Help Persuade Bishop Nazir-Ali to Answer Three Questions

Bishop Nazir-Ali Assaults the Way We Love, then Ignores Mothership’s Three Questions

Bishop Nazir-Ali has ingnored Mothership's three questions...so far

Scroll down to email the Bishop yourself and help persuade him to answer our three questions.

So the Bishop of Rochester thinks that gay people should “…repent, and be changed“, right?

Well kind of.  Suddenly yesterday after all the hoo-ha in the press about his interview in the Sunday Telegraph Bishop Nazir-Ali has issued a statement, in which he appears to water down the comments he made.

Hmmm - well, they don’t seem to be diluted that much!  Here’s what he says now:

“On being pressed as to whether this included homosexuals, I said something to the effect that yes, we all need to repent when we fall short of God’s will and be transformed.”

Nothing’s changed – he’s just dressed up his homophobic comments in fancier words.

So, we asked the Bishop of Rochester three questions to try to get to the bottom of what, exactly, he proposes for gay people:

1  Do you believe gay sexual orientation can be permanently changed to straight, and if so how?
 
2 If gay people’s sexual orientation cannot be changed, then do you think homosexuals should never practice homosexual sex, and if so is that realistic or fair?
 
3 Are private homosexual thoughts sinful, even if we were to stop having gay sex?

The Bishop of Rochester assaults the way we love

Despite asking our three questions three times no reply is forthcoming, except for the statement he already gave.  I bet if we’d asked Jesus, we’d have got a reply!

Seriously though, it is so easy to come out and say sweeping theological statements like this.  But, let’s look at what he’s saying.  Let’s look at the practical nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts of his point of view.

The Bishop says we must change or be ‘transformed’.  What does he mean by that?  Is he suggesting millions of us magically start fancying girls?  That we stop feeling attracted to other guys?  Or we go on one of those dubious american courses to ‘cure’ us of being gay?  Who pays for it?  What happens when it doesn’t work? 

The fact is our sexual orientation cannot be influenced in this way.  Its power, and complexity, and beauty, is beyond external influence like this.  We can’t help who we fancy, or which gender they are!  That is the nature, and wonder, of sexual attraction.

Then we come on to the ’sin’ bit.  Presumably if it is a sin, the bishop would believe we should stop doing it, right? 

So is he seriously suggesting that we don’t have sex for the rest of our lives (assuming we can’t be ‘cured’ of our homosexual feelings)?  How unfair is that?  How unrealistic is that?  That as gay people we should be forever denied sexual fulfilment, sexual love, romantic love and expression of our true selves?  That we should endure a life frought with sexual frustration and loneliness?

Gay teenagers are 4 times more likely to commit suicide. Unlike the Bishop, Shaun Dykes won't get to see his retirement.

Finally, what of the Church’s responsibility to homosexuals?  How many gay people are alienated from having any kind of relationship with God, or any kind of spirituality whatsoever, because they are so put off religion by Church representatives like Bishop Nazir-Ali being so hostile to the way we love?  Thousands.  Millions probably.

So, we wait with baited breath to see if Mothership’s three questions get answered.

It simply isn’t right that Bishop Nazir-Ali can make sweeping statements that condemn the way gay people live their lives.  He must qualify his comments with practical information that explains how his proposals would affect gay people in the real world - not in waffling theological philosophy.  That’s what our three questions aim to do.  When we know the answers to them, we’ll have a much stronger understanding of his point of view.

And maybe, just maybe, he will too.

By David Abrehart

© Copyright 2009.  All rights reserved.

UPDATE 26 July 2009

No news at all from the Bishop!  Frankly, it was always a long shot.

A lot of guys have emailed the Bishop, and it looks like most have used their own words too rather than our standard letter (below) - a sign of their strength of feeling.  A common thread through all the messages we’ve received is the profound hurt caused by the anti-gay elements in the Church, turning many gay guys away from religion altogether.

It isn’t too late to email Bishop Nazir-Ali - he doesn’t retire until September.  These three questions go to the HEART of this debate - making Bishop Nazir-Ali confront the practical realities of his point of view. 

Help Persuade Bishop Nazir-Ali Answer the Three Questions

Would you like Bishop Nazir-Ali to answer Mothership’s three questions? Email him via his chaplain, Canon Tony Smith at

tony.smith@rochester.anglican.org

If you don’t have time to write your own words you can copy and paste this email:

Dear Bishop Nazir-Ali

I do not agree with your views that I should repent for the way I love, or be changed or transformed.

Please could you answer the Mothership Blog’s three questions so I can understand your point of view better.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

(Your name)

Hurry though…he is standing down as bishop in September 2009

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