The major and most burning issue was the issue of homosexuality and the enthroning of a gay Bishop way back in 2003. They developed a road map for the Communion to weather the apparently mortal crisis brought about by the ordination of a gay bishop - Gene Robinson - in 2003. As the price of staying in the Communion, Dr Jefferts Schori had to agree to the establishment of a parallel church organisation in America, as a home for traditionalists who have broken away from the Episcopal Church because of its liberal approach to homosexuality.

And the church so established is not answerable to the Episcopal church in USA but to a Council of Bishops outside the USA. This how the conservative archbishops - especially from the Nigerian, Kenyan, Ugandan, Rwandan, Singaporean and South American branches of the Communion - who wanted to expel the Episcopal Church altogether were calmed down.

Many Archibishops, including that of Rwanda boycotted the holy communion at the closure of the primates council. But what is this cancer, what type of evil is homosexuality that is threatening to split the congregation of close to 75 million, the biggest percentage of which is in Africa? (Nigeria alone has about 18 million Anglicans while the USA has only 2.3 million Anglicans).

The ancient Roman Emperor Justinian believed that homosexuality was the cause of earthquakes, plagues, famine, and various other maladies. Modern-day critics have been only slightly less creative in their allegations. Homosexuality has been blamed for the breakdown of the family, the AIDS crisis, sexual abuse in the priesthood.

In Ethopia the law prohibits homosexual acts by both sexes, with a penalty of up to three years in prison. This may be increased by five or more years when the offender "makes a profession of such activities". While in Kenya homosexual behaviour is banned between men, which are referred to as "carnal knowledge against the order of nature". The penalty is five to 14 years' imprisonment. The age of consent is 16. Lesbian relations are not prohibited by law.

In Ghana male homosexual activity is illegal. Gay men can also be punished under provisions concerning assault and rape, if "in public or with minor" and in Morocco homosexuality is illegal and can be punished with up to three years in prison and a fine of up to £75, but the law is seldom enforced, and homosexual activity is fairly common, especially in the resorts. Because homosexuality is seen as an evil in Japan, Shinto and Japanese society are tightly bound together each shaping the other.

This, in combination with the flexibility of the Shinto religion, has meant that acceptance or rejection of homosexuality by Japanese society manifests itself into Shinto. Historically, homosexuality was acceptable in Japanese society, especially in the Warrior class and later the Middle class. With increased contact with Western nations in the 19th Century, Japanese society adopted the view that homosexuality was uncivilized, and thus rejected it. Homosexuality was rarely seen as immoral, but socially unacceptable. Shinto views on the family and social responsibility became justification for this rejection.

In recent years, homosexuality has become more acceptable in Japanese society as many people believe that science has shown that it is completely natural for a minority of adults to be attracted solely to members of the same sex. Again, this social transition has manifested itself in the Shinto religion. Socially conservative and progressive Shintoists may both believe that their religion is a vindication for their beliefs on homosexuality. Many social conservatives believe that reproduction is essential to the family and the transition of tradition to the next generation, as do some infertile couples.

Since homosexuality cannot result in reproduction it is seen as a means by which tradition might be ended. Other social conservatives believe that homosexuality itself is untraditional and bad for society as a whole. Social progressives believe that because most adults are heterosexual, tradition could not be destroyed solely through homosexuality. Homosexual couples may adopt children and pass their traditions on to the next generation without biologically reproducing.

Yet questions come up whenever the Christian or the church takes a stand on a moral issue. How can anyone dare to speak out against another person's lifestyle? Especially within the church? Are not Christians called to be loving and inclusive? Does not the Bible itself tell us that we are to reach out to people instead of being judgmental and self-righteous?

I realize that it is not "politically correct" to speak critically concerning any person or group. Nonetheless, true Christian love does not ignore immorality and the life ruined by it, but speaks out in the hope of helping those individuals. This is particularly true when militant pro-homosexual groups, both within society and the church, have attacked the traditional Judeo-Christian understanding of this important issue.

Yet the gay rights movements do not just want the right to privacy and to be left alone. Attempting to promote their cause as a civil rights instead of as a moral issue, they want special legal protection for, and cultural acceptance of their lifestyle. Even many Christian churches have condoned or are sympathetic to homosexuality, ignoring the Bible's teachings concerning our sexuality. Concerning the demands of the gay rights movement, gay spokesperson Jeff Levi in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington stated: "We are no longer seeking just a right to privacy and a protection from wrong.

We also have a right - as heterosexual Americans already have - to see government and society affirm our lives." Homosexual activists attempt to portray their lifestyle as normal and healthy, and insist that homosexual relationships are the equivalent in every way to their heterosexual counterparts.

Hollywood and the media relentlessly propagate the image of the fit, healthy, and well-adjusted homosexual. Instability and promiscuity typically characterize homosexual relationships. These two factors increase the incidence of serious and incurable sexually transmitted diseases In addition; some homosexual behaviors put practitioners at higher risk for a variety of ailments.

A study presented July 13, 2000 at the XIII International aids Conference in Durban, South Africa disclosed that a significant number of homosexual and bisexual men with HIV "continue to engage in unprotected sex with people who have no idea they could be contracting HIV."

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco found that thirty-six percent of homosexuals engaging in unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex failed to disclose that they were HIV positive to casual sex partners. Homosexuals with STDs are at an increased risk for HIV infection. Studies show rates of infection as high as 36 percent in major cities.

Some studies attributed the high infection rate to having high numbers of anonymous sex partners: "syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia apparently have been introduced into a population of same sex who have large numbers of anonymous partners, which can result in rapid and extensive transmission of STDs." Homosexuals are also at increased risk for a rare type of cancer, which is potentially fatal if the anal-rectal tumors metastasize with other bodily organs causing anal cancer.

As you know, the crisis over human sexuality is a very deep one indeed. The idea that we are somehow to blame for making so much fuss about sex is ludicrous. Human sexuality is so powerful a gift and so basic to our human nature, and so fraught with both good and ill, that it is bound to occupy a large part of our thinking.

Indeed it is all part of our cultural reappraisal of the roles of men and women, with vast consequences for the quality of family life and the good of the begetting and nurturing of the race. In the end, it is also a crisis over biblical authority and its clarity; hence the importance of Biblical Theology. Here is a crucial sticking point.

To accept various contemporary ways of reading scripture will leave us vulnerable at all points. We will not defend the uniqueness of Christ, if we will not defend the plain teaching of scripture on human sexuality.

In the Old Testament we find heterosexuality to be proclaimed as God's natural order of creation, a teaching Jesus upheld in the New Testament. Biblically, homosexuality is described as both an "abomination" and "unnatural." God calls us to reject sin, but to love and value all people.

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