Akinola shook a gay person's hand, and "sprang backward the moment he realized what he had done."

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: At Axis of Episcopal Split, an Anti-Gay Nigerian
By LYDIA POLGREEN and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: December 25, 2006



ABUJA, Nigeria, Dec. 20 — The way he tells the story, the first and only time Archbishop Peter J. Akinola knowingly shook a gay person’s hand, he sprang backward the moment he realized what he had done.

Archbishop Akinola, the conservative leader of Nigeria’s Anglican Church who has emerged at the center of a schism over homosexuality in the global Anglican Communion, re-enacted the scene from behind his desk Tuesday, shaking his head in wonder and horror.

“This man came up to me after a service, in New York I think, and said, ‘Oh, good to see you bishop, this is my partner of many years,’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Oh!’ I jumped back.”

Archbishop Akinola, a man whose international reputation has largely been built on his tough stance against homosexuality, has become the spiritual head of 21 conservative churches in the United States. They opted to leave the Episcopal Church over its decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop and allow churches to bless same-sex unions. Among the eight Virginia churches to announce they had joined the archbishop’s fold last week are The Falls Church and Truro Church, two large, historic and wealthy parishes.

In a move attacked by some church leaders as a violation of geographical boundaries, Archbishop Akinola has created an offshoot of his Nigerian church in North America for the discontented Americans. In doing so, he has made himself the kingpin of a remarkable alliance between theological conservatives in North America and the developing world that could tip the power to conservatives in the Anglican Communion, a 77-million member confederation of national churches that trace their roots to the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/world/africa/25episcopal.html?hp&ex=1167109200&en=ed16045828e5ecba&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[wiley]

1. He is not a man of God, nor are those hatred filled people who follow him.

Alas, Nigeria.

[KittyWampus]

19. wrapping bigotry up in the words of Christ. How anti-christian

[6000eliot]

2. Hey archbishop,

Fuck you!

[Infinite Hope]

3. Pathetic. n/t

[Bluebear]

4. Spring this, you phony-baloney "man of God"

Shame on him.

[EST]

5. It is difficult to condemn a man for simply having prejudices,

however unfounded. It is quite another thing, however, to quietly accept his spreading of and being proud of these prejudices.

This benighted idiot is certainly no student of history nor does he demonstrate a capacity for deep thinking.
The similarity to George Bush is striking.

[EFerrari]

15. This is a crude attempt to manipulate the media.

His behavior is certainly like Junior's.

[Sapphocrat]

6. Fuck Akinola...

...and fuck all the haters who have entrusted their twisted, sick, filthy "faith" to him. This country would be far better off if all the pseudo-Christian hypocrites had the brass to put up, shut up, and move to Nigeria.

Pig-dogs, all of them. Hate me, but they can get the fuck out of my country, the lot of them.

[fujiyama]

7. Well there ya have it

Gays are bringing haters together of different races!

[xchrom]

8. and whole nations!

wonder what he thinks of all the ''gay dollars'' that have flowed to his country through the years to help his people?

[theHandpuppet]

9. Here's another excerpt....

"He supports a bill in Nigeria’s legislature that would make homosexual sex and any public expression of homosexual identity a crime punishable by five years in prison.

"The bill ostensibly aims to ban gay marriage, but it includes measures so extreme that the State Department warned that they would violate basic human rights. Strictly interpreted, the bill would ban two gay people from going out to dinner or seeing a movie together.

"It could also lead to the arrest and imprisonment of members of organizations providing all manner of services, particularly those helping people with AIDS.

“They are very loose, those provisions,” said Dorothy Aken ’Ova of the International Center for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, a charity that works with rape victims, AIDS patients and gay rights groups. “It could target just about anyone, based on any form of perception from anybody.”

[terrya]

10. Fuck that bigot.

I get so fucking sick and tired of this virulent, visceral hatred of us. Most especially coming from a "man of faith". Memo to Akinola...Jesus would NOT have shown the hatred that you have shown

[rox63]

11. I went to Christmas Eve service last night at a very different Episcopal church

Archbishop Akinola would freak out at this place. The sign outside the very traditional-looking stone church bears the rainbow symbol, indicating that they welcome GLBT people. The folks inside were several colors, races and ethnicities. The man playing the piano so beautifully throughout the service was an openly gay man of Cambodian heritage. The service is bilingual, with the priest repeating each passage in both English and Spanish. The nativity pageant was a beautiful gathering of the congregation's children. The girl playing Mary was African-American, the boy playing Joseph was Latino, and the baby playing Baby Jesus was white. Little shepards, angels and wise kings were a rainbow of colors, ranging in age from about 3 to 10 years old.

