Now Bishop Chane's article is being reprinted in certain newspapers around the country. Interestingly enough - the two places where we have so far seen Chane's article reprinted have been Pittsburgh and Albany. The Rt. Reverend Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, is the Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, and the Rt. Reverend Daniel Herzog, Bishop of Albany, is a "Network" bishop. The Anglican Communion Network is the sector of the Episcopal Church in the United States with which Archbishop Akinola is in communion (Chane's "global alliance"). Akinola, and many other Global South primates broke communion with the Episcopal Church USA following the consecration of Gene Robinson as the bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson left his wife and children for a homosexual partner.

But Bishop Chane does not only attack the Nigerian archbishop. He also attacks the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) for sponsoring "so-called 'renewal' movements that fight the inclusion of gays and lesbians" within the churches. IRD has been working for the past twenty-five years to see the churches return to biblical and historic Christian teachings. But the bishop seems to believe that our stated mission of working to reform the churches' social witness is merely a cover for a more insidious agenda.

Wrong, Bishop Chane. You've been looking at too many conspiracy theories on religious left blog sites! We believe that it is not only right, but commanded by Scripture ("Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." Revelation 22: 17) for churches to welcome all people, just as Christ Himself welcomes all people.

At issue is what the church TEACHES. Churches for 2000 years have acknowledged the authority of Holy Scripture and taught that sex is set apart for marriage between a man and a woman. Churches have also taught that the same Jesus who healed the sick and transformed the lives of broken people when He walked on earth, will come into the brokenness of our lives today, set us free, and transform us.

Most of the Primates of the Anglican Communion are rooted and grounded in this liberating truth. This is what informs their pastoral concern for their flocks, and for those outside their flocks. Bishop Chane and others like him find it inconsistent that the Primates of the Anglican Communion could declare "their pastoral concern for gays and lesbians," but then prohibit them from ordination as clergy or from same-sex unions. Their concept of pastoral concern is to deny the destructiveness of sinful behavior.

Additionally, the bishop is not being completely transparent regarding the agenda of "inclusion" in the Episcopal Church and amongst other mainline Protestants. He speaks of gays and lesbians, same-sex unions, and the controversial consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. He doesn't mention that step after step has been taken to exclude those bishops and priests in the church who do not agree that such innovations are a "new move of 'the Spirit.'" Nor does he reveal that the goal, which he advocates, in today's Episcopal Church is the total deconstruction of traditional mores so as to bless and affirm gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, omnigender and other manifestations of broken sexuality. Finally, Chane warns that if IRD succeeds in renewing the churches, what is happening in Nigeria today will happen in the U.S. tomorrow.

Bishop Chane can calm down. IRD is an advocate of religious liberty and human rights and does not favor, nor lobby on behalf of, restrictions such as those now being promoted in Nigeria. We believe and defend freedom of speech for all people. A large portion of our work in renewing the churches is devoted to mobilizing Christians across the country to speak out on behalf of their persecuted brothers and sisters in Nigeria, and Sudan, Pakistan, Indonesia, North Korea, China, and elsewhere. This has been vital because many mainline church leaders have failed to speak out on behalf of the suffering church.

In that respect, we find Bishop Chane's silence on the severe persecution and, at times, downright slaughter, of our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria quite disturbing. We also find it misleading that Chane has chosen not to mention the influence of and challenges presented by Islamic "shari'a" law in Nigeria.

In an article in The Living Church on February 27, a spokesman for the Church of Nigeria, Canon Akintunde Popoola, argued that the proposed law should also be seen in light of the wider conflict between civil law and Shari a law. Under existing "Islamic law" in effect in "some parts of the country," actions listed in the proposed law currently "stipulate the death penalty," he said. The "Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act" before the Nigerian Federal Assembly would instead charge violators with penalties of up to five years in prison. The proposed federal legislation is onerous to us. But our society is not yet living in constant fear of the rule of Islamism.

Islamists often accuse Christians in the Islamic world of supporting Western immorality. The policies of liberal-led churches in the West, such as the U.S. Episcopal Church, often feed this accusation. Christians who live under or along-side Islam face the duel challenge of rebutting the charge while also opposing the imposition of shari'a. Archbishop Akinola and others walk a tightrope.

Thousands of people were killed in the past five years in the Anglican dioceses of Kaduna, Jos, and Katsina in north/central Nigeria for resisting the imposition of Shari a, or, in some cases, for merely being Christians. Following the murderous reaction of Islamists worldwide to the Danish "Mohammed" cartoons, Christians have faced yet another onslaught in Nigeria.

On February 18, 2006 in Borno State, a Catholic priest and fifteen parishioners were killed inside the church by Islamists. Reports indicate that another fifty were murdered in the town. The same day in another Northern Nigerian state, Islamist thugs broke into the home of one of Bishop Chane's fellow bishops in the Anglican Communion.

Their plans to kill the bishop were thwarted because he was out of the country. Instead they brutally attacked the bishop's family and staff. It would be nice if Bishop Chane would sometimes use his bully pulpit to speak out against this intolerance.

--Faith McDonnell writes for the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
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