Posted on 04/09/2005 11:27:24 AM PDT by madprof98
In 2003, the Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson was elected the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. Although his promotion shocked and divided some in the Episcopal community, it was a landmark move in the direction of tolerance and diversity. plannedparenthood.org spoke with Bishop Robinson about ways to reach common ground in a nation that seems to be increasingly divided.
Your predecessor called you "a symbol of unity." What do you think he was referring to?
The church — or any organization — can't speak for the world unless all voices are represented. And because there were no openly gay voices in the House of Bishops, for instance — just as, a number of years ago, there were no women — the church had a big blind spot. Unity is actually facilitated by having all the voices present.
With so much strife around issues like abortion and gay marriage, including within the Episcopal Church, how do you create common ground?
I'm doing everything I can to emphasize the ways in which we all share the same reality, though we live in a culture that thrives on polarization.
In the face of so much controversy over your ordination, where do you find the strength to continue your work?
At the Episcopal General Convention there was an 11th-hour effort to derail my confirmation. At the darkest moment, a friend brought me this little piece of calligraphy, which read, "Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes God lets the storm rage and calms his child." I try to live in a calm, quiet place while the storm rages around me. And frankly, it's my faith that allows me to do that.
Little has been written about your stance on reproductive rights. Are you pro-choice?
Absolutely. The reason I love the Episcopal Church is that it actually trusts us to be adults. In a world where everyone tries to paint things as black or white, Episcopalians feel pretty comfortable in the gray areas.
I'm sure there must be individual congregations, and certainly individuals, who are off the deep end about this issue, but for the most part, the stance that we have taken speaks to our people as a mature and adult way of dealing with this — that we protect a woman's right to choose but also say that obviously there are very deep things involved here.
So we encourage our folks to take this very private issue seriously. We urge them to talk to their priests about it and to think through all the questions they might have. And then we absolutely stand behind a woman's right to choose. I think that's a responsible place to be.
Has abortion been a divisive issue in your church?
Not really — surprisingly. From time to time it has come up, but the church has steadfastly resisted efforts to retract in any way our support for a woman's choice.
You've said, "We have allowed the conservative religious right to take our Bible hostage, and I think it's time we took it back." How can people who are both religious and progressive reclaim religion?
It's time that we re-familiarize ourselves with our sacred text, so that we can interpret it for the world, and not let the only voice that Americans hear from a Christian standpoint be those wildly conservative voices.
As a gay man, I find stories in both Hebrew and Christian scripture that have literally called me out. For instance, in the Passover story, I know what it's like to leave Egypt, or leave the closet. The ancient Israelites, instead of finding the Promised Land immediately, wandered the desert, and I know, too, that life doesn't immediately get better for you. At the same time, as a whole community, we're getting closer to the Promised Land all the time.
I think it's time we learn to tell those stories out of our own context again, so that people speaking biblically and from a place of faith are not just wild-eyed conservatives.
There is an alarming trend toward enforcing abstinence-only sex education, encouraging the teaching of creationism, discouraging stem cell research — all in an attempt to put ideology over science. How do you think religion and science intersect?
I don't find any disconnect between science and faith. There are ways of incorporating all of faith with all of what we know about science. [Right-wing politicians] and the so-called "pro-life" movement focus on all this as a great way to raise money, solidify their base, and get people all whipped up. If they can keep people whipped up about abortion, stem cell research, and gay marriage, then we don't have to talk about the things that really matter, like this illegal and immoral war in Iraq, the economy, the some 45 million people without health insurance in this country, and balancing the budget so that those least able to take care of themselves don't lose Medicaid. I think it was Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who called all of the folderol about gay marriage a "weapon of mass distraction." That's what I think is going on here. I don't find anything in scripture that says we shouldn't be doing these things.
I've been involved in AIDS education for both young people and adults for a long, long time, and I think it's cruel beyond belief to be advocating abstinence-only sex education.
This is the real disconnect — if you are against abortion, how can you not be for full and sufficient education about birth control? It's something that would stop unintended pregnancies to begin with.
It also exhibits a very low opinion of humankind. It says we can't make appropriate choices for ourselves, so somebody has to make those choices for us.
Any final thoughts?
Planned Parenthood is an organization that I have always admired and respected. It does such extraordinarily fine work, and I'm very happy to be associated with it.
The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson will be the keynote speaker at the Interfaith Prayer Breakfast to be held during the Planned Parenthood Annual Conference later this month.
Laura Lambert is a writer in the PPFA Digital Media Department.
most telling is now he redines himself.."as a gay man"..that's the overarching imprimateur of his life..NOT being a priest, obviously..
redines = defines..( sorry)
FYI..here ya go..Vicki Gene aleret..
Like he planned his own?
He most certainly is a piece of something.
I get it. He wants to interpret the Bible like judges interpret the law... in essence, to justify whatever he wants to do.
To paraphase the UCC's gay-friendly slogan: "Never place an intake where God placed an exhaust."
