A Stitch in Haste

Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England (a.k.a. Episcopalians in the U.S.; Anglicans in the rest of the world) have ratcheted up their anti-gay histrionics over the past several days:

ITEM: The head of the global Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, issued an Advent letter to worldwide Anglican and Episcopalian bishops "warning" that gay and gay-friendly laity are in essence "writing off" the Church of England. Some gay activists, however, are reading between the lines and interpreting the letter as meaning that, since gay Anglicans are leaving the Church anyway, that Anglicans needn't worry about appeasing them and should feel free to cater to more conservative elements within the Church.

Recall that the worldwide Anglican Church is facing a global schism regarding the recent ordination of an openly gay Episcopalian bishop (who, incidentally, has graciously offered to forego participation in, or even attendance at, an upcoming decennial global Anglican conference where the subject of his ordination is at the top of the agenda-- even though it is longstanding Church tradition to invite all bishops to such meetings).

ITEM: Meanwhile, the Supreme Bigot, Pope John Paul II, continues his war against gays and warns that gays may destroy the very fabric of society:

In his strongest words on the subject yet the 84-year old pontiff's pre-Christmas message called on Catholics around the world to step up their opposition to gay marriage. "Attacks on marriage and the family, from an ideological and legal aspect, are becoming stronger and more radical every day," his statement said. "Who destroys this fundamental fabric causes a profound injury to society and provokes often irreparable damage."

Of course, what can get easily lost in the indignation at these alleged "Christians" who prioritize hate and false blame over love and inclusiveness is that these acts are not unrelated. It is not just "Anglican versus Gay" or "Catholic versus Gay." The real battle is in fact "Anglican versus Catholic" -- with gays merely finding themselves caught in the crossfire.

The reason, as I have blogged before (twice in fact), is Africa. The Anglican and Catholic Churches are in a rather fierce contest to win the hearts and minds of African Christians. Whichever sect wins Africa wins Christianity for a century or more. Since Africa has a long, deep and wide homophobia that transcends its more recent Christian ties, the anti-gay pandering by Catholic and Anglican leaders is nothing more than "preaching to the choir." And no amount of protesting by the "uppity American gay" laity in either sect is going to change that -- the two Churches' American members are simply not part of the calculus right now.

On the Anglican side, the likely outcome is a formal break by (or banishment of) the U.S. Episcopal Church. As for American Catholics, they have their own problems right now and generally don't take the Pope seriously anyway.

For more details and reactions, see Ramblings.