Updating our story on the protests by the Buddhist monks in Burma (also known as Myanmar). Several Anglican commentators have contrasted the bold Buddhist monks protesting the repressive regime in their country with the self congratulatory statements of unity in concession to anti-gay forces of the world wide Anglican Communion by the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church (TEC).
Mad Priest, blogging at Of Course I Could Be Wrong, salutes a letter in The Guardian (UK):
As an ordained Anglican, I am appalled that while Buddhist monks are taken from their beds, beaten and imprisoned for peacefully protesting in the name of democracy, Anglican bishops can only concern themselves with the obsession of denying gay and lesbian Christians an opportunity to share their spiritual gifts and experience through ordained ministry. For me it is clear in which of these two groups spiritual authenticity resides. I offer my heartfelt prayers on behalf of the monks of Burma.
Rev Mike Catling
Alnwick, Northumberland
Lane Denson, who publishes The Covenant Journal, writes in his Out of Nowhere essay:
I wondered when I read about the monks, What makes a bishop mad? From reflecting on their meeting in New Orleans, I couldn’t tell, if anything. So far as I know, they kept their shoes on. They didn’t march. They never mentioned the government so far as I know, let alone its reckless and immoral lack of stewardship and its false promises about Katrina and New Orleans. They fussed a bit about turf, theirs. Statistics reveal that eleven percent of our nation’s population is gay and lesbian. The PB said the House stood at the foot of the cross on the subject of what to do about that population in the church. She just left the question hanging.
Ekklesia notes:
Pope Benedict XVI added his voice yesterday to calls for Burma’s military leaders to peacefully end their crackdown on protesters demanding democracy, as demonstrators took to the streets of several capital cities across the globe to show solidarity.