Welby's argument against gay marriage has strength. But we can't yield to moral blackmail

[xchrom]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2014/apr/05/archbishop-welby-gay-marriage-moral-blackmail

Justin Welby has come out with a fascinating argument against the Church of England endorsing gay marriage – which is that, were this to occur, African Christians would be murdered. He had in mind intercommunal massacres, such as the one he cited in Nigeria. He referred to a particularly harrowing experience he had in the middle belt of Nigeria, where the ethnic cleansing of a Christian village by Muslim neighbours was supposedly justified or prompted by something gay-friendly done by the Anglican church in the US.

There's no doubt that Welby was profoundly affected by the experience. He has talked about it to me privately – not your average cocktail party conversation – and he was clearly anguished by the memory of the mass grave and the way it smelled.

There was a similar account when Rowan Williams decided to ditch his old friend Jeffrey John in 2003: he was apparently told that, if John were consecrated as bishop of Reading, Christians in Pakistan would die in the subsequent rioting.

Could this be called a form of emotional blackmail? I don't buy the idea that, by telling the story, he is attempting to do this. But is he being improperly blackmailed himself?

***why should people give baseline, barbaric acts of cruelty any credence to diminish the civil rights of others?

[hobbit709]

1. What is the right thing to do?

To give in because of fear that something bad may happen if you take a stand-which may happen anyway. Or to take a stand no matter what because you believe it is the moral and right thing to do?

[Bluenorthwest]

2. The rioters could then call for closing the Church of England, and we'd need to do that because

if we don't people could die. Where does the line get drawn?
And of course the Christians seem to have forgotten the words of the Christ who told them that they would in fact be mocked and persecuted for the sake of his name and told them to rejoice and be glad in that. The option of doing wrong to please those with a sword was not given to the Christians by their alleged object of worship. Of course they actually worship money which is why Jesus never comes up in these musings by clerics.

[hrmjustin]

3. As an Episcopalian/Anglican I am appalled that he said this.

Are you kidding me Archbishop?


Shame on you sir!