Scribes and Pharisees

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have scribbled a joint statement of their "very great concern" about a ceremony in which two homosexual men exchanged rings and vows. Apparently the moral consequences of such an event are of an order of direness somewhere between the Iraq crusade, which is a cause of "deep concern" because it risks British troops and Iraqi Christians; and carrying out research in order to save lives, which is an activity somehow related to "rape, torture and blackmail" and may "open the way to a less consistently respectful attitude to life" than has hitherto been shown by the average middle-aged, middle class male celibate with an invisible friend. More importantly, the Anglican church's ten-yearly conference is approaching, and the Most Reverends are scrabbling desperately for some way of keeping the Nigerians, Ugandans and other Bible-bashers in the fold; a large and intolerant congregation being always better than a small and liberal one. The archbishops' statement noted that "Clergy who disagree with the Church's teaching are at liberty to seek to persuade others [but they are] not at liberty simply to disregard it." Breaking the rules for the sake of what one believes to be right is certainly not something Christ would have done.