The Archbishop of Wales, Dr. Barry Morgan, used his final address ahead of retirement to the governing body of the Anglican Church in Wales to encourage a rethink of same-sex relationships, saying there is nothing improper about sex in a committed gay or lesbian relationship.
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He reminded the members that even Bible passages that seem to harshly condemn homosexuality, such as those detailing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, can be “interpreted in more than one way,” The Telegraph reports. He added that there is no “one settled understanding of what the Bible says” about sexuality, as well as a range of other topics.
He cited a number of Old Testament and New Testament verses in which, he said, there are contradictions on topics as diverse as the status of eunuchs in Jewish society to the use of violence as a form of legitimate retribution.
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“What all this shows is that within the Scriptures themselves, there are radical shifts in understanding in what it means to discern the will of God,” he said.
“It absolutely will not do to quote texts from parts of the Bible in a simplistic way without reference to their contexts,” he added.
He also pointed out that in the past churches have radically shifted their stances on issues such as slavery.
“What all this amounts to is that one cannot argue that there is one accepted traditional way of interpreting scripture that is true and orthodox and all else is modern revisionism, culturally conditioned…so taking the Bible as a whole and taking what it says very seriously may lead us into a very different view of same-sex relationships than the one traditionally upheld by the church,” Dr. Morgan said.
“We are not thereby abandoning the Bible but trying to interpret it in a way that is consistent with the main thrust of the ministry of Jesus, who went out of His way to minister to those who were excluded, marginalised, and abandoned by his society because they were regarded as impure and unholy by the religious leaders of his day, either because of their gender, age, morality or sexuality,” he continued.
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Dr. Morgan is stepping down in early 2017 after serving for 14 years as Archbishop. Dr. Morgan previously apologized to the gay community on behalf of the church. In a statement, the church reiterated that gay and lesbian people “are fully affirmed as equal disciples” and apologised for “the persecution and mistreatment they have endured at the hands of the Church.”
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
He’s not doing it right!
1EqualityUSA
It’s a start. The spiritual element, not the molecules and atoms brought together under the pull of the spirit, should be acknowledged. Thank you, Dr. Barry Morgan.
Masc Pride
Uhh, maybe some of us enjoy “sinful sex”. Sex should never be PC. Make it is as dirty, nasty and sinful as you please. You’ll be happier and tons more satisfied than all the couples having “virtuous sex”.
Masc Pride
…but be safe too.
Xzamilloh
Religion has to evolve in order to survive just like everything else. Great for LGBT Catholics, and great for atheists like me who already knew this bullshit was dependent on the people, and not any gobbledygook spirits and all that mess. Gay sex isn’t a “sin”? Great… update your fairytale book, then, or shut the hell up. Better than Islam, I guess… we like to ignore how deeply homophobic those communities are while putting the Christian homophobia proudly on display.
jdboston617
All churches will be apologizing to the varies groups of people until the end of time.
It will only stop when people stop participating in fantasy that somehow is thought of as “spiritual” or “good” when in fact religion has brought nothing but massive suffering, violence, and murder for thousands of years. No offense to the believers but instead of sharing the “miracle”, just be a good person and shut up.
Kangol
Speak that truth, Cardinal of Wales gworl! I bet he has a lot of practice in that not-sinning, too. Now tell the rest of your fellow closeted Catholic clerics to untwist their robes and stop contributing to the oppression of LGBTQ people!
Kangol
@Kangol: I should have known this was too good to be true for a Roman Catholic cleric. Well, good for the Anglican church. And yes, reading is fundamental. LOL
slinky49
Nice that he waited for his “final address prior to retirement”.
kevininbuffalo
@Kangol: The Archbishop of Wales is the head of the Church of Wales. The Church of Wales is part of the Anglican Communion which is Protestant, not Roman Catholic. He is not a cardinal, Anglicans don’t have cardinals.Oh and to save me the trouble of another comment, altar, as in the altar in a church is not spelled a-l-t-e-r!
So far as I know, Dr. Morgan has always been a very liberal prelate and LGBT affirming. This isn’t something he’s calling over his shoulder as he heads out the door.
Mick406
@kevininbuffalo:
VERY well said!!! Eloquent and right on the money!
1EqualityUSA
Eloquent, yes, but pointing out the misspelling took away some of the message.
Xzamilloh
Oh, it’s not the Catholics? Sorry… nope, still bad for you guys. Sorry lol
Kangol
@kevininbuffalo: As you saw, I read a little further and realized my mistake but thanks for the clarification. Queerty doesn’t let commentersalter a mistaken post, so I’ll just kneel at the altar, light a votive, and ask for forgiveness! LOL
trell
I applaud the effort, but isn’t this too-little-too-late? Why say this as a final address before retirement?
The thing about Sodom & Gomorrah is that the sin of Sodom is never referred to in the Bible as a sex act. It mentions that the sin of the Sodomites is a type of nationalistic pride and selfishness, not anal sex. It was the Marquis de Sade who gave us the modern connotation of sodomy.
And we have been pointing out the inconsistent applications of the rules of Leviticus and Paul’s letters for years. In fact, modern Christian doctrine is based more on Paul’s letters than on Jesus’ teachings. Christians seem very quiet about David’s sexuality in the Bible, and divorce amongst christians is practically an epidemic, but they still divorce, even though there are several passages in the bible that do expressly forbid it.
Organised religion is long overdue an overhaul. It’s not about accepting sinful behaviour, but acknowledging that the doctrines of what mattered 2000-odd years ago, just are not relevant to this day & age. We’ve evolved as a species, and organised religion is holding us back.
Sluggo2007
Archbishop Of Wales: “Gay Sex Not Sinful” So, in other words, he’s doing it.
trell
@Sluggo2007: Nah. He’s the Archbishop of Wales. He’s probably diddling sheep. ;-P