NBC Nightly News Blames the Schism Between Liberal and Conservative Episcopalians on Homosexuality
The network obscures the broader conflict within a church whose American leadership has repudiated traditional Christian beliefs about God and Scripture. By David Niedrauer Culture and Media Institute
August 2, 2007

For NBC, the break in the Episcopal church is all about angry homophobes.

On August 1, anchor Brian Williams reported: “Tonight the deep split in the American Episcopal Church. It started in New Hampshire with the ordination of a gay bishop, and now some angry Episcopal congregations here have found some new allies in faraway places.”

According to NBC reporter Mike Taibbi, “mostly conservative” churches from “Africa and the Far East” are “poaching” American congregants upset over the American Episcopal Church’s “liberal policies allowing for gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions.” The African congregations are members of the Anglican Communion, the parent of the American Episcopal Church.

Taibbi interviewed liberal Massachusetts Episcopal Bishop Thomas Shaw. According to Taibbi, Shaw believes the schism is happening because the American church leadership is standing firm by its “interpretation of scripture as inclusive of gays.” Shaw puts his spin on the homosexuality issue: “We need them in the life of the church. We need their voice.” the rest