The Homosexuality Debate: Faith Seeking Understanding

John Stanley is a senior policy advisor in the Corporate Policy Branch
Management Board Secretariat, Government of Ontario.

This book serves as a peephole into the current debate within the
Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) over the place of homosexuality in the
life of believers. While issues such as the blessing of same-sex unions
or the ordination of sexually active homosexuals have forced the Church
to re-examine its practices, homosexuality has been an issue in
Christian pastoral care for centuries.

The ACC has traditionally had great influence, having once been an
established church in many provinces. Just as this denomination has
struggled in the past with slavery, divorce, and female ordination, now
it is challenged by new attitudes toward homosexuality. The debate over
homosexuality has been extremely divisive, threatening schism in the
church in Canada, the United States, and abroad. The ACC has played a
large role in this two-decade debate in the worldwide Anglican
communion, and the structure of this debate is revealed through the
essays in this volume.

While the introduction promises a variety of voices, there are no
essays written by self-identified homosexuals or even arguing in favour
of same-sex marriages. Most essays underline the traditional
Anglican—and Christian—stance that homosexuality is a barrier to
participation in Christian life. The quality of the writing, evidence,
and reasoning in the essays is high. (Only John Webster’s essay shocks
one with its Orwellian doublethink.) Although this reader could only
shake his head at the credibility given to those who promise that
homosexuality can be “cured,” it is clear that most essayists
sincerely wish to treat homosexuals with respect.

The collection is meant to “help people understand the history and
the roots of the controversy,” but it is primarily an attempt to
ensure greater tolerance and understanding for both sides in the dispute
while buying time. One is left wondering if gay and lesbian activists
are not trying to square the circle in their attempts at transforming a
millennia-old tradition of homophobia.