Monday, September 27, 2010

Rowan Williams Annoys Everyone

In an already infamous interview with The Times, Rowan Williams manages to annoy just about everyone. Quite an accomplishment. (Speaking of annoying, I no longer read or link to The Times due to their new paywall.)

Now, the headlines have focused on His Grace saying that gay bishops are fine as long as they are celibate. And I will bravely defend him on that.

We all have an orientation to sin. If someone has an orientation to homosexual sin, but refrains from such and has refrained for some years, that no more disqualifies one from any holy orders than an orientation toward being cranky (like myself). So Dr. Williams is correct on this.

But as you can imagine, the libchurch crowd does not think ++Rowan’s pronouncement progressive enough.

Where he does truly annoy everyone is when he takes a pass . . . literally:

Does he still think it’s OK for gay couples to have sex, as he wrote years ago? “That’s what I wrote as a theologian, you know, putting forward a suggestion. That’s not the job I have now,” he tells Dougary.

But does the Archbishop hope that one day gay bishops can have partners? “Pass”.

Sorry, ++Rowan. It is a bishop’s job to teach on faith and morals. And you took a pass on that. Therefore, most Anglicans, right and left, say, “Fail!” And in so failing, you have made yourself and your church look silly and spineless.

For some more links and a sample of the annoyance, you may venture here.

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