" Women Bishops? I think so! Gay Bishops? Well yes! Tall Bishops? Oh go on then! Short Bishops? Most certainly! Black Bishops? Yes, yes, yes! Differently abled Bishops? Yup! Pierced and tattooed Bishops? Let's have it! Transgendered Bishops? Make it so! Or, to put it simply, anyone God calls to be a Bishop, whether they fit the current 'Bishop shaped box' or not...in fact, in my opinion, most definitely those who don't fit into that current box :) "
The above is something I quickly typed into my facebook status this morning (as General Synod meets to vote on women Bishops). It is clearly a facebook status...a quick thought, not necessarily explained or even well composed, but I think it gets the point across.
I'm not seeking to unpack that facebook status here and now either, but I do want to point out 3 things:
First, I deliberately used references to height to attempt to highlight how bizarre it is to discriminate someone on physical appearance, as (on the whole!..and I'm sure this is something I will write a post on at a later point!) people aren't stopped from much or directed much hatred, fear or oppression simply because of their height..in direct contrast to other physical appearances or traits that we don't choose, such as gender or skin colour.
Secondly, I want to point out that I'm not advocating prejudice against those who do fit the current 'Bishop shaped box' I refer too!..We all know, or know of, lots of middle aged, well educated, smartly dressed, male Bishops who are called to be Bishops and do exercise their ministry in that role very well indeed, and I don't wish to take away from that at all. All I mean to say, is that, there is, obviously, more to life than one kind of people. And more to the Kingdom of God than that.
Finally, 'women Bishops'???? When was the last time you heard 'male Bishops' referred to?! Errrrmmmmm.....I think you'll find they are just called 'BISHOPS'!!!!!!!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Rowan Williams been rather reluctant to accept the legitimacy of female bishops? I remember reading a convoluted piece of writing from him where he was apparently (to paraphrase) 'appreciating the depth of the debate'.
ReplyDeleteI mean, like you seem to be saying, the question arises for me: "WHAT debate???" It all seems pretty clear cut. Women are just as good as men in the role of bishop (and in plenty of cases better, I'm sure).
I'm not at all sure why Rowan Williams is often put forward as a liberal figure. He wants increased limits on abortion, exemption from equality law for faith-based adoption services and he thinks establishing marriage equality for homosexuals is unfair to the Church. I really don't think he's very liberal at all...
*sighs* If the CofE wasn't established as a national Church I guess I'd care rather less, but as it is, I find issues like these rather exasperating!