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My Homosexual Agenda is Jesus, Bishop Declares
Monisha Bansal
Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) - An openly homosexual Episcopal bishop from New Hampshire Wednesday asserted that the "500-year experiment in Anglicanism is being tested right now." The election and consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson in 2003 prompted some Episcopal parishes in the U.S. to leave the worldwide Anglican Church.
During a panel discussion hosted Wednesday by the Washington Region for Justice and Inclusion in Washington, D.C., Robinson said "you see a mainline denomination risking its life for some people on the margins."
"It is my great privilege to be a small part of that," he added.
Episcopal bishops met in Houston, Texas Wednesday to discuss the schism within the church.
Following Robinson's elevation in 2003, individuals from the Anglican Church worldwide and the Episcopal Church in the U.S. called for a change in leadership if the church intended to continue its support of homosexuality and bless same-sex unions.
But on Wednesday, Robinson noted that "it was the people of New Hampshire that wanted me to be their bishop. Many people beyond the gay and lesbian community found hope in what New Hampshire had done.
"You would get the impression that our church is pretty evenly divided on this great debate," Robinson said. "Of some nearly 8,000 parishes in the Episcopal Church, only 47 of them have sought oversight from some other province of the Anglican Communion."
He also said that social rifts over tradition are not new among Episcopalians, and began with the first female Episcopal bishop. "This debate in the Episcopal Church started 30 years ago ... long before my consecration."
But Rev. Canon David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, told Cybercast News Service that "Bishop Robinson has garnered a place in history as the defiant homosexual cleric who preferred to force his sexuality on the larger church at any cost, rather than weigh the costs of what his actions would take on the entire Anglican Communion.
"His name will become synonymous with schism," Anderson said.
"If you want to know my homosexual agenda, it's Jesus," argued Robinson. "I feel that this is a real extension of what I've been called to do in the gospels.
"And I would propose to you that peoples' coming out - gay and lesbian folk being honest about who they are, what their lives are, what their families are like, their desire to contribute to this culture, to serve in the military, to take their place as full citizens of this country - is God at work," he added.
"Gene Robinson may say his homosexual agenda is Jesus, but his speaking tours and publicity all point to his fixation on his being homosexual and promoting the approval of homosexual relationships," said Anderson.
"Strangely missing in all of his media encounters is any real evangelization for Jesus as the savior who provides forgiveness for our sins," Anderson added. "Rather we see Gene Robinson's evangelization for the homosexual lifestyle, how normal and positive it is, and missing is any sense of sin or a need for a savior from sin."
Robinson noted that because of the religious right, "It may be easier for gay and lesbian people to come out as gay than for religious people to come out as Christian."
Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America, agreed. "It does take courage in our day and age to admit that you're a Christian.
"It especially takes courage to stand up for biblical truth, most particularly, the truth that the very homosexual lifestyle in which Bishop Robinson chooses to engage is a lifestyle centrally defined by immorality," he told Cybercast News Service.
"In today's twisted pop culture which demands that all morality is entirely relative, being gay is in vogue. Many young people are experimenting with the homosexual lifestyle as a trendy sexual option," Barber said.
"Being 'open-minded' and blindly accepting sexual sin makes you 'tolerant' and popular, while being a Christian makes you reviled and ostracized," he said.
Make media inquiries or request an interview with Monisha Bansal.
Subscribe to the free CNSNews.com daily E-brief.
E-mail a comment or news tip to Monisha Bansal.
During a panel discussion hosted Wednesday by the Washington Region for Justice and Inclusion in Washington, D.C., Robinson said "you see a mainline denomination risking its life for some people on the margins."
"It is my great privilege to be a small part of that," he added.
Episcopal bishops met in Houston, Texas Wednesday to discuss the schism within the church.
Following Robinson's elevation in 2003, individuals from the Anglican Church worldwide and the Episcopal Church in the U.S. called for a change in leadership if the church intended to continue its support of homosexuality and bless same-sex unions.
But on Wednesday, Robinson noted that "it was the people of New Hampshire that wanted me to be their bishop. Many people beyond the gay and lesbian community found hope in what New Hampshire had done.
"You would get the impression that our church is pretty evenly divided on this great debate," Robinson said. "Of some nearly 8,000 parishes in the Episcopal Church, only 47 of them have sought oversight from some other province of the Anglican Communion."
He also said that social rifts over tradition are not new among Episcopalians, and began with the first female Episcopal bishop. "This debate in the Episcopal Church started 30 years ago ... long before my consecration."
