You may notice a new addition to the BabyBlueCafe - a countdown for the September 30 AnglicanPrimates Communique Deadline - over in the links section. No matter where you are or when, you can always check in at the at the cafe and see how much time is left - and there is always time to pray.
Here is what the Anglican Primates unanimously agreed in their Communique:
In particular, the Primates request, through the Presiding Bishop, that the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church:
1. make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention (cf TWR, §143, 144); and
2. confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent (cf TWR, §134); unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion (cf TWR, §134).
The Primates request that the answer of the House of Bishops is conveyed to the Primates by the Presiding Bishop by 30th September 2007.
If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion.
11 comments:
Hmmm, not sure this is a great idea. Seems a bit like a death watch or waiting to celebrate a sad event.
BTW, shouldn't you be counting down to Greenwhich Daylight Savings Time? I know the Communique doesn't specify the time zone for the deadline, but this doesn't seem like the right one to use. Not that it matters since the HOB probably won't be in session as the clock runs out.
On my office door I have taped a small piece of paper that simply asks, "Is it September 30th yet?"
Granted, mine is a little low-tech compared to yours, but you and I are very much on the countdown!
Blessings, Annie
I posted this elsewhere, but...
Thirty days hath September;
What’s the point? I still remember:
T E C is still unbowed;
They’ll kick the can more down the road.
I realize this is off-thread, but:
New York Times Editorial (March 8, 2007)
"A poisonous piece of legislation is quickly making its way through the Nigerian National Assembly. Billed as an anti-gay-marriage act, it is a far-reaching assault on basic rights of association, assembly and expression. Chillingly, the legislation — proposed last year by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo — has the full and enthusiastic support of the leader of Nigeria’s powerful Anglican church."
Why in heaven's name will American CANA-members not call ++Akinola on this?!? Is this the kind of PR the Communion needs?!? Is this evangelism?!?
...or... is this "compliance" with the Windsor report?!?
Wayne, yours is very much on thread.
bb, have you the bravado to add another timer to go with your burn the bishop countdown clock?
Why not keep track of the time before Rowan Williams, Peter Akinola, and your very own Martin Minns renounce the legislation at issue in Nigeria before it becomes law? I can’t wait to see your visual to go with that. Or do the rights of those Nigerians the legislation threatens, and your church leaders’ responses to that legislation, not rise to the level of your interest as much as mocking and taunting the ECUSA leadership seems to?
Eddo and Wayne, today's Times tells us what Nigerians convicted under the proposed law have to look forward to:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 9, 2007
Nigerian Police Routinely Torture Detainees: U.N
By REUTERS
Filed at 10:13 a.m. ET
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian police routinely torture suspects, shooting them in the legs, beating them and hanging them from the ceiling for long periods, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture said on Friday.
Manfred Nowak said he had also seen cases of medical neglect of injuries caused by torture that were worse than any he had come across in other countries.
``As far as the police is concerned, I have come to the conclusion that torture is systemic,'' Nowak told a news conference at the end of a one-week visit to Nigeria.
``It is a routine practice. Detainees are beaten up. They are suspended from the ceiling for prolonged periods and beaten in that position as a way for the police to extract confessions or other information,'' he said.
At a criminal investigation department center he visited in Lagos, Nowak found a room that police openly referred to as the ''torture room.''
The filthy room was packed with 125 suspects, many of whom had been tortured. The detainees were not being given enough food or water. The youngest person there was 12 years old.
Some detainees had been shot in the lower legs and their wounds were badly infected. They had seen no doctor.
``There were several detainees there who had very serious infections and were in imminent danger of dying because they were being denied medical assistance,'' Nowak said.
IMPUNITY
The main reason for this state of affairs is total impunity, he said. Not one police officer has been convicted of torture and it is impossible for victims to seek redress.
Poor policing and a dysfunctional judiciary are among the legacies of decades of corruption in Africa's most populous country, which was ruled by the army for most of its history since independence in 1960.
Nowak said the government had started some reforms in the administration of justice since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 but there were few tangible results.
