c. 2007 Religion News Service
Gay Bishop Says U.S. Church Should Reject Anglican Ultimatum
(RNS) The openly gay Episcopal bishop at the center of the Anglican debate over homosexuality said his church should reject demands to ban any more gay bishops and same-sex unions even if it leads to a break with the worldwide Anglican Communion.
“Does anyone believe that our full compliance with the … demands, our complete denunciation of our gay and lesbian members, or my removal as bishop would make all of this go away?!” Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire said in statement.
On Feb. 19, Anglican leaders, or primates, meeting in Tanzania demanded that the Episcopal Church promise not to elect any more openly gay bishops or bless same-sex unions. The bishops threatened the U.S. church with a reduced role in the 77 million-member communion if it refused to comply.
Robinson, who was elected in 2003, argued that decisions on electing bishops and same-sex unions could only be made by the full church at its next national assembly in 2009.
“This way forward may not be acceptable to many in the (Anglican) communion who want this settled now, once and for all,” Robinson said. “So be it. Nothing we do will settle this once and for all.”
A number of liberal bishops in the 2.2 million-member church have also taken issue with the primates’ demands, arguing that it is unjust to discriminate against gay and lesbian Episcopalians.
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has called for a season of “fasting” on gay bishops and same-sex blessings in the U.S. church.
But Robinson said “the fast” would be “a sacrifice borne most sacrificially by gay and lesbian members.”
“For the first time in its history, and at the hands of the larger (Anglican) Communion, the Episcopal Church may be experiencing a little taste of the irrational discrimination and exclusion that is an everyday experience of its gay and lesbian members,” he said.
_ Daniel Burke
Gay Groups Refute Dobson on Gay Parenting Claims
WASHINGTON (RNS) Conservative religious groups are distorting social science research to support their claims that gay parents cannot provide as good a home as heterosexual married couples, according to two gay rights groups.
Soulforce and Truth Wins Out convened reporters on Monday (Feb. 26) to refute claims made by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson in his Dec. 12 essay for Time magazine, “Two Mommies Is One Too Many.”
Dobson cited research on fathers by Kyle Pruett of Yale Medical School and on mothers by Carol Gilligan, an educational psychologist. He wrote that Gilligan had found “mothers tend to stress sympathy, grace and care to their children, while fathers accent justice, fairness and duty.”
Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, said Pruett and Gilligan were “mortified” about the way their research was “distorted” in Dobson’s article.
Gilligan, in a YouTube video produced by Truth Wins Out, said she was “stunned” to find Dobson quoting her research. “It’s such a simplification, and, really, caricature of my work,” Gilligan said. “It’s certainly not in the spirit of science.”
Judith Stacey, a New York University professor in sociology and gender studies, said Dobson’s article drew on research that compared children raised by two heterosexual parents with children raised by one heterosexual parent, not children raised by gay parents.
Stacey said distorted research often gets picked up by mainstream newspaper columnists or even judges writing court opinions.
But Carrie Gordon Earll, a spokeswoman for Focus on the Family, denied that Dobson had misused Pruett’s and Gilligan’s research.
“Soulforce is using this to try and discredit pro-family organizations,” she said.
“You can’t choose who quotes you,” Earll added. “If you have written work and it is out in the public square, as long as it’s not being plagiarized and misrepresented in authorship, there isn’t very much you can say about that.”
_ Katherine Boyle
Beliefnet Awards Go to `Children of Men,’ `An Inconvenient Truth’
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Beliefnet Film Awards are in, and the winners are … not necessarily on the Oscar list.
The Beliefnet awards select the best spiritual film, performance and documentary of 2006. Each category had two winners, one named by a panel of judges and the other chosen by visitors to Beliefnet.com.
The judges chose “Children of Men” as the year’s best spiritual film, although the movie didn’t even get an Academy Award nomination for best motion picture. Instead, “The Departed,” took home the Oscar in that category.
“Children of Men” tells the story of a young woman who becomes pregnant in an infertile world.
Beliefnet.com visitors chose “The Pursuit of Happyness,” the story of a homeless man and his son trying to get off the streets of San Francisco, as their favorite spiritual film. They also said the film’s star, Will Smith, gave the year’s best spiritual performance.
But the judges sided with the Academy in the best performance category, naming Jennifer Hudson, of “Dreamgirls.” Hudson won a supporting actress Oscar for her role as Effie White.
The panel’s choice for best spiritual documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” also coincided with the Academy’s selection. The documentary featuring former Vice President Al Gore is a cautionary tale about the burgeoning problem of global warming.
However, the People’s Award for documentary went to “Shakespeare Behind Bars,” about the unique gifts and talents of prisoners in a Kentucky correctional facility.
Judges included a number of Beliefnet contributors and editors, as well as the directors of SpiritualityandPractice.com, the director of the Reel Spirituality Institute, Yahoo.com’s “Movie Mom,” the film and TV columnist for St. Anthony Messenger, and the film critic for Liguorian magazine.
(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)
2007 Beliefnet Film Awards
Best Spiritual Film:
Judges Award: “Children of Men”
People’s Award: “The Pursuit of Happyness”
Best Spiritual Performance:
Judges Award: Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”
People’s Award: Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”
Best Spiritual Documentary:
Judges Award: “An Inconvenient Truth”
People’s Award: “Shakespeare Behind Bars”
_ Katherine Boyle
U.S., Israeli Lawmakers Launch `Christian Allies Caucus’
WASHINGTON (RNS) Lawmakers on Capitol Hill hope a new “Christian Allies Caucus” will show bipartisan support for Israel and work with U.S. “churches and Christian groups” to support Israel.
“It is important for people to see that the fight in the Middle East is not just a fight that should concern Jewish people,” Rep. Elliot Engel, D-N.Y., co-founder of the caucus, said. “It’s a fight that should concern Christians as well.”
Caucus co-founder Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., said the “very perilous times” in the Middle East merit a unified response from both the U.S. and Israel for the “safety and security” of both countries.
A similar caucus is being organized in the Israeli Knesset, or parliament.
During the U.S. group’s first meeting on Capitol Hill, Engel highlighted the threat of Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict. “It has to be very important that we stand up to Iran and say that we will not sit idly by and allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons,” he said.
Rabbi Binyamin Elon, a member of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, said he believes most rank-and-file Americans are “with Israel in their hearts.”
“We have to understand that we have to be united,” Elon said at a briefing for reporters.
_ Melissa Stee
Quote of the Day: Union University Dean Greg Thornbury of Jackson, Tenn.
(RNS) “Let us not too quickly abandon the Baptist ship. It may not be the Good Ship Lollipop, but it is the best vessel that we have. Stay on board.”
_ Greg Thornbury, dean of Union University’s school of Christian studies, speaking on “The `Angry Young Men’ of the SBC” at a recent Baptist identity conference at his Jackson, Tenn., school. Quoted by Baptist Press, he was urging young pastors not to give up on the Southern Baptist Convention.
KRE/LF END RNS