Well then Gene, let's not leave out the devil worshippers.
I OFTEN DO NOT COMMENT,HOWEVER I WANT TO GO VOMIT AT THIS TRASH.
GODSPEED!!!!!!!!!!
Translation; It's all about me.
These must be the "Chistian values" Howard Dean was talking about.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1380178/posts
Bays and abortionists both agree not to judge each other.
Voting Republican.
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Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15
The rump ridin' bishop talks to racist baby-killers. That's sure to produce sound theological thinking.
Well, like I said, the only things that homosexuals and pro-choicers agree on is to NOT judge each other.
"I'm a gay man, and the hell with my wife, my children, my Church, and my God. First things first."
You're not supposed to be speaking for the world. You're supposed to be no part of the world. Satan is the god of this system of things.
"it was a landmark move in the direction of tolerance..."
"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions.."
GK Chesterton
My thoughts exactly. Let's equate the liberation of God's chosen people from slavery with a gay coming out of the closet. How histrionic--but that would be perfectly within character, I'm sure.
I would not want to be in his shoes when the day of the Lord's reckoning comes to him....
Blessiings
What has Planned P{arenthood got to do with Homosexuals anyway. THEY CANT BREED. at least not naturally. Oh They can use turkey basters and substitutes but I dont think there are enough of them doing that whereby Planned Parenthood has to get into the act.No this isnt about Planned parenthood in the parenthood stage, its about shoving the liberal agenda down our throats, up our butts or wherever else the Homo's and the Socialists of Planned Parenthood shove things.
This man continues to amaze. (I don't mean that in a good way.)
His message is- abolish hetero sex and the need for abortions will go away.
Homosexual Agenda Ping.
Can't read this right now (maybe never...) so it's do it yourself comment time.
I'd say birds of a feather flock together, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
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"I, I, I, me, me, me, I'm gay, I'm gay, I'm gay, me, me, me."
And that sums up the "Right Reverend" bishop.
As a Catholic I can no longer respect the Episcopal Church if they choose to stand behind this man.
There is no effort on his part to even remotely consider what God thinks, which is clearly expressed in Holy Scripture.
For those Catholics who subscribe to organizations like Catholics for a Free Choice or We Are Church, this is the road down which they plan to take the Catholic Church. Both groups are filled with disgruntled dissidents and both seek to overturn 2000 years of teaching through the election of a pope sympathetic to their cause.
Pray with all your heart and soul for the Cardinals now gathered in Rome, that they will heed the Holy Spirit and select a man who will uphold the deposit of faith.
Catholic Ping
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Oh, yeah, he's a piece of something, alright.
So, the "offical" Episcopal position is that abortion is okay? Or just the Episcopal church of VickieGene?
Oy gevalt!
No wonder the pews are empty, with schmucks like this guy running things.
-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)
I thought Vicky Gene promised after his election to the Bishopric that his homosexuality was only a personal matter and he wouldn't emphasise it at all during his ministry.
Of course the issue of human life never enters into the issue of abortion. It's all just a matter of a woman's "choice". This tripe makes me sick! And embracing a life of open homosexual activity, i.e., a life dedicated to elevating a specific sin to the center of one's life, is supposed to be the equivalent of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt?????
This is what they put out front?
I hate to see it, but if this guy stays, the Episcopal Church is finished.
"As a Catholic I can no longer respect the Episcopal Church if they choose to stand behind this man."
As a former Episcopalian, I hope the Cardinals choose a pope who will stay the course laid out for him. For your sake and for everyones sake. If not, this is what can and will happen. Behold the freakshow and learn from it.
1. Must be using the PC (abomination) translation which has the line "Go and sin some more".
2. Sacrifices to Moloch required according to the PC (abomination) translation of the bible?
What do you expect from a church that began when a king wanted a divorce, but the Catholic Church wouldn't grant it? Start your own church. Make up your own rules.
No one misses a slice from a cut loaf. Once you start defining your own truth, where does it stop?
Christ wanted us to be one.
To quote a now Anglican priest (formerly Episcopalean) who comes in where I work - "They got me", in reference to his parish's change to Anglican. This is the progressives vision of the future of the Catholic Church with John Paul gone.
It's stuff like this that re-re-re-re-re-re-confirms my decision to leave the ECUSA. At this very moment, I couldn't be any happier to be Catholic.
Abortion isn't important, balancing the budget is. Sure.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who had the urge to slam a fist into the computer screen?
"To paraphase the UCC's gay-friendly slogan: "Never place an intake where God placed an exhaust.""
That's a good one.
If this man was a pastor or bishop in my church I would physically throw him out.
"Translation; It's all about me."
Didn't this non-man-of-God also compare his quest to become a bishop with Jesus' suffering and crucifiction?
Yup -the individual is wacko!!!
Shall wee pray. Come Holy Spirit Come. Spare us in Your Chastisement.
My wife and I are praying. If things went bad we don't know what we would do. We couldn't become Baptist after all the vitroil that has been sprayed on Catholics!
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