Reflections on General Synod

I am writing this a full month after the end of General Synod, so I have had time to rest and reflect. To be honest, I did not expect that this Synod would accept the Blessing of Same-Sex Unions because I was convinced that pressure from the “Anglican Communion” would win the day. It may have done so, but I think that there were more complex reasons why the motion failed to pass in the House of Bishops.

There was clearly a well-organised effort by the opposition to scuttle the motions in any way possible. We went through prolonged debate on amendments to postpone or neuter the motions, or to require an enhanced majority to pass them. During all this time, no one said that they were opposed to the blessing of same-sex unions! The opposition spoke of needing more time to study, of not wanting to offend the wider church, and of the importance of the decision and the need to demonstrate a strong majority in order for it to pass. Only after all these stalling tactics failed did the first person stand to say that he was opposed to these blessings on scriptural grounds. This was a lay person. I have no recollection of any of our bishops standing at any time on the floor of Synod to express their honest view that same-sex unions are inherently sinful and cannot receive a blessing. Not once did an opposing Bishop speak of anything other than the need to delay or refer the matter. My respect for our Bishops took a great blow. It left me with an image of twenty-one cowards in mitres!

So we are left having to guess at their true feelings. Are they really worried about the Anglican Communion? Well, I will start to believe them when the Anglican Communion condemns and expels Archbishop Akinola from our midst. In September of last year he publicly congratulated the government of Nigeria for proposing a law which would subject homosexuals and their supporters to up to five years in prison. The law was condemned by the US State Department as a violation of human rights. But that is just fine, it would seem. I haven’t heard a whimper from our House of Bishops or the Anglican Consultative Council about that. So I am to presume that it is acceptable to throw us in prison, but it is not acceptable to thank God for the blessings manifest in our committed relationships. Akinola is welcome to Lambeth whereas Bishop Robinson is not. Bishops, look at what you are doing! You are supporting institutionalised hatred. Surely some of that hatred must be found in your own hearts.

But perhaps it is their love of Scripture and Tradition which moved our bishops to vote against the motions? I asked from the floor of Synod if our support for the Lambeth Resolution 1998—Resolution 1.10 which “upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union” would mean that we would be condemning divorce. I asked whether the scriptural morality we would be embracing was meant to apply to some and not to others. Unfortunately, it was taken as a rhetorical question. Our House of Bishops would seem to set great store by scriptural condemnation of sexual practices and relationships in the ancient world which have little to do with the concept of modern same-sex marriage. At the same time there is not a peep about divorce, which is condemned by Jesus Himself. No mention of the injunction that a bishop may not have more than one wife. Now why would that be? Not until the “conservatives” start condemning “scriptural immorality” in their own midst will I start to believe that this is anything other than hypocrisy.

Ladies and gentlemen in the House of Bishops, we have moved on. People who are going through the pain of a divorce now receive our prayerful support rather than our opprobrium. In Quebec, where I live, gay marriage was greeted with widespread social approval. Society does not seem to have collapsed in Canada as a consequence of gay marriage. I cannot help but observe that the same people in the church who used to condemn the “gay lifestyle” (which they imagined to be frequent, anonymous sex) are the same ones who are not happy that we are now getting married! The House of Bishops is confirming in my mind what I have long known: this is not about “morality”. This is about hatred.

Bishops, please be honest with yourselves and the church. Tell us what you are thinking. And please stop using God to justify your own feelings. There is not a gay Anglican in this country who cannot detect the fraud.

Douglass Dalton, Montreal