what the church is really about

Once again the Church of England and its many sister congregations around the world seem set to tear themselves apart. The Christian church bears the name of Christ and allegedly models itself on the teachings of Christ. Curiously though, the things that you would expect to matter on the evidence of Christ's teaching, such as poverty, war, torture, corruption, the destruction of the planet (God's creation), globalisation, intolerance, hate, etc., etc. never seem to set Christian pulses racing quite as much sexuality and gender. The latest schism or possibly schisms is or are founded on two distantly related themes. One is homosexuality and the ordination of gay bishops in the States; the other is women and the ordination of women bishops in the United Kingdom. These are the matters that the Church really cares about. The oddest thing about, say, the homosexual debate is that the Bible barely mentions homosexuality; Jesus doesn't, that's for sure, and everything in his teaching suggests that, unlike many of today's Christians, he would have been compassionate and inclusive. In order to get an anti-gay message from the Bible, you really have to dig for it and make personal decisions about fiercely debated language and stories, and while you're digging you conveniently overlook matters on which the Bible doesn't hold back, including:

• DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21
  If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately.
• DEUTERONOMY 22:22
  If a married person has sex with someone else's husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned to death.
• MARK 10:1-12
  Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced.
• LEVITICUS 18:19
  The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual intercourse during a woman's period. If they disobey, both shall be executed.
• MARK 12:18-27
  If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until she bears her deceased husband a male heir.
• DEUTERONOMY 25:11-12
  If a man gets into a fight with another man and his wife seeks to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy's genitals, her hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her.

(from the site What the Bibles says - And Doesn't Say - About Homosexuality)

The sad truth about the Church is that its subtext is more important than its publicly proclaimed text. This subtext over many centuries has been the subjugation of women and the control of people's sexuality. Merged with this is the homophobia and misogyny of those now opposed to the presence of gays, lesbians and women bishops.

Let's not automatically respect the Church. By all means give credit to members who genuinely mean and do good, but let's name the rest for what they are: dishonest, deeply flawed, and an open inducement to every cruelty and neurosis in the human psyche.