The logic of all purity movements is to exclude

Andrew Linzey (editor of Gays and the Future of Anglicanism, a response by leading theologians to the Windsor Report) writes in The Times about the current crisis in the Anglican Church over homosexuality. Although he’s not only talking about that. Rather, he’s talking about the root cause – the clash between the desire for purity and the desire for community

In previous decades disagreements about sexuality bothered Anglicans, but the idea that they merited schism would have been regarded as preposterous. That we are now at this point indicates the near triumph of the exclusivist tendency…
“Conservatives” are seen as preserving “historic truth” and “progressives” as wilfully discarding it. So long as the debate is cast in those terms, no resolution is possible. The way forward is to grasp the dynamic of God: as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the teaching God, which, we are promised, will guide believers into all truth (John xvi, 13).
Not all truth is given in the past; the Spirit has something to teach us in the present. It is untrinitarian consistently to oppose God’s work in the past to what we may learn here and now. All innovations should be tested, but it is a mistake to assume that all development is infidelity…
There is one sure way of testing the Spirit: do our beliefs lead to an increase in injustice, bigotry and suffering? If they do, they simply cannot be reconciled with the workings of the creative, compassionate Spirit promised to us…
the agenda of conservatives is a rolling one: today it is gays, but biblical inerrancy, interfaith worship, women bishops, remarriage after divorce will surely follow. The logic of all purity movements is to exclude.

(Thanks to Father Jake for the link.)

pax et bonum

Article posted at 8:08pm on 22 April 2006
Category: Faith, Links, Struggling

I am very saddened by the fact that elements within the church preach openly and publicly against homosexuality. It seems to me that this is especially alarming in an age where to express such views in the workplace would lead to dismissal. I expect to experience more social inclusivity, compassion and tolerance within the church than in, say, my local supermarket or the office where I work. Sadly, on occasions, I do not.

ruth () (URL)
6:38pm on 25 April 2006