STANDARDS?

U.S. Episcopalian Leaders Delay Vote on Gay Bishop (Alan Cooperman, August 4, 2003, Washington Post)

Episcopalian leaders today delayed a final vote on whether to accept the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as their first openly gay bishop, following allegations that involved pornography and touching, a church spokesman said.

The announcement came shortly before the final vote was expected to take place at the Episcopal Church's General Convention.

Robinson, 56, who has lived with another man for 13 years, won a key vote yesterday among 835 priests and lay leaders in the convention's House of Deputies. This afternoon, his confirmation as a bishop in New Hampshire was expected to go before the convention's other legislative chamber, the House of Bishops. However, by mid-afternoon, officials said the House of Bishops would first meet in executive session and it was not clear if the public vote would come today.

Accusations don't make him guilty of anything, but the way his story has been presented is obviously a lie. We're asked to believe that he was in a happy marriage that ended spontaneously when he suddenly realized he was gay, then he went out and found the great male love of his life. The unremittingly chaste scenario is too absurd for words. Meanwhile, even if the charges are true, having determined that sodomy is no bar to the clergyhood, what can be the objection to a candidate being a pornographer or groping people? Isn't it a little late in the game to judge people's behavior?

MORE:
-Gay bishop vote delayed over sex claims (AP, August 5 2003)

Episcopal leaders delayed a vote today on whether to confirm the church's first openly gay bishop after allegations involving "touching" and "pornography" emerged against the clergyman, a church spokesman said.

A copy of an email obtained by Reuters that was sent to Vermont Bishop Thomas Ely from a man identified as David Lewis accused New Hampshire bishop-elect Gene Robinson of being a "skirt-chaser" who fondled him two years ago. "My personal experience with him is he does not maintain appropriate boundaries with men. I believe this is an alarming weakness of character that alone makes Gene unsuitable for the office of bishop," the note, dated yesterday, said.

-The Gay Bishop's Links: Episcopalian bishop-elect Gene Robinson has some curious affiliations. (Fred
Barnes, 08/04/2003, Weekly Standard)

THE CONTROVERSIAL gay Episcopal bishop-elect of New Hampshire is a founder of a group called Outright that supports gay, lesbian, or "questioning" young people 22-years-old or younger and
gets them together with older gay and lesbian role models. On its website, Outright had a link to a pornographic website--until the link became an issue in the fight at the Episcopal Church's national convention in Minneapolis over ratifying the election of the bishop-elect, Gene Robinson, by New Hampshire Episcopalians. The link, indeed all links, were removed from the website today.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 4, 2003 6:23 PM