The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Justin Welby, has "apologised" to the LGBTI community for continuing to throw them under the bus in the interests of Anglican unity
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Christianity is pretty much impossible to practice in full but you wouldn't be the only thinking atheist who takes it seriously enough to expect minimal standards from the ABC.
Some of my work is about interpersonal violence in Africa, generally, and it is quite staggering: violence against children and the elderly (especially widows) is so normalised ("The child who is not beaten at home will have his ears twisted by the neighbours") that 15 countries have organised country-wide programmes to empower communities to stop it. You know about civil and international and inter-religious warfare; and, horribly, that homophobic cultures use anti-LGBTQI rhetoric and violence as part of those wars; but they also use violence against all vulnerable people, including Christians (Boko Haram and the LRA being two of several anti-Christian, anti-child, anti-female arms-bearing groups). The African bishops have to counteract their own internalised violence as well as their own internalised homophobia; they have no idea what to think about Bishop Tutu's support of his gay, married daughter.
I'm not defending this "apology" for a millisecond. It's not right or good enough. Against the backdrop of violence in Africa the ABC should have done a better job. Given his politicised and high-powered background he might have not allowed himself to be manipulated into making this such a make-or-break deal, but I think the real fault lies with the predominantly white, vocal, right-wing minority of Western, global North evangelicals who batten upon African problems for their own gain, very much at the long-term expense of LGBQTI people on that continent. Welby is in no position to take them on and win, at present, because they cater to the worst and easiest side of pan-African prejudices. :-(
Some of my work is about interpersonal violence in Africa, generally, and it is quite staggering: violence against children and the elderly (especially widows) is so normalised ("The child who is not beaten at home will have his ears twisted by the neighbours") that 15 countries have organised country-wide programmes to empower communities to stop it. You know about civil and international and inter-religious warfare; and, horribly, that homophobic cultures use anti-LGBTQI rhetoric and violence as part of those wars; but they also use violence against all vulnerable people, including Christians (Boko Haram and the LRA being two of several anti-Christian, anti-child, anti-female arms-bearing groups). The African bishops have to counteract their own internalised violence as well as their own internalised homophobia; they have no idea what to think about Bishop Tutu's support of his gay, married daughter.
I'm not defending this "apology" for a millisecond. It's not right or good enough. Against the backdrop of violence in Africa the ABC should have done a better job. Given his politicised and high-powered background he might have not allowed himself to be manipulated into making this such a make-or-break deal, but I think the real fault lies with the predominantly white, vocal, right-wing minority of Western, global North evangelicals who batten upon African problems for their own gain, very much at the long-term expense of LGBQTI people on that continent. Welby is in no position to take them on and win, at present, because they cater to the worst and easiest side of pan-African prejudices. :-(
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