Church of England apologizes for treatment of LGBTQ people

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By DANICA KIRKA an hour ago

LONDON (AP) — The Church of England formally apologized Friday for its treatment of LGBTQ people, even as it said that same-sex couples still won’t be allowed to marry in its churches.

The apology from the church’s bishops came in a report following five years of debate on the church’s position on sexuality. The report will be delivered to the church’s national assembly, the General Synod, which is meeting in London next month.

“We want to apologize for the ways in which the Church of England has treated LGBTQI+ people – both those who worship in our churches and those who do not,” the bishops said in a statement. “For the times we have rejected or excluded you, and those you love, we are deeply sorry. The occasions on which you have received a hostile and homophobic response in our churches are shameful, and for this we repent.’’

Nonetheless, the Church of England’s stance that matrimony is restricted to unions between one man and one woman will remain in place. It has instead proposed offering same-sex couples the chance to have a church service with prayers of dedication, thanksgiving or for God’s blessing after they have a civil wedding or register a civil partnership.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/london-england-religion-lgbtq-people-f645680c8cecd031bbcfdde9cc0c3628?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_08

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Still a separation of Church and State.

[IronLionZion]

8. Not in England unfortunately

but it is why Religious freedom is in the US constitution

[EYESORE 9001]

2. blah blah blah

They’d rather create schisms that split the church even more, i.e., American Episcopal churches branching off based on stance on gay clergy, than offend wealthy parishioners.

[Deep State Witch]

11. The Branch Where My Husband Goes

is quite open and welcoming to all. Even former Catholics with Pagan wives.

[Backseat Driver]

14. Most recently, I think this has also happened in the

organized (American) United Methodist Church.

[EYESORE 9001]

16. Not so United anymore, huh?

It’s obviously a wedge issue, but leadership, in their wisdom, continue fixating on sexuality.

[ShazzieB]

23. It's not always the leadership trying to hold things back.

In both the United Methodist and Episcopal Churches, there is leadership that wants to head in a more inclusive direction and factions that are splitting off to avoid the increased inclusiveness.

Also, the Episcopal Church is an offshoot of the Church of England and part of the Anglican Communion, which includes the C of E and various other offshoots thereof. The Episcopal Churc is more progressive than the C of E, but there are other churches in the Anglican Communion that are much more conservative. There's growing tension between the more progressive churches and the more conservative ones, and it's unclear where it will all end.

[vercetti2021]

3. How about fuck all religion?

You know I'm so fucking tired of a bunch of high "moral" idiots telling people like me how I should be. Oh you need to be this gender you were born as, oh you need to marry this person or you need to marry that person because this is the way some old outdated piece of shit book told you to be.

I wish we just ban religion at this point because it's just nothing but a bunch of horseshit and ends in really shitty results

[3Hotdogs]

5. "Imagine, no religion.....

It isn't hard to do..."

[walkingman]

6. Aren't you afraid you won't be raptured?? 🥴

[IronLionZion]

13. I like telling fundies the rapture happened

and they were left behind

[hunter]

21. Sounds about right to me.

Royalty and religious leaders left behind would have a strong incentive for a cover-up.

[Elessar Zappa]

9. Banning religion would make us as bad as them.

Freedom of worship and conscience is a key element in human rights.

[Sky Jewels]

10. Duck and cover! You're probably about to get called a "bigot"

because you dislike bigoted, gay/trans-hating, oppressive, misogynistic, patriarchal belief systems and absolutely idiotic mythologies involving sky wizards that were made up by primitive Mesopotamian goat-herding societies. Oh, and "not all religions..." blah blah blah....

[vercetti2021]

18. I don't care if I get called that

A lot of people are not at war like I am at this point.

[Sky Jewels]

19. Totally on your side.

[33taw]

4. Among the places I choose not to visit.

[suhana_zunaya1]

7. Omg

[gopiscrap]

26. welcome to DU

[Sky Jewels]

12. Why do modern people continue to support these absolutely idiotic "faith" institutions?

It would be laughable, if these old timey oppressive grifting rings known as churches didn't retain so much power by pushing supernatural nonsense onto the gullible and the deluded. Spoiler Alert: Magic is not real and Jesus Christ is never, ever coming back.

[Amy_Jones_90]

15. So ...

Are they really saying "we apologize for treating you badly but we're going to continue to discriminate against you?" And it took them five years of study and debate to come up with that?

This is yet another example of why I'm done with Christians and Christianity.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

17. No gay marriage, but they have a transgender priest.

Pretty strange thinking there.

[Sky Jewels]

20. Just think about the mental gymnastics you'd have to do to believe ANY of this nonsense is true...

An omnipotent sky wizard, said sky wizard raping a young girl who is still a "virgin," a savior "son" of the sky wizard who just happens to be born on this one little planet 14 billion years after the sky wizard made it, the undead carpenter who is somehow also his own sky wizard father (WTF?!), and on and on...

[SylviaD]

22. NOT good enough. nt

[BigDemVoter]

24. Apology NOT accepted.

Fuck them.

[Aristus]

25. "Right. We are friiiiiightfully soarry about the nawsty bizniz

with the homophobier and all that. But same-sex marridge? Frightfully soarry, but we just cawn’t have it. It wouldn’t be cricket, you see?”