[Magdalen] TEC suspended from Anglican Communion

[Sally Davies]

Ummm...please don't do that.

Some of us are caught in the middle of all this and yet value the Communion
highly despite it's clear history of and links to British Empire building.

As to the "roots", I'm not sure that Islam pressure is a major factor at
the grassroots in the African churches. The societies at large are
intensely homophobic and not necessarily on religious grounds (Marxists
like Mugabe are as well).

So, I'm fairly sure that the GAFCON stance has little to do with popular
pressure in Islamic regions, where people are too busy struggling to
survive and where terrorism has become a constant threat.

A lot of money is involved in complex ways, both State-side and in oil rich
African countries. And I mean a LOT. One of Nigeria's richest men is the
pastor of a church...so if there is Africa-based pressure on Anglican
leaders, it's probably coming from conservative/Pentecostal denominations
who will not scruple to attack on those grounds from very public pulpits.

This resonates with issues in North America where Pentecostalism (of a
debased type) has also become the goose that lays the golden eggs.

It's just a version of "sheep stealing" on an international canvas.

As to the roots of homophobia in Africa? Psychologically, very deep waters
there, to do with colonialism, imperialism, slavery, poverty, disease and
war as these have impacted the sense that African men have of their own
identity and role.  Take slavery as an example: masculine identity is both
validated - the most physically powerful and fit fetch the highest price -
and in the same token wiped out.

Or here in South Africa our peculiarly toxic racial capitalism - the
strongest men were the ones who could go to Johanesburg to the mines,
leaving family life behind except for occasional appearances bearing what
to a rural family is a large amount of cash. They would be treated like
gods at home, but like crap at work; and far too many would eventually be
brought home broken by industrial injuries or diseases like TB and (later
on) HIV.

These destructive influences were brought to bear on cultures that were
already intensely patriarchal (with a few exceptions) but in which women
had developed spaces in which they could assert a different way of life,
along with a fragile balance of power relations that allowed children to
grow up with a balanced self-image and respect for others (the famous
"Ubuntu" which really does exist even if not as common as we might Ike to
think).

The results include not only sexual insecurity and violence, but loss of a
broader moral compass, most evident in organised crime, gangsterism, the
drug trade and (most ironically) human trafficking. Social elites
participate in this debased culture, and institutions that are hierarchical
such as the Anglican Church, inadvertently invite their leaders to behave
like tribal chiefs and monarchs.

We are so very blessed here in South Africa to have so many examples of
humble, spiritual Bishops and Archbishops in both Catholic and Anglican
churches, and I think (now, for the first time) that if it were not for
them, our church might be just like those further North. Not that gay
marriage is remotely acceptable here, we are just beginning this
conversation but at least we are beginning it.

The fear of homosexuality in Africa, almost entirely focused on male
homosexuality as long as lesbians remain discreet, features a horror of
both sexual emasculation and loss of male authority in family and society.
Women's ordination and equality are mirror issues, and to my way of
thinking we will not see changes in attitudes towards GBLT until we have
seen changes in attitudes towards/beliefs about women.

Wasn't that also the order of change in the US, Canada and the U.K.?

Sally D



On Thursday, 14 January 2016, M J _Mike_ Logsdon <mjl at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> Just consider it an unfinished part of the American Revolution.
>