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Anglican Church Bars Gay Bishop From Once-In-A-Decade Meeting

By Robert Paul Reyes

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was ridiculed when he assured an American audience that there are no gays in Iran.

In America we are more accepting of gays and lesbians, and we recognize that there are gays in every realm of society: Politics, business, sports, military and religion.

But we still have a long way to go to rid society of homophobia. Homosexuals in the military have to stay in the closet, most religions discriminate against them, and if a presidential candidate announced that he was gay, he would have no chance of winning.

Homophobia is entrenched in religion, most major faith consider homosexuals sinners destined for hell.

Here is an example from today's newspaper of the discrimination that gays in the church face:

"The first openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop was barred from a once-a-decade Anglican meeting so he wouldn't become a focus of the global event.
Anglicans on all sides of the issue agree: The strategy has backfired.

New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson has been embraced by sympathetic Anglicans in England and Scotland who view his exclusion as an affront to their Christian beliefs.

Robinson plans several appearances on the outskirts of the Lambeth Conference to be what he called a 'constant and friendly' reminder of gays in the church."

Quotation from the Associated Press

The Anglicans are as clueless as Iranian President Ahmadinejad, they would like to pretend that there are no gays in the church. Not only are there gays in the church, but many of them are clergy.

It gives me hope that openly gay Bishop Robinson has been embraced by some Anglican leaders.

Can anyone imagine Jesus Christ holding a meeting and barring homosexuals? Jesus had an inclusive ministry, and he welcomed those who were discriminated against. Fundamentalists preach thousands of sermons against homosexuals, but Jesus never (ever) said one word about homosexuality.

Pundits, reporters and everyday Americans ridiculed Ahmadinejad when he claimed there are no gays in Iran, why isn't the American intelligentsia condemning the intolerant views of the Anglican church?

The Anglican leaders of the Lambeth Conference need to open their dusty Bibles and learn about the peace, compassion and love of Jesus Christ. They need to publicly apologize for their insensitivity, and welcome their gay brother to their meeting.

Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.