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The Church of England's Trojan Horse: How the LGBTQI movement is destroying Christian sexual orthodoxy from within and replacing it with a counterfeit

The Church of England's Trojan Horse: How the LGBTQI movement is destroying Christian sexual orthodoxy from within and replacing it with a counterfeit

By Lisa Nolland
Special to VIRTUEONLINE
www.virtueonline.org
July 8, 2016

I believe the determining factor in the Church of England's evolving sexual ethic is the psychological strategies of After the Ball [ATB] by Kirk and Madsen. (1) As Evangelical Anglicanism appears unable to expose its lies or present the realities of LGBT lifestyles, increasing numbers have come under ATB's spell; indeed, its dictums are the new status quo. Already too stressed and stretched, most Christian leaders appear to underestimate the scale and magnitude of the crisis. Compounding this state of affairs is something along the lines of 'Don't ask, don't tell'. (2)

Because certain types of sexual behaviour and psychological dysfunction have been smuggled into protected categories of identity and personhood, gay becomes comparable to race: in fact, gay is the new black. What I do, feel and experience is the very core of my being. Whether intentional or not, this set-up leads to orthodox sexual ethics vanishing like snow in summer. 'LGBTQI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex] people' are portrayed as oppressed minorities. (3) To object is now 'racist' and hate-filled; who dares even venture into what happens sexually in such relationships? Biblical terms like fornication, adultery and homosexuality are increasingly heard and, more importantly, experienced as quaint, irrelevant or, in relation to homosexuality, repulsive. Who wants to be associated with the KKK?

Perhaps the latest thrusts in the Church will be the necessary wake-up call. Below are samples of epic gay successes---Anglican Mainstream (4) has the latest--- with recommendations for action at the end.

One. Thriving LGBTI Anglican (and related) advocacy organizations

• Inclusive Church; Accepting Evangelicals; Changing Attitude [CA]; Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement; LGBTI Mission; 'Synod Evangelicals for Good Disagreement', among others
• Inclusive Church partners with heavyweights like the Church Urban Fund (the Church's poverty charity) and Christians against Poverty. (5)
• 250+ 'Inclusive Church' C of E churches and 60+ CA C of E churches. (6) [Right, St Martin-in-the-Field]
• An orthodox Christian sexual ethic? From CA's Sexual ethics: A Report of the Lesbian and Gay Clergy Consultation Working Group (2003): ...casual sex can often be addictive and destructive [but], we think it is important to remain open to the possibility that brief and loving sexual engagement between mature adults in special circumstances can be occasions of grace... The exploration of our sexual selves can be something which benefits from involvement with more than one person. (p. 11) (7)

Two. Senior leaders/cathedral champions of the LGBTIQ cause

Journeys in Grace and Truth, edited by Jayne Ozanne [left], 'gay evangelical', featuring many 'gay-affirming evangelicals' and allies, and those who call for a 'rethink' on the acceptability of stable, faithful, permanent SS relationships. [Heterosexuals tend to assume 'faithful' automatically means sexually exclusive (i.e. only one sexual partner). It does not. They also assume that monogamous means exclusive. Again, it does not. It all depends.] (8) Bishops Colin Fletcher (Dorchester) and Paul Baynes (Liverpool) wrote the foreword. Bishops Rachel Treweek (Gloucester) and Edmund Seeley (Edmundsbury and Ipswich) gave glowing commendations. (9) Contributors include the Dean of St Paul's, Archdeacon of the Meon and Archdeacon of Loughborough. (2016)
• Former Trinity College, Bristol, Principal and retired Bishop of Bolton, David Gillett [right], London Pride, 2016. With gay lads wearing 'Jesus approved' cropped T shirts. Gillett used to affirm an orthodox sex ethic; like many others he gradually began 'seeing the light'and is now an enthusiastic convert. Another 'success' story for ATB!
• Liverpool Cathedral's appointment of LGBT advocate Susan Goff as Assisting Bishop. Goff still serves in the Diocese of Virginia, TEC, which had been disciplined by the Primates earlier this year. (2016) (10)
• Jeffrey John's sermon in Liverpool Cathedral where Jesus' healing of the Roman Centurion's servant is interpreted as a gay love story. (11)
• A senior manager at the CofE's National Church Institutions based in Westminster has been recognised by two national LGBT award bodies, C of E site. (2016) (12)
• Blessing Pride with Prayer and Flying the Rainbow Flag, York Minster [left]. (June 2015) (13)
• Public campaigners for gay marriage: Bishops Nicholas Holtam (Salisbury) and the Alan Wilson (Buckingham), with his More Perfect Union: Understanding Same-Sex Christian Marriage(2014).

Three. Other prominent and popular LGBT Anglican clergy

• The Revd Richard Coles, Vicar of Finedon, North'shire; hugely popular UK 'media vicar', author of the autobiographical Fathomless Riches (2014). Coles claims having lots of casual and anonymous sex with strangers was one of the great liberations of my life. When asked about its morality, he answered he had a fantastic time. (14)
• The Revd Rachel Mann, 'trans' lesbian activist at Manchester Cathedral who in 2014 spoke at a wildly successful event with hundreds of evangelical youth workers. (15) A sample of her/his Eucharistic liturgy: Holy God, chuckling wise woman, tender and strange... Christ our Sister, unite us in your holy bleeding... Birth-Spirit, as you coursed in intimacy through the veins of Eve and Adam, Hagar and Abraham, Deborah and Lappidoth, Naomi and Ruth, be the pulse of our lives. Desire us with your desire. (16)

