LONDON  — A leader of African Anglicans who have been outraged by the appointment of a gay bishop in the United States blasted a church report on the dispute, saying Tuesday that it should have pushed for U.S. Episcopalians to repent.

Archbishop Peter Akinola (search) of Nigeria, in a statement released in London, said it was the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Canadian diocese of New Westminster that pushed the worldwide Anglican Communion (search) "to the breaking point."

"Why, throughout the document, is there such a marked contrast between the language used against those who are subverting the faith and that used against those of us, from the global south, who are trying to bring the church back to the Bible?" he said.

"Where is the language of rebuke for those who are promoting sexual sins as holy and acceptable behavior? The imbalance is bewildering," he said. He added that it was suprising that "the primary recommendation of the report is 'greater sensitivity' instead of heartfelt repentance."

The commission, headed by Irish Archbishop Robin Eames, was created last year following the consecration of V. Gene Robinson (search) — who is living openly with a male partner — as bishop of New Hampshire.

In its report released Monday, the commission called for apologies from both sides, and for a long-term process of reconciliation and defining the relationship among the world's Anglican churches.

It urged the Episcopal Church (search) not to elect any more gay bishops and for conservative African bishops to stop meddling in the affairs of other dioceses.

That point outraged Akinola, who earlier this month visited the United States to explore the possibility of serving as an alternative bishop to disaffected Episcopalians.

"We have been asked to express regret for our actions and 'affirm our desire to remain in the communion.' How patronizing!" Akinola said in the statement.

"We will not be intimidated."

The Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, Frank T. Griswold, has been equally unyielding. On Monday he expressed regret for the turmoil in the Anglican Communion but reaffirmed his belief that the church was right to promote Robinson.

Akinola praised the report's call for the Episcopal church to halt to further promotions of gay clergy to bishoprics. It also called for Episcopal congregations and churches in the New Westminster diocese of Canada to stop sanctioning blessings of gay partnerships.

"If they do not repent and return to the fold, they will find that they are all alone," Akinola said. "They will have broken the Anglican Communion."

Akinola's sharp reaction contrasted to that of another conservative leader, Archbishop Drexel Gomez (search) of the West Indies, who was one of the 16 people who served with Eames in writing the unanimous report.

"The tone of our report represents an intentional offering from the members of the communion to facilitate healing and reconciliation," Gomez said Monday, appearing with Eames at a news conference launching the report.

Eames' commission was not asked to explore the rights and wrongs of homosexuality, and it refrained from any comment.

However, it sharply criticized the Episcopal Church and the Canadian dioceses for going moving ahead on the issue without full consultations among the 38 national churches which constitute the global communion.

According to the report, "neither the diocese of New Westminster nor the Episcopal Church has made a serious attempt to offer an explanation to, or consult meaningfully with, the communion as a whole about the significant development of theology which alone could justify the recent moves"

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African Anglicans Rebuff Episcopalians on Gays

Friday, April 16, 2004

Kenya — Anglican archbishops from Africa said Thursday they would reject donations from any diocese that recognizes gay clergy and recommended giving the Episcopal Church (search) in the United States three months to repent for ordaining an openly gay bishop.

The archbishops also said they will refuse cooperation with any missionary who supports ordaining gay priests. They said the Episcopalians — the American branch of Anglicanism (search) — should be disciplined for the election last year of V. Gene Robinson (search) as bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson has lived openly with his male partner for years.

"If we suffer for a while to gain our independence and our freedom and to build ourselves up, I think it will be a good thing for the church in Africa," Archbishop Peter Akinola (search) of Nigeria told journalists. "And we will not, on the altar of money, mortgage our conscience, mortgage our faith, mortgage our salvation."

He spoke at a meeting of African Anglican archbishops and their counterparts from Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. The other regions planned to issue a statement Friday.

Akinola is also chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (search), which represents 12 national and regional churches plus the diocese of Egypt. Africans comprise about half of the 77 million members of the global Anglican Communion (search), and African churches are the fastest-growing in the world.

Robinson's election has created deep divisions within the worldwide Anglican Communion, a confederation of provinces that each govern themselves. All Anglican provinces in Africa — except for Southern Africa — have opposed ordaining homosexuals, and several have severed ties with the U.S. Diocese of New Hampshire.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, has appointed a commission to explore ways of holding the communion together, or perhaps managing a split.

The financial impact of the African bishops' stance is unclear.

U.S. dioceses and parishes have partnerships with churches in Africa and give money directly to them.

However, dioceses also provide funds for the donations that the U.S. national church sends to Africa, said Canon Patrick Mauney, director of Anglican and Global Relations for the U.S. Episcopal Church.

Mauney didn't know whether the African leaders were aware of this.

"It's hard to parse this statement and to figure out are there any loopholes here or what," said Jim Naughton, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Several church leaders expressed doubt that the very poor African provinces would reject all U.S. church funding.

Mauney said that eight of the 10 African provinces that receive an annual donation from the Episcopal Church have taken the money so far. Mauney added that no missionaries had been rejected in the year that the dispute has raged over Robinson.

"I suspect they're looking for a symbolic way to say we're unhappy," Mauney said of the African leaders.

But Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi indicated that the Africans were committed to giving up significant sources of funding.

Nzimbi said links with Trinity Wall Street in New York had to be severed, for example. The prominent parish distributes grants in the millions of dollars worldwide and supports many projects in Africa. A spokesman for Trinity's grant program was traveling and could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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Black Clergymen Come Out Against Gay Marriage

 

ATLANTA: More than two dozen black pastors added their voice to the critics of same-sex marriage (search), attempting to distance the civil rights (search) struggle from the gay rights movement and defending marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

"When the homosexual compares himself to the black community, he doesn't know what suffering is," said the Rev. Clarence James, an African-American studies professor at Temple University (search).

Jones and 29 pastors rallied late Monday with their supporters at an Atlanta-area church where they signed a declaration outlining their beliefs on marriage and religion.

The declaration is meant to pressure state representatives to approve a constitutional ban on gay marriages, which will be considered again by the Georgia House as soon as this week.

The declaration, to be presented to state leaders Wednesday or Thursday, says same-sex marriage is not a civil right, and marriage between a man and a woman is important because it's necessary for the upbringing of children.

"To equate a lifestyle choice to racism demeans the work of the entire civil rights movement," the statement said. "People are free in our nation to pursue relationships as they choose. To redefine marriage, however, to suit the preference of those choosing alternative lifestyles is wrong."

Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Georgia, but supporters of the ban say the constitution needs to be changed to make sure a judge does not direct Georgia to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

"It is a threat to who we are and what we stand for," said Bishop William Shields of Hopewell Baptist Church. "If nothing else gets us out of the pews, this ought to."

But the Rev. Paul Turner, a gay pastor from Atlanta who helped organize a pro-gay marriage rally last month outside the Georgia Capitol, disagreed: "How do they figure that it's not a civil rights issue?"

"This is just a way for those conservative leadership in the black community to say, 'Look, this isn't a matter of civil rights because we're black and we didn't have a choice in being black.' And they think gays do, and that's not true," Turner said.

Elsewhere Monday:

— In Oregon, the county that was poised to become the state's second to allow gay marriage backed off until courts intervene. Commissioners in Benton County, home to Oregon State University and the liberal city of Corvallis, decided to stop issuing all marriage licenses until there is a court ruling on whether gay marriage is legal in Oregon.

— In St. Paul, Minn., supporters of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage gathered by the thousands in one of the largest Capitol rallies in memory, waving hundreds of signs on the Capitol steps and spilling over onto the lawn and parking lot. The House is expected to pass the bill Wednesday, with a Senate committee planning to take up the measure later in the week.

— In New York, two Unitarian Universalist ministers facing criminal counts for officiating at same-sex weddings pleaded innocent. Kay Greenleaf and Dawn Sangrey were charged after marrying 13 gay couples during a public ceremony in New Paltz, but the district attorney has said he does not expect to seek jail time.

— In North Carolina's Durham County, a gay couple filed a lawsuit after being denied a marriage license. State law invalidates any claim of marriage between people of the same sex. Register of Deeds Willie Covington said the law gave him no choice.

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Brought to you by: VOICE OF THE MARTYRS

Jiang Zongziu

When 34-year old Jiang Zongxiu went to her neighboring market last June in Guizhou Province , China . Along with her mother-in-law, Jiang went through the marketplace, taking opportunities to hand out Bibles and Christian literature and telling people about Jesus. Only this day they had an encounter with the Chinese police.

The two Christian women were handcuffed together and brought to the police station. They were interrogated throughout the evening of the 17^th. The next morning they were sentenced by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to 15 days incarceration for "suspected spreading of rumor and disturbing the social order."

Jiang and her mother-in-law knew the risk of spreading Christian literature in communist China . Both had been active in their church for more than 10 years and dared to go forth. Even when they were arrested, interrogated and sentenced to serve 15 days, they were willing to accept the consequences of their actions-all from a government that claims to have "freedom of religion."

But it was not enough for the PSB to arrest and beat these two Christian women for the crime of passing our Christian literature. In the afternoon of June 18^th, Mrs. Jiang Zongziu was pronounced dead by the PSB office of Tongzi County . They claimed she died of "natural causes." The fact is she was beaten to death.

The Voice of the Martyrs has received video testimony from the surviving family, photos of Jiang body showing her bruised body, and a copy of the actual arrest document. All of this had to be smuggled out of China as the authorities continue to attempt to hide their systematic persecution of Christians. An international campaign is now under way on behalf of the surviving family.

Much of the world would like you to believe Christians are no longer persecuted. Sister Jiang's family would disagree. Now you can stay informed of what is really happening to your Christian brothers and sisters in countries like China and even discover practical ways to help, with a FREE subscription to The Voice of the Martyrs monthly newsletter. Don't turn your back on today's persecuted church. Subscribe today.  

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PAT ROBERTSON SAYS 

RADICAL MUSLIMS ARE SATANIC

Television evangelist Pat Robertson said Monday on his live news-and-talk program "The 700 Club" that Islam is not a religion of peace, and that radical Muslims are "satanic."

Robertson's comments came after he watched a news story on his Christian Broadcasting Network about Muslim protests in Europe over the cartoon drawings of the Prophet Muhammad.

He remarked that the outpouring of rage elicited by cartoons "just shows the kind of people we're dealing with. These people are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it now: I believe it's motivated by demonic power. It is satanic and it's time we recognize what we're dealing with."

Robertson also said that "the goal of Islam, ladies and gentlemen, whether you like it or not, is world domination."

In a statement later Monday, Robertson said he was referring specifically to terrorists who want to bomb innocent people as being motivated by Satan. In the news story, he noted, radical Muslims were shown screaming: "May Allah bomb you! May Osama bin Laden bomb you!

Angell Watts, a Robertson spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview that the news segment also included comments from a moderate Muslim in the United Kingdom saying radicals don't represent most Muslims in that country.

Robertson's Virginia Beach-based network did not include his remarks when it posted the program on its Web site, however. That decision was made out of concern Robertson's remarks could be misinterpreted if viewed out of context, Watts said.

Monday's comments were similar to remarks he made on his program in 2002, when he said Islam "is not a peaceful religion that wants to coexist. They want to coexist until they can control, dominate and then, if need be, destroy."

Robertson has come under intense criticism in recent months for comments suggesting that American agents should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for Israel 's pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Robertson recently told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he comments off the cuff after watching news segments. He later told the Christian magazine World that he's being more careful and reviewing news stories before going on the air.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called Robertson's new comments "grossly irresponsible."

"At a time when inter-religious tensions around the world are at an all-time high, Robertson seems determined to throw gasoline on the fire," Lynn said in a statement.

© 2006 Associated Press.

VICENTE FOX REPORTS HUGE OIL FIND

Mexico has discovered a huge new oil reserve that will increase its production capacity by nearly 50 percent, President Vicente Fox said Monday night - explaining that he intends to discuss how he'll use his new oil bonanza when he meets with President Bush in two weeks.

"We have excellent news that we will be announcing in a couple of weeks from now," Fox told MSNBC's "Rita Cosby Live and Direct."

He described the find as "a huge new reserve of oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico that belongs to Mexicans" and noted that in his upcoming meeting with Bush, "energy is a key for our discussions."

