UK: Muslims challenge Church of England’s ‘gay blessing’ and ‘identity politics’ in Church schools~Church of England Considers “Gender Neutral” Language for God
BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
Muslims in Britain are expressing “deep concern” over the Church of England’s “gay blessing” and the “identity politics” that has invaded Church of England schools, which many Muslim students attend.
Where are the concerned Christians? They are not loud enough to be heard and respected, as wokeism has invaded most mainline Churches. It is no secret that gays are being murdered in Sharia-adherent countries, and Christians who may not support the LGBTQ+ agenda are still vocal in support of the human rights of the victims. On the other hand, woke ideologues have never fought for the LGBT communities that are persecuted in Islamic countries because they are intimidated by Muslims and afraid of charges of “Islamophobia.” It is part of the woke ethos never to risk “offending” Muslims. Instead, the woke aggressively trample upon the rights of Christians in Western countries; they clearly consider Christians to be safe targets. Some Christians are now even reluctant to state their belief that God created people male and female, and that this creation forms the basis of marriage. In some churches, you will seldom if ever hear the Biblical quote: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27). In light of all this, how will the woke Church of England (CofE) react to these Muslim complaints? The Leftist/Islamic alliance has been solid in the West, but cracks in the alliance are becoming increasingly apparent.
Religious rights and freedoms are being increasingly violated due to Woke aggression. Far too many Christian churches have become so weak that they have embraced the Woke agenda, as well as the Islamic supremacist “Islamophobia” agenda to shut down speech that scrutinizes Islamic ideology and thus “offends”. These Churches have in essence lost their salt and have become easy targets for bullying. Until now, Muslims have been mostly quiet about the Woke agenda, but it would be intriguing to observe how the Woke Church of England will react to being confronted by Muslims. We have an idea of what they won’t do. They won’t call the deeply concerned Muslim community ‘homophobic’. Overall, we don’t see the Woke pushing LGBTQ+, correct pronouns on Muslims, or gender-affirming care on Muslim children in Madrassahs in the West. No one tramples their religious rights, but instead, gives them preference.
According to Anglican.Ink:
Paul Salahuddin Armstrong, Managing Director of the Association of British Muslims (AoBM) expressed his “deep concern”. He said: “The Association of British Muslims is concerned about the lack of open and inclusive discussions regarding the traditional understanding of marriage within faith communities. We are also concerned about the teaching of sexual identity politics in schools, including Church of England schools.”
How will the woke reconcile “inclusion” with the Association of British Muslims who reject their agenda? Anglican.Ink also stated:
“There is now the worrying potential of Muslim parents starting to withdraw children from CofE schools to protect them from sexual ethics contrary to their beliefs,” said the Revd Paul Eddy, Convenor of Anglican Orthodox, “and that can obviously lead to segregation of children of different faiths in some Muslim-majority cities if the CofE proceeds.”
Those Christians who do not support “sexual ethics contrary to their beliefs” are already marginalized, or even hated and smeared as “homophobic” or “transphobic,” including in many Christian schools which now fly the rainbow flag and host Pride parades. In 2019, the Church of England “issued advice to clergy and congregations recommending an adapted affirmation of baptism service to allow transgender Christians to celebrate their new identity and name.” But those who do not celebrate along with them are increasingly persecuted. The CofE has also instructed schools to “let children ‘explore gender identity.'”
Let’s see whether the woke CofE will attempt to convince the deeply concerned Muslims of the Association of British Muslims that they are “homophobic” and “transphobic.” Of course, they wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing. The mainstream media will also likely ignore the brewing conflict and continue to try to give the impression that only stuffy, stupid, bigoted, old, white Christians disagree with the woke agenda.
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BY JAMES MURPHY
SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/church-of-england-considers-gender-neutral-language-for-god;
Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.
The Church of England’s descent into “wokeness” is about to take another downward step. This spring, the church’s Liturgical Council will explore using so-called gender-neutral terms when discussing the Creator of the Universe.
The Church of England has recently announced that, while they will not “marry” homosexuals, they will offer blessings for such unions. In addition, Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Cottrell recently announced that homosexual behavior is not a sin so long as it’s within the confines of a “stable, loving, committed” relationship.
The project appears to be a reaction to criticism by the current Vicar of Ilminster and Whitelackington in South Somerset, Reverend Joanna Stobart, who recently stated that she wished the church would use “more inclusive language” and refer to God in a “non-gendered way.”
“Please could the Liturgical Commission provide an update on the steps being taken to develop more inclusive language in our authorized liturgy and to provide more options for those who wish to use authorized liturgy and speak of God in a non-gendered way, particularly in authorized absolutions where many of the prayers offered for use refer to God using male pronouns?” Stobart formally asked church leaders.
The vice-chair of the Liturgical Commission, Reverend Dr. Michael Ipgrave, the bishop of Lichfield, announced that the commission has been “exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years.”
“After some dialogue between the two commissions in this area, a new joint project on gendered language will begin this spring. In common with other potential changes to authorized liturgical provision, changing the wording and number of authorized forms of absolution would require a full synodical process for approval,” Ipgrave said.
So, for Anglicans, the phrase, “Our Father, Who art in heaven,” could soon be changed to “our parental unit, Who art in heaven.”
More conservative clergy have objected to considering using non-gendered language in reference to the Almighty.
“The fact that God is called ‘Father’ can’t be substituted by ‘Mother’ without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralized to ‘Parent’ without loss of meaning,” said Reverend Dr. Ian Paul, a minister at St Nic’s, Nottingham.
“Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable but relate to their offspring in different ways,” Paul pointed out.
And Father Marcus Walker, the rector at St. Bartholomew in London, noted, “I just don’t think we should be misgendering God. He’s made clear what his preferred pronouns are — especially in his incarnation — so maybe we should just use them.”
Indeed, for Christians, the incarnation of God — Jesus — was indeed a male.
“This is nothing new. Christians have recognized since ancient times that God is neither male nor female, yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
“There has been greater interest in exploring new language since the introduction of our current forms of service in contemporary language more than 20 years ago,” the spokesperson added.
Other Anglican branches have been exploring the idea of “gender neutrality” for God for some time now. A spokesman for the Scottish Episcopal Church — an Anglican offshoot — was quoted by the Daily Mail claiming, “The Scottish Episcopal Church has been in a gradual process of change in its liturgies over a number of years, as it moves towards less gender-specific language about both people and God.”
The spokesperson claimed that such undertakings have been in process since 1986.
“To that end, we have theological freedom in regard to how we refer to God. Ministers are free to use the language they wish — God has no gender and many choose to use gender-neutral language for God,” the spokesperson explained.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Cottrell appears to agree. In 2018, he stated, “God is not a father in exactly the same way as a human being is a father. God is not male or female. God is not definable.”
Perhaps Cottrell is correct when he says that God is not “definable.” All that we mortals have to undertake that task is His Word. But that Word — the Bible — makes clear, in no uncertain terms, that God is the Father and that His incarnation, Jesus, was most definitely a male.
The Church of England’s attempt to spin this as anything less than a capitulation to so-called woke elements of society is a joke, just as their acquiescence to the LGBT agenda last week was. And should they succeed in “gender-neutralizing” their teachings, it’s likely heresy.