Lambeth: News Reporting or Editorializing?

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Commentary by Robin G. Jordan

In their coverage of the 2008 Lambeth Conference the American and British media appears to be intent upon shaping public opinion rather than informing the public about current events. It is very evident from the content and tone of their articles where their sympathies lie. They would have the public believe that the issue of "full inclusion" of gays and lesbians into the life, ministry, and sacraments of the Anglican Church is an issue of social justice, that what the LGTB community is confronting is prejudice, irrational fear, and deep-seated hatred in the Anglican Church.

Most articles that I have read are one sided, do not tell the whole story, or give all the facts. Half-truths are often treated as truths. The boundary between news reporting and editorializing is blurred. They seem intent upon generating sympathy and support for the LGTB community, producing antipathy and antagonism toward those whose understanding of the Bible and its authority cause them to oppose the normalization of homosexuality in the Church and society, and putting pressure upon the Anglican bishops gathered for the 2008 Lambeth Conference to adopt a policy that would give Anglican provinces like the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church, in which the liberals have a hegemony, "space" to make their own decisions in regards to LGTB issues. the rest image