Michael Nazir-Ali, Church Of England Bishop, Says Gays Should 'Repent'

LONDON — A senior Church of England bishop has angered gay-rights campaigners by saying homosexuals should repent.

Archbishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that the Bible defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. He said the church welcomed gay people, "but we want them to repent and be changed."

Nazir-Ali is a leading member of the conservative wing of the global Anglican Communion, which is riven by divisions over homosexuality and the ordination of women.

Gay groups condemned the bishop's remarks. Campaigner Peter Tatchell said Nazir-Ali's view "goes against Christ's gospel of love and compassion."

And Derek Munn of gay-rights group Stonewall accused the bishop of promoting inequality and intolerance.

The 77 million-member Anglican Communion has been splintering since 2003, when the Episcopal Church _ the Anglican body in the U.S. _ consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has tried to hold the fragile communion together by getting churches to observe a voluntary moratorium on consecrating another openly gay bishop and developing prayers for same-sex unions. But many fear a split is inevitable.

Nazir-Ali's remarks appeared a day before the launch in Britain of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a coalition of conservative parishes from around the world, which Nazir-Ali supports.

He was quoted as saying that people who depart from traditional Biblical teaching "don't share the same faith."

"We want to hold on to the traditional teaching of the church," he told the newspaper. "We don't want to be rolled over by culture and trends in the church."

Comments

[elthelight]

Man is being deceived if he thinks he can just change Godly principles without paying the price. There is only one final judge and when we stand before HIM, it will not matter what we think, only what HE has said.

[frantaylor]

You must be very afraid of how He is going to treat you.

[LORISNJ]

Is anyone confused why the Vatican's budget is running a deficit?

[Rich Evans]

I always questioned the integrity of the church's stance on homosexuality. I don't get the sense, after much Biblical study, that there's a hierarchy of sin. Meaning that there's no evidence that there's one sin is greater than another. I feel that this is important because homosexuality, if it is truly a sin, is no different from any other. So thus, it shouldn't take as much attention from the church as it does.

The foundation of Christianity is based on the idea that we all sin and Christ died for those sins. There's nothing that states that some sins are worst than others. Thus, a murder is just as bad and carries the same consequences as a white lie. This means that a bishop sins just as much as a murderer in God's eyes.

I have no idea whether homosexuality is a sin, but it doesn't matter. The Bible states that as long as they believe in Christ then all Christians shall accept them as brothers and sisters without judgment. To do otherwise is a sin...

[AbstractImp]

Repent why?

For not living the way you dictate?

[dashcat]

I don't believe in "god" but I hear he created us all in his likeness. I imagine that means every single human on this planet is the likeness of god, I like this part of the bible because it uniquivocally includes every living human on earth. And not just every human's outward appearance but what is in their heart.

So remember, if you throw a rock at a gay person you are throwing a rock at god,

That goes for every single person on this planet,

[AbstractImp]

Repent for what . . .?

For offending bigots . . . ?

[larmarch5]

Newsflash:
Romans 3:22-24
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Note, the righteousness is from God, not some mortal bishop.

[StrongEagle]

Religion based discrimination needs to end, period. If the good bishop doesn't want gays in his church, fine. But keep your bigoted nose out of public law and let's insure that all are treated equally.

[fellowhuman]

So many Christians...so few lions.

[Golden111]

Respectfully, God loves u so very much that he died for u , me & everyone so that we may be justified in HIs presence if we accept this Gift of pardon, because we all live in a fallen, 'sinful' state as humans , sin cannot abide in God's presence since He is without it. Do u want to live as u dictate? You can do that...... we all could, because as His creation we were given another gift....free will......to accept His gift, or to reject it, it is your choice, and as a choice, it has a consequence. Please do not be deceived, we will all be held accountable upon our deaths, there are no exceptions for any single one of us. We can choose to accept Jesus' paid 'gift' by His death on the Cross as an atonement for our sins on this earth, or we can choose to reject it, in which case there is no other way for you or I to be reconciled & forgiven in God's sight. That is the ONLY sin that God cannot forgive. So please, remember, we can be forgiven of anything we've done if we earnestly ask God for His forgiveness. Jesus paid a terrible price for us because he loves us, it is sufficient to cover all our sins -save for just 1...rejecting that gift.

[StevenKeirstead]

If you mean you, please write the real word. Meanwhile I don't have to believe your interpretation of the bible or that if god exists that he did not create homosexuality. After all there are homosexual animals in many species. How did that happen?

[larry278]

The OT is based on writing styles of the Hebrew people. Ambiguities abound in these writing styles. Translating both the OT & NT into English was & still remains difficult. Learned people of a Protestant persuasion were selected to do the translations & work in groups to write the most correct translations. Some say that the King James Version of the Bible is a work of faith & literature written by committees of bureaucrats of the era. We may consider it to be a miracle that the KJV can be understood & is also the standard for what is beautiful in the English language. 21st century American bureaucrats would make make an ugly piece of gobeldy gook of an English translation of the Bible.
The fact that English changes constantly make it impossible for many 21st century people to read & understand the KJV.
It may be that if you clearly understand what the Bible says, you have missed the point of the Bible's lessons. The Bible is composed of difficult riddles. It's impossible to know what the Bible really says.

[MajorKong]

But it pretty much always comes down to some guy yelling "Do what I say!" at me because he claims to know more about the Bible than I do.

[juliaizen]

Repent, really! For what?, for being loving, for being beautiful, talented? The church wasn't asking Leonardo DaVinci or Michaelangelo to repent when they painted the Sistine chapel, or for all the other works of art they created for the church. They didn't ask the beautiful gay composers and singers to repent when they created the magnificent music the church plays. You repent, you hypocrite, for being jealous, spiteful, and a hater of gay people, created and gifted by God!

[John Horner]

The Church has plenty to repent for. You first Bishop!

[MajorKong]

Since I don't recall choosing to be heterosexual I don't imagine that gay people chose their sexual alignment either.

[FTP]

Why the Founding Fathers put - Knowladge above religion - It's a lot easier for companies and others to have a dumb befounded population angry at what they call sin's then to have a educated population to the problems. A simple example. Rome also used propoganda to keep the population in line - all the while they still drank out of lead cups.
EXP:
BALTIMORE (AP) — A form of intersex fish, which have male and female traits, is found more frequently in areas with more farming and human population density, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The so-called intersex fish have been found in U.S. waters over the past decade, including the Potomac River watershed, the southern Great Lakes and the Southern California coast. The cause isn't fully understood, but researchers suspect waste-water and farm runoff polluted with chemicals that stimulate estrogen production.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/feb/10/deformed-fish-seen-near-farm-runoff/

[AbstractImp]

Would you be so kind as to publish your dictionary online?

It appears to be different from mine!

[FTP]

Does that also go for the two sex fish - In the chemical infested waters?
KNow you know why the Founding Fathers put knowledge first.