[The Age] 4 Jul 2008--There is a saying in financial circles that when Wall Street sneezes, Australia catches a cold. Such is the global dominance of North America that whatever happens within its shores reaches ours eventually. This is true as much of cultural and ideological matters as it is of finance. What's more, much of this influence is imperceptible until you look back and see how far the ground has shifted.
I can understand why many people have read about the outcome of the Global Anglican Future Conference and have the reaction: "Crisis, what crisis?" I made the point to reporters in Jerusalem that in Australia, we have been remarkably conservative on the matters that have deeply torn the fabric of the church globally. But we should not be naive about the slow and steady influence of revisionist teaching and why the seven men who lead some of the largest Anglican churches in the world have decided to stand up and be counted.
Some will claim it is about homosexuality. It is true that is one of the issues. Even those with no interest in the church see it as more than a little strange that an Anglican bishop, once married with teenage children, should declare he wants to be "a June bride". But that is only a symptom of the problem. It's wider and deeper than that.
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