Brother Fire

I had the pleasure of meeting Bp. V. Gene Robinson (the first openly gay Bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church) last month. I was amazed by his positive perspective on the future of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Despite the fact that he was being deliberately excluded from the Lambeth Conference, it was clear that he saw his presence there (on the outskirts of the conference) as an important opportunity to get to introduce himself to other Bishops. He told us that there would be a number of foreign Bishops who will discreetly meet with him, however he had to promise not to disclose the meetings as the consequences to the visiting Bishops could be dire. I've been trying to follow the debate at the conference regarding the issue of homosexuality -- specifically the ordination of gay men & lesbians, and same-sex marriage, however the coverage in the mainstream media has been scant. Interestingly, Stephen Colbert addressed the issue on the Colbert Repor...

Last week Roman Catholic Bishops from New York released a statement condemning the New York State recognition of same-sex marriage. The NY Bishops' Conference statement was in response to Governor David Paterson's directive that all state agencies must revise their policies and regulations to legally recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states (Massachusetts and California), as well as Canada. The Governor's memo warns that failure to do so could result in sanctions for violations of the state human rights law (You can see an Empire State Pride Agenda video of Governor Paterson announcing the directive, as well as the text of the memo here , on the New York Observer's website). What I find most troubling about the Bishops' statement is not that it condemns same-sex marriage. Such a condemnation is not news coming from Roman Catholic Church leaders. The Church has condemned most things homosexual for centuries. And I wish not to debate the Bishops...