KARL MARX had a good line about Episcopalians. In a preface to Volume 1 of "Das Kapital," he wrote that the "English Established Church"--of which the Episcopal Church is an American offshoot--would "more readily pardon an attack on 38 of its 39 articles than on 1/39 of its income." Marx was referring to the Church of England's "Articles of Religion," a basic summary of its doctrine. His cynicism seems vindicated in the Episcopal Church's recent abandonment of biblical teaching on homosexuality.
In early August, the triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church, attended by bishops and diocesan representatives, confirmed the election of a homosexual priest as bishop of New Hampshire. The priest, the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson, was once married and fathered two daughters. He and his wife divorced, and Robinson now lives openly with another man. The same General Convention also legitimated local churches' blessing of same-sex unions.
Both actions have provoked opposition--not only from traditionalists inside the Episcopal Church, but also from conservatives in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Some resistance is hardly surprising, as the American church's actions contravene the overwhelming witness of the church, past and present, that sexual intimacy is to be reserved for husband and wife. This revision of doctrine comes at a time when the demographic center of Christendom has shifted from Europe and North America to the growing, predominantly conservative churches of Asia, Africa, and South America. The months ahead will test those churches' ability to resist American cultural imperialism. Indeed, the controversy has inflamed the fears of Muslims as well, who resent the globalization of a popular culture they consider demeaning to human dignity.
LOOKING FIRST to the American scene, sexual liberals have hailed the Episcopalians' move as the harbinger of greater tolerance and inclusiveness, but that could be wishful thinking. When President Bush suggested in late July that it might be necessary to codify the definition of marriage as uniting one man and one woman, he wasn't merely pandering to his conservative base. Recent polls show declining support for legalizing same-sex unions--and even greater opposition to churches' blessing such liaisons. Most Americans seem to have developed a laissez-faire attitude to what consenting adults do privately. But in-your-face campaigns in the entertainment media, the courts, the academy, and the church to endorse homoerotic behavior are producing not so much backlash as the simple drawing of a line. We'll look the other way, Americans seem to be saying, but don't expect us to actively approve.
Liberal Episcopal Church leaders think of themselves as enlightened pioneers. But the evidence suggests they overreach. Roughly two-thirds of American Christians are Roman Catholic, Evangelical, or Pentecostal. The adamant opposition to homosexual unions of the Catholic Church is reiterated in a 12-page document released by the Vatican on the second day of the Episcopal General Convention. American Evangelicals and Pentecostals are equally traditional in their teaching about sexual morality.
But even in the context of the mainline Protestant churches, the Episcopal Church's position is extreme. The fierce debates taking place in the mainline churches over homosexual behavior tend to be over church discipline, not the core teachings of the faith. True, baby boomers are now in charge across denominations. A generation that came of age chanting "Make love, not war" finds it easier to preach pacifism to the president than sexual purity to parishioners. Nevertheless, both the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the United Methodist Church explicitly prohibit the blessing of same-sex unions and ordination of practicing homosexuals.
One reason the Episcopal Church is more vulnerable to ethical revisionism than the other Protestant churches is social class. Episcopalians tend to represent the urban well-off. They listen to NPR, not Fox. They go to elite universities, not community colleges. They value liturgical niceties over theological substance. When white flight drained American cities, downtown Episcopal congregations had three choices: move to the suburbs (and abandon beautiful, historic buildings); transform themselves to include ethnic minorities, immigrants, and the poor; or reach out to the remaining well-off urbanites--singles, childless couples, and homosexuals. That last often proved the most comfortable option. Even in small towns in the conservative South, Episcopalians seem more determined to distinguish themselves from Southern Baptists they perceive as low class than from non-Christians.
