Spring Break
Black Anglicans question conservatives, African ties
Daniel Burke/Religion News Service
Issue date: 8/17/08 Section: Divine Intervention
But Bishop Sitembela Mzamane of South Africa, who says he is also "the victim of oppression," said it's "very inappropriate to equate the struggle of Blacks in Africa or in the diaspora" with those of gays and lesbians. "They are not victims of human rights at all," Mzamane said.
Bishop Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi also disavowed any comparison between abolition and gay rights. "You cannot compare slavery with homosexuality. Slavery is a sin. Homosexuality is not about rights, it's about how God created you," he said.
More than 200 bishops, mainly from Africa, boycotted the Lambeth Conference, saying they won't meet with North American bishops who preach a "false gospel" that condones homosexuality.
The boycotting bishops, who say homosexual acts violate biblical morality, are incensed that the Episcopal Church allows same-sex blessings and elected an openly gay priest, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
U.S. conservatives, who are mainly White, have reached out to African archbishops from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria, urging them to cross traditional church borders by adopting parishes and appointing bishops in the U.S.
"They're looking for Black faces to give them legitimacy," Sutton said of U.S. conservatives, "because they can't find them at home."
Harris said the bonds between Africans and U.S. conservatives are a "political expediency" and that "connections made for the time being will not last across the huge gulf of understanding" between the groups.
But Beckwith, who is White and a member of the Global Anglican Future Conference, a conservative movement led by African prelates, said conservatives have the most important thing in common. "We are united and ground in the same faith," he said.
Bishop Nathan Baxter, the first Black Episcopal bishop of Central Pennsylvania, says the disagreement between African bishops and their U.S. counterparts mirrors a domestic debate among Black Americans.
"Many African Americans have mixed feelings about homosexuality and the church," Baxter said. "So, they are somewhat reserved about drawing too strong a parallel between the historical oppression of African Americans and the gay and lesbian experience."
And though he supports the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in his church, the Pennsylvania bishop says his fellow Black bishops' arguments here may not be heeded.
"I don't think the argument about African-American experience has any real relevance outside the American church," Baxter said. "The English bishops, the African bishops: that's not their history, not their experience.
Bishop Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi also disavowed any comparison between abolition and gay rights. "You cannot compare slavery with homosexuality. Slavery is a sin. Homosexuality is not about rights, it's about how God created you," he said.
More than 200 bishops, mainly from Africa, boycotted the Lambeth Conference, saying they won't meet with North American bishops who preach a "false gospel" that condones homosexuality.
The boycotting bishops, who say homosexual acts violate biblical morality, are incensed that the Episcopal Church allows same-sex blessings and elected an openly gay priest, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
U.S. conservatives, who are mainly White, have reached out to African archbishops from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria, urging them to cross traditional church borders by adopting parishes and appointing bishops in the U.S.
"They're looking for Black faces to give them legitimacy," Sutton said of U.S. conservatives, "because they can't find them at home."
Harris said the bonds between Africans and U.S. conservatives are a "political expediency" and that "connections made for the time being will not last across the huge gulf of understanding" between the groups.
But Beckwith, who is White and a member of the Global Anglican Future Conference, a conservative movement led by African prelates, said conservatives have the most important thing in common. "We are united and ground in the same faith," he said.
Bishop Nathan Baxter, the first Black Episcopal bishop of Central Pennsylvania, says the disagreement between African bishops and their U.S. counterparts mirrors a domestic debate among Black Americans.
"Many African Americans have mixed feelings about homosexuality and the church," Baxter said. "So, they are somewhat reserved about drawing too strong a parallel between the historical oppression of African Americans and the gay and lesbian experience."
And though he supports the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in his church, the Pennsylvania bishop says his fellow Black bishops' arguments here may not be heeded.
"I don't think the argument about African-American experience has any real relevance outside the American church," Baxter said. "The English bishops, the African bishops: that's not their history, not their experience.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Gary LaBelle
posted 8/19/08 @ 12:36 AM EST
I agree with Beckwith. I'm a white coservative and am thankful for our friends in Africa. I met Bishop Tutu twenty years ago and was impressed with his grace, friendly attitude and down to earth personality. (Continued…)
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