The Economist: Angry Anglicans
Mar 27th 2008
VANCOUVER
From The Economist print edition

The schism over gays

SINCE Canada is a generally liberal-minded place, it is no surprise that Anglicans there are among the prime advocates of blessing homosexual unions. What was less predictable was that the conservative backlash against this attitude should be so strong. The upshot is that the country's Anglican church is breaking apart, mirroring the strife in the worldwide Anglican communion.

In 2002 the diocese of New Westminster (which includes Vancouver) became the first in the world to authorise the blessing of same-sex partnerships. Conservatives object that homosexuality is harshly condemned in several verses in the Bible. Liberals call this scriptural fundamentalism and note that being gay is not a matter of choice. In an uneasy compromise, the 1998 Lambeth Conference—a once-in-a-decade gathering of Anglican bishops—declared that homosexual acts were incompatible with scripture but that gays were loved by God. In an effort to preserve unity, the communion has called for a moratorium on blessing same-sex unions. the rest image