Although I usually don't attend Christian church services, I accepted my friend's invitation to this one. And if I were inclined to keep attending a church, this one would be near the top of my list. It was a beautiful event, filled with love, joy and a welcoming spirit.

[terrya]

13. I would have liked to attended that service.

Your friend's church sounds like a lovely, welcoming environment,

That reminds me of the church where my partner sings in the choir. My partner lives in Toronto and he sings with the choir at a church down the street from his apartment. It's a very welcoming environment...it's affiliated with the United Church of Canada. It's a very diverse congregation...people of color, all ages. And they do welcome and are friendly towards us GLBT folk. Same-sex marriages are performed at this church and are celebrated (I was attending one service where the pastor acknowledged a newly married lesbian couple in the audience. The whole congregation applauded. I was very pleased. :-))

[knitter4democracy]

22. Now, that's a church.

That was perfect. That's the way all our churches should be.

[marmar]

12. The Archbishop sounds like the type of person described in Revelation:

"And how you cannot hear evil men
But have tested those who call themselves apostles, but are not
And found them to be false
I know that you are enduring patiently
And you have not grown weary"

[gratuitous]

14. Wow, how very like Jesus!

You know, when Jesus sprang back from eating with Zaccheus the tax collector. Or the leper who approached him. Or the woman suffering the chronic disease.

Wait, that's wrong. Jesus welcomed everyone, though not everyone who encountered Jesus came away from the meeting all that happy, such as the rich young man who was told to give away all he had. I wonder how the Ethiopian cleric would fare in a meeting with Jesus?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. Maybe he has

Who knows but that the gay fellow he recoiled from was Jesus, or had Jesus in his heart? After all, Jesus said, "Whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. I think it means that

his churches get all the $$$$ from those rich American churches...a good incentive. I find it interesting that the churches are in VA, where, about 170 years ago, no black man would have been able to attend (except in the slave section), much less preside.....

[KittyWampus]

20. No, as the Anglican church splits the big money (property) will stay with those who embrace

diversity. And the bigots who want the coming split will have to start all over. No way will the courts side with them.

[Katzenjammer]

18. If the Anglican Church doesn't chuck their butts out, then there's something wrong

The church could almost certainly keep them from using the "Anglican" name on copyright grounds if nothing else. But at a very minimum all the diocesan bishops begining with the primate need to repudiate this group as being utterly anti-christian and not a member of any christian communion.

[knitter4democracy]

21. Jesus never did that.

He never shrank from anyone, not lepers, not prostitutes, not tax collectors, not the High Priest, not anyone. He only ever showed rage at those in power taking advantage of the faithful. He would never, not ever, shrink from anyone, not that "bishop," not President Bush (though he might have good cause to), not an Iraqi militia leader, not a single soul.

We are to love everyone as ourselves. We are to refrain from judgement, as we should pray for mercy and fear our own judgement. There is not a single soul on this planet that Jesus doesn't love, warts and all. When we pray in the liturgy and prepare for Communion, the highest sacrament, we say that we all are sinners, the worst of sinners. Maybe that bishop has forgotten the prayers he recites every day in liturgy.

He should've reached out and hugged that man and his husband. He should've asked them to the meal afterwards (if they do that--we do in our church, but not everyone does). He should've apologized for his sinful reaction and then reached out in love and begged forgiveness. That would've been the Christlike thing to do.

[SanCristobal]

23. I guess he couldn't let some humanity rub off on him.

[Midlodemocrat]

24. My late, great dad used to say that going to a church didn't make

you a Christian anymore than going to a garage made you a car.

This 'man' is so far from the word of Jesus he might as well be Satan.

[Jamastiene]

25. What an asshole!

Talk about reactionary assholes overreacting to nothing. Fuck 'im.

[NMMNG]

26. Hateful scum

Religion is such a force of goodness in the world. :sarcasm: