Homosexuality? Now that would have been a real selling point in Judea in the first century CE. I think when they found a homosexual, they stoned him and then dismembered him in those days, or was it the other way around? Also, homosexuality was a practice of the hated Greeks, which if anything exacerbated traditional Jewish antipathy to the practice.(see Leviticus 18:22) It merely reminded them of how abhorrent it was.

To believe the notion that a classically-trained rabbi like Jesus would be homosexual or would engage in homosexual acts requires a complete ignorance of the intellectual universe of Pharisaic Judaism in general and the first century CE in Judea in particular. It's infinitely more likely that he was a Moonman than a gay. And there is no reason to think he was a Moonman.

'unmarried' 'non-traditional' travelled with a bunch of men' sounds like pretty much everyone involved in pro sports. I guess that makes Derek Jeter, Shaquille O'Neal and Tom Brady gay.

well, Jeter anyway.

OJ--

Every Sox fan in the world was thinking that exact thing.

This will make African Anglicans even more understanding of the US church. Won't it?

Can't these guys think with any organ other than . . . uh, you know.

Mike Morely:

No, they can't. It should be obvious now that if they aren't staring at their navels they're staring at...a part further south. Bunch of people caught in perpetual adolescence.

Just about the time OJ posted that comment, Jeter hit a lead-off homer in the bottom of the 9th for a 4-3 Yankee win.

And Mom asked me why I left the Episcopal church when he was made bishop.

I hear Mr. Robinson was on the radio this morning denying that his lecture implied Jesus was queer. Basically he said, "I never said specifically that Jesus was gay." But he wouldn't say Jesus wasn't gay when directly questioned, all the time implying that those who read homosexuality into his lecture might be homophobes. Typical liberal nonsense - say something radical but leave enough wiggle room to twist out of it when held to the fire. Those who can't express their ideas clearly and directly shouldn't be attended with attention.

First Spong and now this off-white sepulcher - the Episcopal church must be intent on becoming irrelevant in a time when the rest of Christian Orthodoxy is being rejuvenated.

For whatever it's worth, Mr. Robinson denies it and the recording of the forum in which he allegedly made his statements (which I don't have the time or the stomach to listen to) is on the internet:

http://www.nhepiscopal.org/artman/publish/article_138.shtml

Just because a man can hit and field doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy taking long hot showers with his teammates afterwards.

"Typical liberal nonsense - say something radical but leave enough wiggle room to twist out of it when held to the fire."

And be sure to accuse anyone who got the message and voices their objections of being a bigot or closed minded or just too stupid to understand nuance.

How would Gene Robinson like it if we started proclaiming that Liberace or Hillary Clinton or Andrew Cunanan were actually heterosexuals?

Oj/Mikey/Mike Morley are all correct: to wit, there is a damn peculiar narcissism at work here. It reminds me of Andrew Sullivan's 'crazy pills' days just after the Bush Administration began its pro-hetero marriage rhetoric.

Jesus was a 'non-traditional' person? That's understatement of the first order. He was divine.

How could Jesus be gay when he was secretly marrried to Mary Magdalene and giving birth to the Merovingian Dynasty? Silly bishop.

I'll bet Robinson would talk a torrent if someone asked him if his greatest dream/desire is to attempt to 'bond' with the foundation of the church.

It's always interesting that when these claims come up, the folks making them always want to see the most respected historical figures as sharing their lifestyle.

The C.A. Tripp Lincoln biography was the most recent incident before Gene Gene the Preachin' Machine opened his mouth. But no one like Tripp, Robinson or others ever tries to make a claim that someone like Hitler or Stalin shared their lifestyle (the best you can do here is Mel Brooks' revised version of "The Producers"). They're content to leave history's monsters to the hetrosexual crowd, while they claim common lifestyle with folks who had a more positive influence of humanity.

And in other news relating to the inevitable progress of the Glorious Gay Rights Revolution:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152572,00.html

This "we don't need the stupid bigoted voters enacting any more bans on gay marriage, the courts are *never* going to discover it in the constitutional chicken entrails" schtick is getting really old. Almost as old as the "you just hate me because I'm different" schtick.

The bishop preaches the Gospel of Thomas.