J
jay29
Guest
In part:**
Interviewer:** Little has been written about your stance on reproductive rights. Are you pro-choice?
**
“Bishop” Gene Robinson, Episcopal Church: **Absolutely. The reason I love the Episcopal Church is that it actually trusts us to be adults. In a world where everyone tries to paint things as black or white, Episcopalians feel pretty comfortable in the gray areas.
I’m sure there must be individual congregations, and certainly individuals, who are off the deep end about this issue, but for the most part, the stance that we have taken speaks to our people as a mature and adult way of dealing with this - that we protect a woman’s right to choose but also say that obviously there are very deep things involved here.
So we encourage our folks to take this very private issue seriously. We urge them to talk to their priests about it and to think through all the questions they might have. And then we absolutely stand behind a woman’s right to choose. I think that’s a responsible place to be.
**Interviewer: Has abortion been a divisive issue in your church?
**
“Bishop” Gene Robinson, Episcopal Church: Not really - surprisingly. From time to time it has come up, but the church has steadfastly resisted efforts to retract in any way our support for a woman’s choice.
You’ve said, “We have allowed the conservative religious right to take our Bible hostage, and I think it’s time we took it back.” How can people who are both religious and progressive reclaim religion?
It’s time that we re-familiarize ourselves with our sacred text, so that we can interpret it for the world, and not let the only voice that Americans hear from a Christian standpoint be those wildly conservative voices.
As a gay man, I find stories in both Hebrew and Christian scripture that have literally called me out. For instance, in the Passover story, I know what it’s like to leave Egypt, or leave the closet. The ancient Israelites, instead of finding the Promised Land immediately, wandered the desert, and I know, too, that life doesn’t immediately get better for you. At the same time, as a whole community, we’re getting closer to the Promised Land all the time.
I think it’s time we learn to tell those stories out of our own context again, so that people speaking biblically and from a place of faith are not just wild-eyed conservatives.
virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7312
The Episcopal Candy Bar:
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/12/1206_transfats/image/candybar.jpg
A hard outer shell that looks “Catholic” in it’s liturgy (if you ignore the female priestesses) and on the inside the soft and gooey doctrines that will rot your soul away.
Thanks whoever came up with this analogy!
Interviewer:** Little has been written about your stance on reproductive rights. Are you pro-choice?
**
“Bishop” Gene Robinson, Episcopal Church: **Absolutely. The reason I love the Episcopal Church is that it actually trusts us to be adults. In a world where everyone tries to paint things as black or white, Episcopalians feel pretty comfortable in the gray areas.
I’m sure there must be individual congregations, and certainly individuals, who are off the deep end about this issue, but for the most part, the stance that we have taken speaks to our people as a mature and adult way of dealing with this - that we protect a woman’s right to choose but also say that obviously there are very deep things involved here.
So we encourage our folks to take this very private issue seriously. We urge them to talk to their priests about it and to think through all the questions they might have. And then we absolutely stand behind a woman’s right to choose. I think that’s a responsible place to be.
**Interviewer: Has abortion been a divisive issue in your church?
**
“Bishop” Gene Robinson, Episcopal Church: Not really - surprisingly. From time to time it has come up, but the church has steadfastly resisted efforts to retract in any way our support for a woman’s choice.
You’ve said, “We have allowed the conservative religious right to take our Bible hostage, and I think it’s time we took it back.” How can people who are both religious and progressive reclaim religion?
It’s time that we re-familiarize ourselves with our sacred text, so that we can interpret it for the world, and not let the only voice that Americans hear from a Christian standpoint be those wildly conservative voices.
As a gay man, I find stories in both Hebrew and Christian scripture that have literally called me out. For instance, in the Passover story, I know what it’s like to leave Egypt, or leave the closet. The ancient Israelites, instead of finding the Promised Land immediately, wandered the desert, and I know, too, that life doesn’t immediately get better for you. At the same time, as a whole community, we’re getting closer to the Promised Land all the time.
I think it’s time we learn to tell those stories out of our own context again, so that people speaking biblically and from a place of faith are not just wild-eyed conservatives.
virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7312
The Episcopal Candy Bar:
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/12/1206_transfats/image/candybar.jpg
A hard outer shell that looks “Catholic” in it’s liturgy (if you ignore the female priestesses) and on the inside the soft and gooey doctrines that will rot your soul away.
Thanks whoever came up with this analogy!
