Rowan Williams Worries More about Gay Bishops than Murder

We knew it would come sooner than later. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, would surely issue a statement about our church’s consent to Mary Glasspool to serve as a bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

Mind you, he took weeks and weeks and months to speak out against legislation that would execute gay/lesbian people in Africa. Much pressure was exerted on him, and he ignored all that pressure. He said he needed to study the situation and be sensitive to it. He needed months to speak out against legislation that would authorize the murder of gay Christians in Africa. He said he was being sensitive to their cultural realities.

And how long did it take him to speak out against our election of a bishop in the U.S. who happens to be gay? Less than 24 hours. Ruth Gledhill has the story about his criticism against the Episcopal Church.

Months to speak about the African church murdering gay/lesbian Christians.

Less than 24 hours to excoriate the Episcopal Church for consenting to a bishop who happens to be lesbian.

So … what’s more important to Rowan Williams? Murder or an episcopal consecration? Obviously, it’s the latter. Murder of innocents is of no consequence to Rowan, compared to an election in Los Angeles.

I imagine this conversation:

Question: Archbishop, what do you think about the legislation in Africa that would sentence gay/lesbian people to death?
Rowan: Well … I have to respect their cultural context. We cannot impose our values upon the nations of Africa. I am working quietly, behind the scenes, to talk with our Anglican colleagues so that I can better understand their perspective. But they are responsible for the shape of the Anglican Communion in Africa.

Question: Archbishop, what do you think about the election of Mary Glasspool to be a bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles?
Rowan: Aargh! It’s the end of the Anglican Communion as We Have Known It! It may even be the end of Western Civilization! I may need to convene a special meeting of the Primates Council to address this!! This may be the end of the world. I need to smite those nasty Americans as soon as I can!

May God have mercy on his benighted soul. The man has absolutely no sense of perspective.