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

[naschkatze]

Nazir-Ali evidently brings some cultural baggage with him to the Anglican Union. Our Episcopal Church of the United States is completely open to everyone who makes a commitment to Christ.

[DaveyDavey]

Further evidence that the church is irrelevant. It's like saying that left-handed people should repent.

[Gidster]

They did that one for more than 100 years!

My brother was punished daily because he is left handed, and the Sisters wanted him to be right handed....

[zanbama]

We all need to repent everyday!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!

[SensibleJoe]

If one reads the parts of the Bible that tell of David and Solomon, it says marriage is between a man and *women,* for both were polygamists. What the Bible counts as marriage is not as cut-and-dried or neatly packaged as the good bishop would have us to believe.

[Alex Ayala]

What's so surprising about the headline? We all have passions we need to control, homosexuality just happens to be one of them.

[David57]

Alex, Alex Alex. You are being disingenuous here. Reading your previous comments, you are not exactly comfortable with your gay brethren. Why?

The headline says "Gays Should 'Repent'". Not of being a sinner like everyone else, but of being gay.

I "control" my homosexuality by being in a monogamous relationship of 32+ years with my partner. I love my partner and love my life.

[elmerfude]

This guy should repent for wearing a collar and pretending to be Christian.

[dignityjec]

Ironic, give why the Church of England was founded, so King Henry VIII could get divorced (the Pope wouldn't let him). The Bible says more against divorce than it does against homosexuality.

[MrBurlesk]

Yes, the dubious origins of the C of E should be enough to shut ANY sanctimonious bigot down (if shouted loud enough and frequently enough). When all is said and done, Christianity is simply a way to control people, control their thoughts, control their actions A political sham disguised as something spiritual. It always has been, ever since the days of the Holy Roman Empire ruling Europe, and always will be so long as people allow themselves to be ruled by false words and pernicious dogma that actually counter the needs and wants of humans and so long as they hold the bible (and other such "scriptures" in such misguided reverence).

[Muno]

Even what it says about divorce favors men.

[LostRiverLedger]

Lucky for him the church doesn't still have issues with persons of color. This too shall pass......­..

[edwarvir]

dignityjec So what if it does it still doesn't make it
right.

[brooklyncitizen]

it doesn't it make it anyone's business.l­et people read the bilble if they choose to and sort out their own lives already.

[jrfunkenstein]

'dignityjec So what if it does it still doesn't make it
right.'

What? Divorce is wrong?

Seriously, if this is what the church is concerned with, they are merely displaying their immense irrelevance.

WHO CARES WHO SLEEPS WITH WHO? Consenting adults don't need the hypocrisy of scripture to validate a damn thing.

[JumpDownTurnAround]

yeah and it also speaks against ADULTERY many more times than it does homosexuality too, but you sure don't hear him calling for all adulterers to repent. Ironic isn't it?

[Grada3784]

It should make the Anglicans more than a little leery of casting their stones, if nothing else. The old those without sin gambit.

[BarryS]

He should also requiore adulterers to be stoned to death. the book tells us to. We have two wingnuts in the USA just waiting...­.

[Alex Ayala]

There's a thing called the New Covenant, look it up. The old law from the OT doesn't apply anymore.

[edwarvir]

Barry S the bible doesn't say that. Jesus said ye without
sin throw the first stone.

[JumpDownTurnAround]

No the Bible does call for the stoning of women who commit adultery!

[zeezan]

Have you read the Old Testament?

[JumpDownTurnAround]

The punishment for adultery was death by stoning for both the man and the woman (Deut. 22:22), but here adultery is defined by the marital status of the woman.

[bigironal25]

In Leviticus the price of being a homosexual is DEATH BY STONING, and it also states that if children disrespect their parents the penalty is DEATH BY STONING and there is a whole list of other stupid things that are punishable by being stoned to death but the wing nuts won't acknowledge these other crazy "laws" of the bible! YEAH, there are some very crazy things in the"good book" and the sad part is that there are many,many people who truly believe God wrote this big book of fairy tales!

[NextYearLions]

Gotta love religion. Not really.

[davesf]

Thanks for the laugh!

[kindGSL]

Gotta love religious FREEDOM.

That includes freedom from religion.

[jrfunkenstein]

'That includes freedom from religion.'

Amen to that.

[ATSJer]

Uh...no it doesn't.

[muggles5]

Don't worry about this at all. And please don't ascribe any power to this man whatsoever. Please don't conflate his bigotry with the Gospel. He is the spokesman for nothing, or more specifically for a church which despite massive subsidy from the government cannot attract more than 3% of the English population. It is a big nothing. Read Church at War to learn the entire pathetic history of the Anglican Church's hypocrisy and power games over this issue, all to avoid one thing: the final hollowing out of the english church, the center of gravity moving so far into Africa that the church will find it necessary to change its name.

If you are not connected to the church and its politics, you are unlikely to know the important truth that the trends in the Protestant church as a whole, with the exception of Africa and South America, are all strongly towards full inclusion and leadership for gays. it may take a while, but it's happening, and bluster from this sad old man will have no effect.

[Joe Moore]

One more conservative narrow minded bigot trying to send us back into the closet.

Good luck dude. You're on the wrong side of history.

[plages]

Oh Ali, repent, then what?

[Otaku1031]

Ummm...rep­ent what, exactly?

[duncansdad]

I'm sure the gays will be thrilled that he welcomes them. Maybe he should recommend that God repent for creating gays in the first place.

[Phylmom]

One thing to understand is that Nazir-Ali is the Sarah Palin of the Anglican Church in Britain. He's already resigned his post and I suspect he will be moving on to the fundies any day now.
The day is closer and closer for the full inclusion of LGBT people in the Episcopal Church and the Church of England.