ issues worsens in the global Anglican church, the ONS has published 2021 census data which show that around 1.5 million people (3.2%) identified with an LGB+ orientation (“Gay or Lesbian”, “Bisexual” or “Other sexual orientation”), comparatively few when compared with the 43.4 million people (89.4%) who identified as straight or heterosexual.

These figures illustrate the extent to which the tail wags the dog in western Anglicanism.

There is no escape from the propaganda. The London 2023 New Year fireworks display which, for many, represents a new beginning was filled with political propaganda including a ‘we’re here, we’re queer’ celebration of LGBT rights which illustrates the depths of homophile infiltration, even among young children and how adept their strategists have been at manipulating public opinion. 

What is particularly offensive is how the Church has, and is, being used to further the interests of a relatively small group of people who have no regard whatsoever for the faith of those they have displaced.

Their desire to validate a minority life style at the expense of others cannot be met with silence less it implies tacit acceptance of the fantasies of these users of the Church.

Users

Six openly partnered/married gay and lesbian bishops at Lambeth 2022.                  Source: Twitter

There have been a number of postings on Twitter of this group of gay and lesbian bishops at Lambeth thumbing their noses at orthodoxy, this one by @TransEpiscopal, a group of "transgender Episcopalians and allies dedicated to making the Episcopal Church a welcoming place for all"!

The US Episcopalian Church along with other western Anglican provinces do not need transgender, gay and lesbian priests and bishops to make people welcome. If the Church had not been welcoming there would be no openly gay and lesbian priests or bishops in the Church.

They protest that God loves them and that they are made in His image. So they are. So are adulterers.

God loves the sinner, not the sin, so these entrists busy themselves changing definitions to suit themselves, even re-defining marriage which is between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others and for life. Were it not so there would be no children and civilisation would cease.

The LGBTQ+ community is using the Church for their own ends. They are a vocal minority who do not represent the majority of Anglicans and fellow Christians.

The same sex partnered bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, (pictured 3rd from right) is a patron of Open Table, an organisation whose mission is to "warmly welcome and affirm people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA), + our family and friends, and anyone who wants to belong in an accepting, loving worship community."

Very well organised, a vocal minority is using Lambeth to manipulate public opinion for their own ends. 

The Global South stands for Bible based orthodoxy. They have set out four priorities for ‘Orthodox delegates’ including re-affirmation of Resolution 1.10. 

They must not be silenced by a vocal minority intent on serving their own interests above all others.

Postscript [01.08.2022] 

The house of the Lord! - Look at the setting for this circus. What have we become?

Another 'BLM' bishop

Rt Revd Mark Tanner has been confirmed as the new Bishop of Chester.         Source: CheshireLive

The new Bishop of Chester has announced that he is a supporter of Black Lives Matter.

That should go down well with Stephen Cottrell the new Archbishop of York who also came out as a Black Lives Matter supporter while declaring that Jesus was a black man.

From the Telegraph (£):
"BLM happily self-identifies as a neo-Marxist movement with various far left objectives, including defunding the police (an evolution of the Panther position of public open-carry to control the police), to dismantling capitalism and the patriarchal system, disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure, seeking reparations from slavery to redistribute wealth and via various offshoot appeals, to raise money to bail black prisoners awaiting trial. The notion of seizing control of the apportionment of capital, dismantling the frameworks of society and neutralising and undermining law enforcement are not just Marxist, but anarchic."

There are more worrying facts from Alexander Boot about the BLM affiliate, Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) in his blog.

Assuming that 'going along to get on' aspirants in the Church of England understand what they are supporting this is another worrying development for orthodoxy.

Postscript [26.07.2020]

From Twitter: "The leader of Oxford Black Lives Matter Sasha calls for a black militia, compares the police to the KKK and calls for a revolution."

Previously on Twitter: "Oxford Black Lives Matter leader Sasha uses racial slurs and threats of violence to abuse a black man."

Will the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Chester reconsider their support for the BLM movement? I doubt it.

Users of The Church

The First Church of Cannabis sprang from the well intentioned Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act explained here. Basically it means that "the state cannot 'substantially burden a person's exercise of religion' unless it is furthering a 'compelling government interest' and acting in the least restrictive way possible". Other States have similar laws. Some see the legislation as an opportunity while others see it as repressive.

Sadly Mother Church has been caught up in the political maelstrom with all sorts of groups using the church to advantage in the guise of worship.

In my book there are three categories of Church users. There are regular users who week by week sustain the Church in their worship and giving.

There are the occasional users, the 'hatch, match and dispatch' brigade, who profess to be Christians expecting the Church to be there when required.

Then there are the other users. The political movements used to great effect by feminists and currently by the LGBT community in furtherance of their particular agendas, currently same-sex marriage under the pretence of equality.

The feminist battle consisted of staged skirmishes, each represented as an insignificant step thus permitting charges of discrimination if the next step were not permitted. Hence the progression from biblical Deaconesses to non-biblical women bishops.

LGBT activist Jayne Ozanne

 The same tactics are being used by the LGBTQ movement: "Senior Anglicans launch bid to find 'middle way' over homosexuality" in a new bid to "unite" the Church of England over divisive issues such as gay marriage (here) promoting the via media, "a new perspective on Anglican debates. There is no debate. It is promotion.

I strongly recommend reading Making Gay Okay: How rationalising homosexual behaviour is changing everything. According to the author, Professor Robert R. Reilly, the debate about homosexuality, and particularly about same-sex marriage, is, at its heart, a debate about the nature of reality. One side believes that things have a nature and purpose that make them what they are. The other side denies that things have an essential nature, and believes that things are nothing in themselves, and can be shaped according to personal choices and desires. Reilly examines the philosophical basis for these competing points of view. [Hat tip to Anglican Mainstream for this article - Ed.]

In another article the dangers are set out plainly.  Among them the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) "have concluded that one in six men who have sex with men will contract HIV in their lifetimes and that one in two black men who are gay or bisexual will contract HIV". Despite the recognised dangers the United States Agency for International Development will be spending $1 million to finance the promotion of the LGBT agenda, including contributions to LGBT politicians who wish to participate in the upcoming elections.

In the UK Cardinal Nichols has already been criticised for Queering the Church while Changing Attitude lists fifty-nine churches in twenty Church of England dioceses where "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Christians can be guaranteed a welcome" in addition to churches in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as if they are not welcomed in other churches. Far from it in my experience.

The 'middle way' is claimed to be an "attempt to bridge the divides that separates many in the Church". It is not. It is one more giant step  towards securing credibility for another organisation using the Church for political ends.

Readers may remember "self-styled 'Anglican' and LGBT activist" Jayne Ozanne from a previous entry, The road to ruin: "Church of England members back same-sex marriage. Poll shows for first time more Anglicans supporting gay couples marrying than opposing it, despite leadership’s opposition. 'The lowest levels of support for same-sex marriage – 24% – were found among Anglican men over the age of 55, a group that dominates the church leadership'."

The 'Poll' had been "spun to apply pressure to the Church of England on same-sex 'marriage'." Need one say more!

The Church must stand firm.

Postscript [08.03.16]
An author is planning to re-invent the Bible… by putting it in a “queer context”:
"The Queer Bible is my reclamation, through translation, of the queer mythic potential of Biblical stories. I want to make an inclusive, celebratory space within the text that undoes the implicit sexism, misogyny, heterosexism, hierarchical oppression, slut-shaming, etc. and reconstitutes the feminine, the queer, the outcast, the strange."

Strange indeed.