News Reporting or Editorializing?

Commentary by Robin G. Jordan

In their coverage of the 2008 Lambeth Conference the American and British media appears to be intent upon shaping public opinion rather than informing the public about current events. It is very evident from the content and tone of their articles where their sympathies lie. They would have the public believe that the issue of "full inclusion" of gays and lesbians into the life, ministry, and sacraments of the Anglican Church is an issue of social justice, that what the LGTB community is confronting is prejudice, irrational fear, and deep-seated hatred in the Anglican Church.

Most articles that I have read are one sided, do not tell the whole story, or give all the facts. Half-truths are often treated as truths. The boundary between news reporting and editorializing is blurred. They seem intent upon generating sympathy and support for the LGTB community, producing antipathy and antagonism toward those whose understanding of the Bible and its authority cause them to oppose the normalization of homosexuality in the Church and society, and putting pressure upon the Anglican bishops gathered for the 2008 Lambeth Conference to adopt a policy that would give Anglican provinces like the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church, in which the liberals have a hegemony, "space" to make their own decisions in regards to LGTB issues.

I have encountered very few voices speaking on the behalf of those bishops who for reasons of conscience have chosen not to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference. Indeed I hear them vilified much in the same way that American Episcopalians whose consciences led them to withdraw from The Episcopal Church and to affiliate with a global South Anglican province are vilified.

Gene Robinson has been playing the victim, bathing in the limelight, and making preposterous statements. There is renewed talk of death threats and bulletproof vests. A lone protestor disrupted Robinson’s sermon at Putnam Green. The incident has all the appearances of a put-up job. The vicar had selected a hymn just in case of a protest. The protestor was escorted out of the building to his motorcycle where he waited quietly until Robinson left. He waived his helmet at Robinson as he was leaving. Speculation is rife that Robinson, having defied the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ban on preaching will defy that ban on presiding at the Eucharist. Robinson in media interviews has been criticizing William’s leadership, saying that Williams should take a stronger stance on behalf of gays and lesbians. The British media has been eating it up.

A story that Archbishop Orombi himself fears for his own life when traveling in the United States and other western countries, having himself received death threats from those sympathetic to the LGTB cause, did not receive any coverage in the western media. Neither did the Nigerian bishops’ refusal to accept Archbishop Akinola’s early retirement. However, the Irish primate’s affirmation of the normalization of homosexuality, the Welsh primate’s call for an openly gay bishop in the British Isles, and other liberal Anglican leaders’ espousal of the "full inclusion" of gays and lesbians in the Anglican Church have received extensive coverage.

During the 2008 Lambeth Conference I will be posting three different types of articles related to the Conference—those that cover various developments at the Conference and outside the Conference but related to it, those that offer some kind of background to these developments, and those that reflect the views of the various special interest groups seeking to influence the outcome of the 2008 Lambeth Conference. Whenever possible I will tag these articles for what they are. I will try to provide some balance but it may be difficult since I draw most of my articles from the Internet. I will continue to post articles on matters of interest to confessing Anglicans in North America and around the world, which are not related to 2008 Lambeth Conference.

I will be paying special attention to two developments—the call to lift the ban against openly gay bishops in The Episcopal Church and the possible appointment of an openly gay bishop in the Church in Wales. These developments, as much as the outcome the 2008 Lambeth Conference, are likely to affect the relationship between the western liberal provinces and the global South Anglican provinces, as well as the present situation in the United States.

Let us not forget in the days ahead that struggle is ultimately not over human sexuality but over whether God has revealed his will for humankind through the Scriptures. Is the Bible the Word Of God and can we trust the Bible’s teaching is the real issue. At stake is not only how we should live our lives but also whether Jesus is whom the New Testament claims him to be and whether we are saved by faith in him and his death upon the cross for our sins. It is the very foundation of our faith that is under attack.