Sunday, June 18, 2006

Hello, irony! Bishop Duncan suddenly recognizes the need for minority protections

From an interview by Newsweek's Elise Soukop with Bishop Robert Duncan (Episcopal), of Pittsburgh, and Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network [emphasis mine, h/t D. C. at titusonenine]:
Q: Some say that the average lay person doesn't even care about consecrating gay priests. Is this all much ado about nothing?

Duncan: The average layperson may very well not care, but that doesn't make it right or true. The savior of our world stood alone against the whole world and, remarkably, within two centuries the entire empire submitted. A majority opinion doesn't make it right.
Here's Bishop Duncan in defense of Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola's decision to endorse legislation that would deny free speech, press, assembly, and exercise of religion to Nigeria's gay and lesbian citizens:
It is jarring, to say the least, to see church leaders [meaning Bishop Chane], who claim to champion the primacy of local understanding and culture, demanding that foreign sister churches give up their own local understanding and culture and be judged by an American understanding of individual rights. There is a word for the one-way imposition of values -- colonialism.
Arghh!! It is not an "American understanding of individual rights" but a universal understanding that recognizes the need to protect minorities. Nigeria's own constitution (Sections 38-40) recognizes minority rights. And as Bishop Duncan said to Newsweek, the "majority opinion does not make it right."

If Bishop Duncan believes that minority protections are important, he should immediately write or call the Church of Nigeria office to ask Archbishop Akinola to withdraw his endorsement of legislation that silences an antagonistic minority. Contact info: the Rev. Canon Akintude Popoola, Communications Director, Church of Nigeria, +234 9 5236950, 5230987, 5230989, and email.

[My earlier comments on Duncan's note are found here]

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