Sat 14 May 2016 In: Our Communities View at Wayback View at NDHA
On Thursday the Anglican Church’s governing body in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia effectively decided to continue to ignore the lives and relationships of sexual and gender minorities, and to hope we would go away. Well, what actually happened was a little more complicated than that, but that is the essence of the decision. Why is this important? Well, if you’re not an Anglican, or a Christian, or a person of faith generally, it isn’t important. Marriage equality will continue in New Zealand with or without the Anglican Church, the sun will still rise and set, and life will go on as usual for most people. Sexual and gender minorities will look at each other, shrug their shoulders, and continue to ignore what is clearly an out of touch, out of date institution that is the legacy of British colonialism in these islands. The complexity of Anglican polity is part of what has made decisions about the inclusion of sexual and gender minority people, and marriage equality, so difficult for that church. I have been an ordained priest for 35 years, and the various branches of the Anglican Church have been discussing—and failing to agree about— sexuality for at least that long. This is not the place to recall that history. Two years ago at its General Synod the New Zealand church issued a general ‘apology’ to gay people. That apology reads: “Over many years our Church has become increasingly aware of the pain of the LGBT community. All too often our Church has been complicit in homophobic thinking and actions of society, and has failed to speak out against hatred and violence against those with same-gender attraction. We apologise unreservedly and commit ourselves to reconciliation and prophetic witness.” Then it said that under certain conditions they would ‘recognise’ same-sex relationships, and appointed a group of people to develop a ritual where an Anglican priest who believed in marriage equality could bless the relationship of same-sex couples who were already legally married (but was definitely not marriage). That same General Synod also specifically reiterated the ‘traditional doctrine’ of marriage as “between a man and a woman, and is life-long and monogamous”. It is very important to be clear that at no point were sexual or gender minorities a part of these decisions, and openly identified gay people were specifically excluded from being any part of this committee or its consultations. Apparently apologies only go so far. Much fuss was made that these decisions at the synod were unanimous, but it is easy to be unanimous when you have excluded anyone who might disagree with you. It was the report of this appointed committee that was presented to the General Synod in Napier a few days ago, and which was ultimately rejected. The reasons it was rejected are complicated and political, and have, in my view, absolutely nothing to do with the Bible or Christian faith. There is no legitimate foundation in the Judaeo-Christian scripture (that is, the Bible) for what are called ‘traditional’ understandings of marriage and family: Abraham had two wives; David and Solomon had hundreds of wives and concubines; Joseph and Mary were unmarried when she became pregnant; Jesus, the disciples and Paul were (as far as we can tell) unmarried and unpartnered. There is no single ‘biblical’ understanding of marriage, and Christian marriage traditions have been shaped by their social contexts throughout history. The changing roles of women have contributed to those evolving understandings, and the acceptance of divorce and remarriage as part of the human condition are a reflection of how ‘traditions’ of marriage do indeed change. The reasons for this recent outcome have to do with power and control. Who is going to control the Anglican Church in New Zealand, which is, by most accounts, gasping its way to extinction? A group of conservative clergy threatened to leave the church if the General Synod accepted marriage equality (please do!). What is very disappointing is how two women bishops in New Zealand have been so outspoken in their opposition to marriage equality. How quickly they have forgotten how they owe their positions to how much the church has changed in their lifetimes. My colleague Peter Lineham and I circulated an open letter to the Anglican Church (since we had no other way to participate) which pointed out a number of problems with the report and the process which led to the report—most notably the exclusion of sexual and gender minorities in the process. What we and the conservatives may agree on is that the report really satisfied no one: the church has to make a decision to include gay people, or to exclude them: there can be no satisfactory middle ground. And for now a frightened and exhausted church has chosen what it thinks is the safer ground by hiding in the shadow of ‘tradition’. At least they don’t burn heretics any longer, as they did with Thomas Cramner, the chief architect of Anglican liturgy. The Anglican Church has shown how shallow and meaningless its two-year-old ‘apology’ is by continuing to exclude, devalue and ignore sexual and gender minorities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and by continuing to be complicit in homophobic thinking and actions. Marriage equality will happen in the Anglican Church. But it seems God will have to call some more people to their eternal reward before that will happen. So should sexual and gender minority communities in New Zealand and the Pacific care about what some church has decided about us? Well, of course, the answer can be that we don’t. But the Anglican and other churches are reflections of broader social attitudes that are still shared by a significant and powerful minority of people in these countries. We may think the legal battles have been won, but our struggle is by no means over. We cannot be complacent with our Parliamentary victories in New Zealand whilst our brothers and sisters in the Pacific Islands still live under legal and social oppression. We cannot be satisfied with legal marriage equality while religious groups continue to condemn, exclude and vilify us. We cannot be quiet when our gay siblings are being thrown off buildings by Daesh, gay refugees from Syria are being harassed by security guards and translators in their shelters, and when those who speak out, like Xualhaz Manan in Bangladesh, are being systematically murdered by religious extremists. We have to care because these religions reflect a point of view and a social attitude which remains a very real and dangerous threat to us. I have been involved with the church all my life, and over the past 35 years have served as a clergyperson in any number of parishes and pulpits. Two years ago I went into voluntary exile from the Anglican Church because of its explicitly exclusive attitude towards me and my queer siblings. I withdrew my financial support and my voluntary contribution of time. I encourage all sexual and gender minorities in New Zealand, their partners, parents, children, siblings and whanau and friends to withdraw their contributions to the Anglican Church and its various ministries. Supportive parishes and churches need to withhold their financial contributions to the several dioceses of the church. Of course there will be a cost: but it is time now for sexual and gender minorities and our allies to send a clear signal that the gospel of hate does not belong in the church, and those who preach hate have no place in the church. This isn’t just about gay people walking down the aisle to say our vows at the altar: it is about social attitudes, our safety, and the signal of exclusion a worn-out church is sending to our young people. Mark Henrickson - 14th May 2016