But Rev. Canon David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, told Cybercast News Service that "Bishop Robinson has garnered a place in history as the defiant homosexual cleric who preferred to force his sexuality on the larger church at any cost, rather than weigh the costs of what his actions would take on the entire Anglican Communion.
"His name will become synonymous with schism," Anderson said.
"If you want to know my homosexual agenda, it's Jesus," argued Robinson. "I feel that this is a real extension of what I've been called to do in the gospels.
"And I would propose to you that peoples' coming out - gay and lesbian folk being honest about who they are, what their lives are, what their families are like, their desire to contribute to this culture, to serve in the military, to take their place as full citizens of this country - is God at work," he added.
"Gene Robinson may say his homosexual agenda is Jesus, but his speaking tours and publicity all point to his fixation on his being homosexual and promoting the approval of homosexual relationships," said Anderson.
"Strangely missing in all of his media encounters is any real evangelization for Jesus as the savior who provides forgiveness for our sins," Anderson added. "Rather we see Gene Robinson's evangelization for the homosexual lifestyle, how normal and positive it is, and missing is any sense of sin or a need for a savior from sin."
Robinson noted that because of the religious right, "It may be easier for gay and lesbian people to come out as gay than for religious people to come out as Christian."
Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America, agreed. "It does take courage in our day and age to admit that you're a Christian.
"It especially takes courage to stand up for biblical truth, most particularly, the truth that the very homosexual lifestyle in which Bishop Robinson chooses to engage is a lifestyle centrally defined by immorality," he told Cybercast News Service.
"In today's twisted pop culture which demands that all morality is entirely relative, being gay is in vogue. Many young people are experimenting with the homosexual lifestyle as a trendy sexual option," Barber said.
"Being 'open-minded' and blindly accepting sexual sin makes you 'tolerant' and popular, while being a Christian makes you reviled and ostracized," he said.
Make media inquiries or request an interview with Monisha Bansal.
Subscribe to the free CNSNews.com daily E-brief.
E-mail a comment or news tip to Monisha Bansal.
Most Recent User Comments
laubachs
3/16/2007 1:29 PM
Sunnybrooke states, "I find it hypocritical that divorce is now considered moral, when there are many many more scriptures addressing the condition of human lust and faithfulness in the sanctity of marriage. How many of those who condemn and hate homosexuality are free of sin?." Any Bible believing Christian knows that divorce is sin, as is homosexuality. James 2:10 states, "10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (NIV)." Faith in Jesus dying in your place on the cross and covering you with His righteous blood is the only way to escape eternal judgement and be saved. God then sends the Holy Spirit to live in us (sanctify us) to overcome our sin (1 Cor 6:11). He does not save us from sin so that we can openly live it (Rom 6:1-2; Rom 8:1-9; Heb 12:1-4). We are saved to pursue righteousness and glorify God as we become daily more like Jesus. Accepting homosexuals (in their sin) does not save them, but condemns them!
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laubachs
3/16/2007 12:51 PM
Sunnybrook says, "LOVE ONE ANOTHER as Christ commanded us to do." The Bible also clearly states in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (NIV)" We love one-another by being truthful about eternity. Accepting someone in a lifestyle sin (that the Bible clearly states will insure eternity in hell) is not loving one-another. Explaining 1 Cor 6:11, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." will deliver them from hell.
kritt
3/16/2007 9:18 AM
I don't agree with the fact that Christians are angry with homosexuals. We might be angry with the fact that they are forcing churches to accept them for who they are, when if they read their bibles, they would see that homosexuality IS a sin and an abomination before God (Leviticus 20:13). If it was a sin then, it is a sin now.
I can speak from experience that the gay community is NOT as large as they would have people believe and homosexual behavior can be overcome with the love of the Lord and some good christian counseling. I lived that lifestyle for many years and saw firsthand how isolating and lonely it is.
God wants us whole in every way and if we are not to sin, then homosexuals need to realize that God can make them whole IN HIS IMAGE, not the one they have. The Bible says we are to be like Christ in our behavior and follow the teaching of the Bible. Well, my bible says its an abomination. The Word is the same yesterday,today and forever, so that means its a sin... Period.
I can speak from experience that the gay community is NOT as large as they would have people believe and homosexual behavior can be overcome with the love of the Lord and some good christian counseling. I lived that lifestyle for many years and saw firsthand how isolating and lonely it is.
God wants us whole in every way and if we are not to sin, then homosexuals need to realize that God can make them whole IN HIS IMAGE, not the one they have. The Bible says we are to be like Christ in our behavior and follow the teaching of the Bible. Well, my bible says its an abomination. The Word is the same yesterday,today and forever, so that means its a sin... Period.
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