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Episcopal Church Lifts Ban on Gay Bishops

Deeper rift with conservatives looms

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 15, 2009 5:54 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Leaders of the Episcopal Church voted overwhelmingly yesterday to allow the ordination of gay and lesbian bishops, risking further fissures with conservative parishes and the Anglican Communion. The new policy reverses a 2006 compromise that prohibited the consecration of homosexual clergy, in line with other Anglican churches. Episcopalians will vote on blessing same-sex unions in the coming days, reports the Los Angeles Times.

"I'm simply delighted at the possibility that another diocese will recognize the gifts of a gay or lesbian clergy person," said Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire. "I long for the day when someone who shares my experience as an openly gay bishop joins me in the House of Bishops. It has been lonely."

Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, speaks in the House of Bishops at the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, July 13, 2009.
Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, speaks in the House of Bishops at the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, July 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson is photographed in a Oct. 1, 2005 file photo, in Concord, N.H.
Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson is photographed in a Oct. 1, 2005 file photo, in Concord, N.H.   (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)
Katherine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church, at Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Katherine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church, at Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury.   (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the U.S. Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, right, shakes hands with Mo Baxley in the gallery of Representatives Hall in the State house after lawmakers voted in favor of gay marriage in Concord, N.H., Wednesday, June 3, 2009.
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the U.S. Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, right, shakes hands with Mo Baxley in the gallery of Representatives Hall in the State house after lawmakers voted in...   (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
The Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, listens as lawmkers debate gay marriage on the House floor in Concord, NH, Wednesday, June 3, 2009.
The Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, listens as lawmkers debate gay marriage on the House floor in Concord, NH, Wednesday, June 3, 2009.   (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 26 comments
Snarfeh
Jul 16, 2009 11:04 AM CDT
Oh yeah...and for the Goldilocks zones, credit to "Parallel Worlds" by Michio Kaku - Professor of theoretical physics at the City University of NY and cofounder of string theory.
Snarfeh
Jul 16, 2009 11:02 AM CDT
There is no fucking way, in my opinion, this all happened via a big bang, unless the big bang was God farting. I believe in God or a higher consciousness or higher intelligence or whatever one wants to call it, but I believe it is so far advanced that the Bible's many stories are pitiable attempts by mankind, an early unadvanced mankind, to explain how it was done. Dirt and Bones! Your god is weak if dirt and bones are needed to create human beings. Remember, Genesis said God said "Let there be..." to create the world. So, after just essentially saying "make it so," your God has to scratch up a little dirt to create man & then steal one of his bones to create woman? How stupid is that? Are you even aware that the same number of ribs can be found in both men & women? Man, I really feel bad for you. I honestly do. There's no help for fundies. None a'tall.
Snarfeh
Jul 16, 2009 10:59 AM CDT
#5 - Earth is in the Goldilocks zone of the Milky Way Galaxy, about 2/3's of the way from the center. If the solar system were too close to the galactic center, where a known black hole lurks, the radiation field would be so intense that life could not have been sustainable on earth. Too far away and there would not be enough higher elements to even create life. Astronomers Peter Ward & Donald Brownlee have posited that we live within even more Goldilocks zones. They recite an incredible list of ways the earth has "just the right" amount of oceans, plate tectonics, oxygen content, heat content, tilt of the axis, and so on to create and support intelligent life.
US

 
Episcopal Church • Anglican Church • Gene Robinson • Christian conservatives • Episcopalian • clergy • bishop • homosexual clergy • gay

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