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TORONTO: New Anglican Bishop First to Legitimize Euthanasia and Same Sex Marriage
This is the first recorded act in which a bishop in the Anglican Communion has affirmed both issues
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
June 11, 2018
The new Bishop of Toronto, the Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil a proponent and supporter of same-sex marriage, recently participated in euthanizing a couple who had been married for 73 years.
On March 27, George and Shirley died, holding hands in their own bed in a Toronto retirement home with the help of two doctors, their children and Asbil, who watched from the foot of the bed as the couple drew their last breaths at almost the same moment.
Asbil, then the Dean of Toronto's St. James Cathedral, later told blogger David of Samizdat that he had "without hesitation", supported the couple's wish for their funeral to be held at the Anglican church.
This is the first recorded act of an Anglican cleric being present and openly supporting a couple intentionally committing suicide.
As Samizdat derisively noted; "The Anglican Church of Canada has produced a report in which it comes down firmly on the side of indecision. There is also a study guide to encourage parishes to have indecisive conversations about the church's indecision." This can be viewed here: https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/isach-sg-web-col.pdf
Asbil is also a proponent of same-sex marriage. When asked if General Synod were held today, how would he vote on the Marriage Canon amendments, Asbil said, "I would vote in favor of the motion."
As Samizdat observed, "I remember a time when for a church to be 'prophetic' it had to stand against the tide of the culture, against the immorality of the state, against the prevailing delusions that beguile our impressionable egos. Not so today. Because same-sex marriage is legal, the church has embraced it and has assigned committees loaded with waffling liberal clergy to contort Scripture to their collective will. It is much the same for abortion. And now euthanasia."
There is little doubt that if the Anglican Church of Canada openly embraced abortion that Asbil would be in the forefront of approving fetocide, in the name of a woman's right to choose, of course. The present stance of the ACoC is a classic waffle as this statement demonstrates.
"Abortion is always the taking of a human life and, in our view, should never be done except for serious therapeutic reasons." As recently as 2006, this statement was still offered on an official church website, but it has since been removed. The same press release refers to abortions as a negotiable right: "We think it right to try to establish a balance between the legitimate rights of women and the state's interest in the foetus," and re-asserts acceptance of abortion under some circumstances, "The Anglican Church, in its resolutions, accepts abortion as a therapeutic measure where pregnancy endangers a woman's life or physical or mental health."
Since the decision of the Supreme Court 20 years ago that a woman was entitled to have an abortion at any time in her pregnancy, the Anglican Church has been notably silent about abortion.
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