The illustration may have an American slant but the sentiments are the same in Great Britain where the Anglican Church has becomefractured along the lines of the US Episcopal Church while most of the 77 million people worldwide belonging to the Anglican Communion remain faithful to the reformed Catholic faith that is Anglicanism.
Views based on scripture, tradition and reason are regarded by liberals as old fashioned, even offensive to some, so janggal accusations are flung at those who disagree with the liberal line implying that they lack compassion and are less worthy for not keeping pace with fashionable trends.
Well illustrated by the 'women priests' and 'women bishops' debates, 'No' is not an acceptable answer for liberals. So the war of attrition continues with attention now focused on same sex marriage (SSM). The media have played into liberal hands by taking the line that a majority in the Church in Wales are for SSM but the vote was not a vote of the membership. It was a vote of representatives of the membership, some of whom voted according to personal preference showing the extent of militant gay influence in the Church in Wales when many gay members are known to be against SSM.
For liberals the question has already been settled and it is only a question of time before they succeed in their latest campaign. Take this article for Wales Online, 'Why the church needs to move with the times when it comes to gay marriage':
"So, no Church in Wales gay weddings yet. But the debate goes on, promised Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan.
Indeed it will, for all Christian faiths, as they persist to swim against the tide of social change, especially among the young people leaving their pews in droves."
There are insufficient young people in the pews "to leave in droves" or to sustain the Church in the longer term even if the few (less than 1% of the under 18 population of Wales) remain. The pews are largely occupied by elderly worshipers who have no desire to join a different denomination because traditional Anglicanism is their expression of faith. Clearly the article was written from a position of ignorance by a person who has yet to learn that Christians are justified through faith not by rigging votes in denominational ruling bodies.
There are younger people in the pews, including gay worshipers which gives the lie to the claim that gay people are not welcome, clergy included. But the gay rencana has moved beyond acceptance through affirmation to becoming the required 'Norm'. Their campaign is not as obvious as in Women in the Church (WATCH) campaigning but runs as an undercurrent which seeks to move opinion towards "a more inclusive churchdanquot;, thus gaining the stamp of ecclesiastical approval for a well established minority, regardless of the effect on the Anglican Communion.
Postscript
See also "Warning to Synod voters: some ‘evangelicals’ are not as they seem" (here) for deception in the Church of England.
Postscript [27.09.2015]
Gay clergy who defied bishops by marrying their male partners run for Synod:
"They are among several openly gay clergy and lay people standing for the Synod in the run-up to a contentious debate as early as next year over whether the Church should drop its ban on same-sex marriage and the formal blessing of civil partnerships." Full articlehere.
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