Jesus supports gay rights, say S.African Anglicans
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jesus supports gay rights, say S.African Anglicans*
By Rebecca Harrison and Itumeleng Seakamela
Reuters
Tuesday, October 24, 2006; 12:59 PM
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters Life!) - When Anglican priest Jo Mdhlela preached
his first sermon espousing equal rights for gays and lesbians, he was
met with puzzled frowns by many in his conservative African congregation.
But despite opposition in his mostly black church near Johannesburg,
Mdhlela hopes to persuade his flock that being Christian does not mean
rejecting gays -- contrasting with most clergy on the continent, who
believe homosexuality is sinful and un-African.
"Jesus is challenging churches," the green-robed cleric told his
congregation in English, helped by an interpreter at his side who
translated his message into the local Zulu and Sotho languages.
"Jesus is saying if you said apartheid was unjust then you must say laws
discriminating against homosexual people are unjust."
South Africa's Anglican church has long nurtured a liberal tradition
that sets it apart from its more conservative and mostly evangelical
counterparts on the poorest continent, one bolstered by its opposition
to white minority rule.
That split has been magnified by the debate over the role of gays and
lesbians in the church -- an issue which threatens to split the
worldwide Anglican church and has pitted those in developing countries
against liberals in the West.
South Africa backs the official Anglican line that gay priests may be
ordained as long as they remain celibate. But Archbishop Njongonkulu
Ndungane has distanced himself from conservative African bishops who say
being gay is wrong.
His famed predecessor Desmond Tutu said he was "ashamed to be Anglican"
when the church rejected proposals to reform its stance on gay clergy in
1998, according to a new biography, and has compared homophobia to
apartheid.
Compare that to comments by Lagos Archbishop Peter Akinola, Africa's
leading opponent of gay clergy: "I personally think that this is an
attack on the Church of God, a Satanic attack.
"I cannot think of how a man in his senses would be having a sexual
relationship with another man. It is so unnatural, so unscriptural. Even
in the world of animals, dogs, cows, lions, we don't hear of such things."
APARTHEID LEGACY
The difference in approach between South African Anglicans and their
counterparts on the continent is in part explained by the history of
Anglican missionaries in Africa.
The early Anglican missionaries to Nigeria and much of East Africa came
from largely evangelical backgrounds and taught a more literal
interpretation of the Bible. Some missionaries to South Africa came from
another branch of the Anglican church, which has since taken a more
liberal view of homosexuality.
South African Anglicans are a virtually lone liberal voice among
Christians at home, with the country's Catholic church and most
evangelicals firmly opposed to a bill which is set to make the country
Africa's first to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Anglican church's role as a vociferous critic of apartheid under
Tutu cemented its liberal credentials and focused its theology around
issues of social justice rather than personal morality. It also forged
strong links with U.S. Anglicans -- the global church's most liberal wing.
"The length and intensity of the struggle for liberation in South Africa
forced theologians to very deeply think through fundamental issues,"
South African journalist John Allen, Tutu's biographer and former press
secretary, told Reuters.
But not all Anglicans in Southern Africa subscribe to the liberal
leanings of its leadership. Anglican Mainstream, a group that urges
orthodox interpretation of scripture, says ties with the U.S. church are
too strong and do not reflect the views of ordinary Anglicans in South
Africa.
"Strong links (with the U.S. church) formed in the 1980s were good at
the time but have tied us to them in an unhealthy way," said Anglican
Mainstream spokesman Canon Dave Doveton. "At the grassroots we are very
different from the Americans. We are an African church and we should be
identifying with Africa."