Why are Anglicans worried?

[chakka35]

A number of bigoted priests and senior clergymen, who are against the idea of women bishops and are also homophobic, are leaving the Anglican church to join Roman Catholicism where such despicable attitudes are considered a virtue.

Why is the Anglican church worried about this? Shouldn't it be glad to be rid of such people?

[naomi24]

//There is not the slightest scriptural reason why women should not be priests and bishops in the Anglican church. //

Except this from that well know misogynist St Paul:

//But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.//

….. But then we all know he made it up as he went along.

I still can’t understand how a practising Christian can even consider converting to Islam.

[mibn2cweus]

It's kind of cute to watch little children debating over whose mud pie is better. But as an adult, responsible for their safety, I find it more than a little bit disturbing that so many 'grown-ups' seem unable to grasp the reality that it's all mud and no pie.

Doesn't anyone else here see that all of this is nothing more than splitting hairs of a unicorn?

[mike11111]

A bit harsh, I think. I know that you understand the meaning of 'bigot' but do you fully understand the meaning of 'religion' (that which binds)? I yield to no-one in my admiration for the sanctity of those holy matrons and virgins who brought so much life to the early church, nor to those of the homosexual persuasion who have ministered faithfully to their flocks without the need to satiate their carnal lusts. It is religion, and some people are brought up to believe in what they have been taught (rightly or wrongly). It is less than 50 years ago that lay people were given dispensation to administer the chalice at Holy Communion in the C of E, to relieve pressure on the parish priest. Some of the most vocal opposition came from traditional women; two of whom in my memory would receive the Host from the priest, but not the chalice if administered by a woman. After a lifetime of being told 'what can't be' suddenly becomes 'can be' may shake someone to their very foundations. The sight of an old lady in tears, because the young vicar had told her that making the sign of The Cross was old-fashioned haunts me still.

[naomi24]

//The sight of an old lady in tears, because the young vicar had told her that making the sign of The Cross was old-fashioned haunts me still.//

I find that incredibly sad. An old lady crying because she's told that carrying out a particular ritual is no longer necessary - when it was never necessary at all. How much unhappiness has been caused and how many futile tears shed in the name of religion?

[jake-the-peg]

I think the simple answer to the question is that they can't afford to lose any more.

Anglicanism is dying on it's feet. Churches are derelict or sold off, parishes are combined - where I live for example services alternate between villages.

The decline has slowed 1.1 Million now compared to 1.2 million in 2001

But a lot of that has come from immigrants and these are people who are tyically religious conservatives.

The long and the short of it is that Anglicans cannot afford another scism

[chakka35]

I think you're probably right, jake. I must remember that in many cases the congregations are planning to follow their priests. But still...although I recognise that much within organised religion is unprincipled, is the CofE really happy to keep these bigots purely for the sake of numbers? Perhaps so..

One of the many irationalities that makes me say "Thank God I'm an atheist!".

[mibn2cweus]

"Thank God I'm an atheist!"
Personally, I can't think of a better reason than 'God' to be an atheist . . .

[chakka35]

Well said, mib.