He said the system discriminated against the poor because those who could afford it could pay lawyers and meet bail conditions, while those who couldn't were left at the mercy of police who would detain them for months in appalling conditions.
Nowak also visited prisons, where he found there was little evidence of torture but overcrowding as detainees await trial.
Nigeria says more than 25,000 inmates, or 65 percent of its total prison population, have never been convicted of a crime but remain jailed because of delays in the justice system, missing police files, absent witnesses and prison mismanagement.
It is common for prisoners to wait five to 10 years for their trials. Thousands have spent longer in jail than they would have served if convicted.
___________________________________
Peter Akinola did state in a letter that he did not support jailing of homosexuals. No Muslim leader I am aware of has sent such a letter. I do wonder what the Times means by "full and enthusiastic support." Not a lot of detail there . . . .
This bill is beyond grevious. In a country with such a high AIDS rate not to even be allowed to discuss homosexuality with out the fear of prison is basically promoting genocide.
I am in 100 percent agreement with both of you that this issue is beyond serious. I can't think of a strong enough word here . . . . However, BB's issues are with TEC. That's really the point of her blog. (Along with Harry Potter and Bob Dylan!) I don't think she is mocking and taunting, in my very humble opinion she is trying to interject some humor.
Now, back to Nigeria. We should all be up in arms over this legislation. It could have come right out of Nazi Germany! And as Pastor Martin Niemoller reminds us . . . First they came for the Jews . . . . Who's next after Gay Nigerians?
I would hope that the Anglican Communion would express the outrage that the US State Department has, and I don't think you have a liberal bunch running the place these days.
Peace.
RE:"Now, back to Nigeria. We should all be up in arms over this legislation. It could have come right out of Nazi Germany! And as Pastor Martin Niemoller reminds us . . . First they came for the Jews . . . . Who's next after Gay Nigerians?
Now Mdlaw, what are you doing quoting Pastor Niemoller? I just did that three days ago in an email about justice.
Eddo & Wayne, in much I'd find to disagree with you. However you do well by constantly bringing up this issue. I'm going to avoid the GLBT arguments, for they don't fly with me, they go against the foundations of the Faith. I view this as a hostile take over by Unitarians who like to wear vestments.
HOWEVER, I'm a free agent in many ways and find +Minns' or ++Akinola's sins just as offensive as +VGR's or ++KJS's sins. My dyslexia means I love structure and thus hate saying one thing & doing something else. I'm generally right of center thus vote accordingly, but no way defend the administration's view on Gitmo & would say to Bush's face that violating Article 5 of the UN "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" is ALWAYS unacceptable! The US signed it, we're bound to it! Thus a law that violate Article 20 is also just as repugnant to me. You will not get me to go along with GLBT issues are a civil right one, but as we have defined and signed this document and should strive to keep it.
Idle words (Matthew 12:36) or loose vows would be the Biblical justication.
This is not forcing Western ideal on someone if Nigeria signed willingly. I do think this issue will continue to haunt CANA because of the lack of voice will fully exploited more for political reasons than for conscience sake, but that probably good, for in the end maybe self-examination questions are asked. Many party GOP faithful did with the question about the administrations violations of Article 5.
Oh yes, mdliblaw, bb is free to blog on the issues and in the style and manner she chooses, and this does have to do with the Anglican Communion, so within the scope of her blog.
I can’t seem to get beyond the fact that she made much ado about her vestry vote to leave TEC and to associate her parish with the Nigerian church all in the name of orthodoxy, and now that very church remains silent on this grave issue. I realize no one changed their nationality, but bb is now a congregant of the very church that is being called on to speak out. It’s a perfect opportunity for the Nigerian church and its CANA missionaries to state clearly wether or not they think homosexualists and their friends/associates are indeed criminals and this legislation should be made law, or otherwise. And we don’t really need a countdown clock for that.
Hmmmm... odd... still no comment from bb...
Wayne, bb's comments were probably in her editorial to the post " Selling Newspapers."
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