The following news as reported by David Virtue shows, if reported correctly, that we do have a few Bishops who can see with clarity the problems besetting the Anglican Movement:
UK: Bishop of Rochester Says Instruments of Unity Have Failed the Anglican Communion
By David W. Virtuewww.virtueonline.org 1/27/2009
The Evangelical Bishop of Rochester, England, The Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, says the Instruments of Unity have failed the Anglican Communion.
The bishop singled out the Lambeth Conference as the worst offender when questioned at the recent Mere Anglican Conference in Charleston, SC, a gathering of theologians, clergy and concerned laity over the drift of the Anglican Communion, the rise of an aggressive Islam and the weakness of contemporary Christianity to confront it.
"On what possible basis, based on Acts 2:42 ("And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers"), can we have communion and where can we pray together when the apostles teaching is not upheld? In certain circumstances, it is not possible to have Acts 2:42. It is impossible to have it (communion).
"Singling out the Lambeth Conference, Bishop Nazir-Ali said the Windsor Report specifically asked that those who participated in the ordination and consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson not be present at the Anglican gathering. "Despite this, they were invited to the Anglican Consultative Council meeting and they were the dominant presence. They were then invited to the Lambeth Conference."
"I asked why were they invited. I have not ever been given a satisfactory response. My concern is about those who laid hands on him. I am being responsible in asking that question. Of course I am willing to sit with people who differ. The Lambeth Conference is the closest thing we have to a Magisterium. I could not gather Eucharistically to teach the common faith. I have attended two Lambeth conferences, 1988 and 1998. It would have been my third conference. However (in conscience) I could not be present.
"On marriage and the family, Nazir-Ali said, "Human sexuality is a first order issue because it is at the heart of the anthropology of the Bible. God created man and woman and they fulfill this common mission in this particular way. Marriage and the family...this teaching about the way men and women should behave is found throughout the bible.
"Bishop Nazir-Ali said Muslim women like the Christian teaching on marriage because it affords them safety and protection. "Marriage is a Sacrament of Christ to his church...that is why it must always be a first order issue." Calling the process of secularity and secularization a "double jeopardy", the bishop said they are related in such a way that affects our very survival.
"From the European and British point of view, communities have become segregated and isolated from one another. When you consider that northern Europe before Christianity consisted of mutually warring and hostile tribes, without the arrival of Christianity Britain would not have been a nation."
"The Christian Faith is the golden chain of social harmony of Europe and Britain. The Decalogue influenced the emergence of laws and institutions. The Enlightenment brought an evangelical consensus that said you could not enslave people and save people at the same time."The bishop ripped the present state of affairs in England saying, "Religion has stopped being a force in popular culture it had nothing to do with the elites. Politicians do not command enough respect to withstand the enormous challenges in the world."
"What are we going to do? Is it possible for the West and Europe to recover the Judeo-Christian discourse in its public life?
"We find overtly and covertly that there is an appeal to the tradition that has been set aside. Is there any situation of a living human where personhood is no longer attached to its human entity? Personhood can never been taken away. It is part of the Judeo-Christian image. Our nation needs Christian values."
The Bishop said faith can be a persuasive force, but not have a coercive place in public life. "We are not a theocracy. We want societies where public law has integrity and autonomy and has access to it. In England the Police don't go into certain areas where Muslims dominate so Muslim women don't get the same protection as women in other parts of the country. Religious communities should be able to practice their faith in their own integrity.
"What we need in the business of law making is increasing respect for conscience. Britain has a long respect for conscience. In recent legislation this has been neglected and denied and provision not been made for Christian believers. If we are going to have a strong tradition of public law we must respect conscience.
"Secularization and secularity are a reality, but we can see that in conducting the life of the nation today we still need the Judeo-Christian tradition to guide the nation. To be absolutely clear without it we have a serious threat of totalitarianism on one side or the other."
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