Fox said his country's largest oil reserve is Cantarell, which is rapidly depleting. "This new reserve that we just have found will totally replace Cantarell with even more quantity then what originally Cantarell had," he told Cosby.

The White House announced over the weekend that Bush, Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will hold an economic and security summit in Cancun on March 30 and 31. Among the items on the agenda: "our common prosperity."

Fox said the oil find would help both the U.S. and Mexico deal with their respective "migration" problems.

"We see that migration is not only moving from Mexico to United States ," he explained. "Last year we had to hold over 200,000 Central Americans that cross the border with Mexico , and of course they had plans to work in Mexico for a time and then try to move to United States ."

Fox said Mexico's expanding oil industry would help build job opportunities in both his country and Central America, which will ultimately benefit the U.S. "It will help all three of us, that is part of what we're discussing, how can we remain competitive, how we can have plenty of energy and how we use energy to the benefit of people," he told Cosby.

Fox is an unapologetic advocate of illegal immigration, saying it helps both the U.S. and Mexico . Earlier this year he objected to U.S. plans to build a security fence along the Mexican border.

Mexico has discovered a huge new oil reserve that will increase its production capacity by nearly 50 percent, President Vicente Fox said Monday night - explaining that he intends to discuss how he'll use his new oil bonanza when he meets with President Bush in two weeks.

"We have excellent news that we will be announcing in a couple of weeks from now," Fox told MSNBC's "Rita Cosby Live and Direct."

He described the find as "a huge new reserve of oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico that belongs to Mexicans" and noted that in his upcoming meeting with Bush, "energy is a key for our discussions."

Fox said his country's largest oil reserve is Cantarell, which is rapidly depleting. "This new reserve that we just have found will totally replace Cantarell with even more quantity then what originally Cantarell had," he told Cosby.

The White House announced over the weekend that Bush, Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will hold an economic and security summit in Cancun on March 30 and 31. Among the items on the agenda: "our common prosperity."

Fox said the oil find would help both the U.S. and Mexico deal with their respective "migration" problems.

"We see that migration is not only moving from Mexico to United States ," he explained. "Last year we had to hold over 200,000 Central Americans that cross the border with Mexico , and of course they had plans to work in Mexico for a time and then try to move to United States ."

Fox said Mexico's expanding oil industry would help build job opportunities in both his country and Central America, which will ultimately benefit the U.S. "It will help all three of us, that is part of what we're discussing, how can we remain competitive, how we can have plenty of energy and how we use energy to the benefit of people," he told Cosby.

Fox is an unapologetic advocate of illegal immigration, saying it helps both the U.S. and Mexico . Earlier this year he objected to U.S. plans to build a security fence along the Mexican border.

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War With Iran 'Inevitable,'

Former Israeli Defense Chief Says

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Kenneth R. Timmerman, NewsMax.com
Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006

War between Iran and Israel is "inevitable," a former deputy defense minister retired Maj. Gen. Efraim Sneh told NewsMax in an exclusive interview from his home near Tel Aviv.

Sneh, who ran Israel's defense ministry under Labor Party Prime Minister Ehud Barak when Israel pulled out of Lebanon in May 2000, was spending time with his family before rejoining his paratroop unit on the Lebanese border.

"At 62, I am a retired general, but I felt so strongly about this war that I volunteered to rejoin my paratrooper unit," he said. A medical doctor by profession, Sneh commanded his unit's medical corps during the toughest battle of the 1973 war.

Sneh has been warning about the Hezbollah buildup in south Lebanon for many years, and opposed his government's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, even though he was then in charge of the Defense Ministry.

"I warned six years ago that unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon would bring Hezbollah to our border, with all their military capability," he said. "I was a lonely voice when the choir of Israeli politics said 'let's get out of the Lebanon mud.' I said, 'The mud will run after you.'"

Warning about Hezbollah while serving in the government put him in an awkward position. "Because Barak was prime minister as well as defense minister, as his deputy I was actually running the defense ministry," Sneh told NewsMax.

He said he felt vindicated – not only by what is happening in Lebanon , but because he has been warning about the threat from Iran .

"Since 1993 I have been warning that Iran is the only enemy that poses an existential threat to Israel ," he said.

The current war in Lebanon was actually a war by Iran against Israel , he believes.

"I don't have any doubt that after this round is over, there will be another round, because the war with Iran is not over. When you have the president of the world's fourth largest oil supplier preaching repeatedly that Israel should be wiped off the map, a collision is unavoidable."

In speeches and writings over the past six years, Sneh predicted in detail the scenario that has played itself out between Hezbollah and Israel over the past four weeks.

"But I don't know the scenario for round 2 or round 3," he said. "I just know that they will come."

Asked how the current round of fighting in Lebanon would end, he replied: "slow and tough."

Sneh has traveled repeatedly to Washington over the past 13 years with other Knesset members from different parties, to warn about Iran 's threat to Israel and America .

He believes Iran would use nuclear weapons if it acquired them.

"That is the assumption we have to make," he said. "When they say they want to wipe Israel off the map, why shouldn't I take their word seriously? I don't have the privilege not to do so."

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N.Y. Times Retaliates Against Cheney, Rumsfeld

Beware of travel feature stories posing as invitations to terror.

"The New York Times points cranks, radicals, al-Qaida operatives and would-be assassins to the summer homes of [V.P. Dick] Cheney and [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld" writes FrontPage Magazine's David Horowitz, who sees the June 30 Times feature article as an apparent retaliation for administration "criticism of the Times' disclosure of classified intelligence to America's enemies."

In the "Escapes" section of the June 30 edition, the N.Y. Times printed huge color photos of the vacation residences of Cheney and Rumsfeld, "identifying the small Maryland town where they live, showing their front driveways and, in Rumsfeld's case, actually pointing out the hidden security camera in case any hostile intruders should get careless," Horowitz writes.

Times Travel section writer Peter Kilborn even makes sure enemies of the two men will know such details as where Mrs. Rumsfeld shops in the eastern shore town of St. Michaels, Md. where the two administration officials have weekend retreats.

He even lets the curious know what street the Cheneys and Rumsfelds have to use to get to their own road.

It's all part of the war against President Bush, Horowitz charges.

"Make no mistake about it, there is a war going on in this country," Horowitz advises, noting that the aggressors in this war "are Democrats, liberals and leftists who began a scorched earth campaign against President Bush before the initiation of hostilities in Iraq."

One of the most prevalent weapons in this war, according to Horowitz, is the New York Times.

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DEATH PENALTY FOR PERVERTS 

WHO RAPE CHILDREN!

Oklahoma on Friday became the fifth state to allow the death penalty for certain sex crimes, although legal scholars questioned the constitutionality of the new state law.

Under the measure signed by Gov. Brad Henry, anyone convicted twice for rape, sodomy or lewd molestation involving children under 14 can face the death penalty.

South Carolina's governor signed a similar law on Thursday allowing the death penalty for offenders convicted twice of raping children younger than 11. Louisiana , Florida and Montana also have laws allowing the death penalty for certain sex crimes.

Defense attorneys and death penalty experts said the laws defy recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have scaled back the death penalty's application.

Barbara Bergman, president of the Washington-based National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said Supreme Court decisions have made it clear that the death penalty is reserved for someone who has taken another life.

"I'm not saying that raping a child is not a horrible crime, but no one has died," said Bergman, who was part of the defense team that avoided the death penalty for Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols following his 2004 conviction on 161 murder counts.

David Brook, a law professor at Washington and Lee University in Lexington , Va. , said the measure might actually put a child rape victim's life at risk.

"The last message you want to give an offender who has the life of a child in his hands is you might as well kill the child because he's already got the death penalty," said Brook, who runs the Virginia Capital Case Clearing House, which assists lawyers in death penalty cases. "This is a very stupid message."

No one convicted of a sex offense has been executed since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment 30 years ago, though one inmate is on death row in Louisiana following his 2003 conviction for raping an 8-year-old girl.

South Carolina 's new law is named for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl who was kidnapped, raped and suffocated last year by a registered sex offender.

"Jessie's Law is about sending a very clear message that there are some lines you do not cross, and that if those lines are crossed the penalties will be severe," said South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

John Stossel: Not Afraid to Tell the Truth