Four. Church of England Synod and Shared Conversations

• The Revd Andrew Foreshew-Cain, the first 'married' gay priest elected to Synod, October 2015.
• The fact that LGBT groups support the 'Shared Conversations' and report positive results is telling. Conservatives have the right to speak but the issue is tacitly framed as second-order, agreeing to disagree. For Changing Attitude, All dialogue takes us forward. (17)

Five. Education
• Stonewall (Gay Rights) School Champion Programmes in 120+ C of E schools. (18)
Valuing All God's Children: Guidance for Church of England Schools on Challenging Homophobic Bullying (2014). Though not all bad, by setting sexual 'orientation' alongside characteristics such as race and ethnicity, this document for over 5,000 C of E schools reinforces the false but plausible 'born that way' notion of homosexuality. (19)
CHIPS and 'Pride in Primary', compulsory LGBT 'educational' programmes for 4s+. The former includes mock same-sex marriage ceremonies for 8-9s in class and prompts to get involved in PRIDE [left] for 10-11s. Research on church school involvement is ongoing. We know, however, that our heterosexual Christian youth, marinated in all things gay from nursery onward, are being indoctrinated. (20)

Recommendations

• Admit the scale and magnitude of the crisis and the inadequacy of the present responses.
• Address the challenges of the wider pan sexual revolution, not just the LGBT. Heterosexuality was first 'liberated', and in the main we have not adequately answered its claims or given our heterosexual flock persuasive enough reasons to 'be good'.
• Preach, teach and pray about these matters. ATB highlights the strategic importance of who controls the discourse and does the talking. Our side has largely fallen silent while the Opposition never stops!
• Offer practical help to strugglers who believe they are cursed by SSA but need help to move out of homosexuality. Dr Mike Davidson of CORE is seeing increasing numbers of clients and is encouraged by their progress!
• Challenge the specious claims of Inclusive Church: We believe in inclusive Church -- church which does not discriminate, on any level, on grounds of economic power, gender mental health, physical ability, face or sexuality and Valuing All God's Children: Everyone is an insider, there are no outsiders (p 28). What of bisexual polys who wish to marry two individuals, one of each sex, say? When polys (one of half a dozen sexual minorities still 'coming out') want to marry how will the Church respond? [Image, below: Jonathan with his two wives on their 'wedding' day, USA. The women had married previously; now they are a happy triad.] (21)
• If you cannot invest, establish a task force to get your church or group up to speed. How can you help parents and professionals handle LGBT demands in school and at work?
• Engage your church on the political/cultural front through the work of groups like Christian Concern or Christian Institute. At least promote, pray for and financially support them! They are trying to preserve the rights of religion and conscience for all in the public domain. The Church is acting as if it can sit this one out, and thus is largely MIA. It cannot.
• Appalling developments in North America and here are underreported or ignored by even the mainstream Christian press as well as the Church. A few examples:
---'7 sure signs American has declared war on our faith', Michael Brown, 2 May 2016, OneNewsNow
---https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-york-city-imposes-fines-up-to-250000-for-refusing-to-call-trans-person
---http://www.fpiw.org/blog/2016/06/23/new-california-proposal-puts-pressure-on-faith-based-colleges/ See also http://www.christianconcern.com/cases. (22)

Though things are not always black and white and we live in a pluralist, secular world, increasingly Christians (and other conservatives) are punished if they go public with their views. One does not have to endorse all aspects of every case in order to support the underlying principle. Niemöller reminds us: First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --- ...

Finally, to understand the ultimate terminus of the pan sexual revolution, see sociologist Gabriele Kuby's brilliant analysis, The Global Sexual Revolution, or her many articles on line.

Lisa Nolland MA MCS PhD (Bristol), Marriage, Sex and Culture Group, Anglican Mainstream, DrLisa1957@gmail.com

FOOTNOTES

1/ http://www.parentsofgaychildren.org/uploads/After_the_Ball_-_outline_by_Richard_Cohen.pdf which gives an outline (even second-hand copies are expensive). One of its most powerful strategies is to claim gays are 'born that way', thus gay is like race; also, for gays to 'come out' (but censoring ugly realities). Another strategy partly based in ATB is to claim full inclusion and thus the moral high ground. The official LGBTQI actually discriminate too; neither polygamous nor polyamorous relationships are included in the LGBTQI Hall of Fame, say. So if the latter can discriminate why can't we?

2/ Unsurprisingly, entities like Premier Christian Radio, Spring Harvest, CEN and New Wine have been negatively influenced, some making more 'progress' into heterodoxy than others. But among Reform types, we have found the rot has set in. Even those who manage to hold the line feel increasingly uneasy and unsure about sharing their 'awkward views' and so tend to stay below the parapet now, one of ATB's goals. See also former lesbian Rosaria Butterfield's shrewd observation of how laity censor their real views when speaking with pastors, a situation which is compounded because the latter's job put[s] you out of reach from the very people you think that you know (Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert p. 16).

3/ Intersex alone has a biological foundation but is not a 'third sex';
https://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-ideology-harms-children

4/ anglicanmainstream.org

5/ http://inclusive-church.org/links

6/ http://inclusive-church.org/directory;
http://changingattitude.org.uk/find-a-church

7/ Sexual-Ethics-imposed.pdf

8/ That 'open' but committed gay sexual relationships are not uncommon can be seen in how SSM legalization was created (no adultery clause), also http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36168415 (over half of male gay relationships are sexually non-exclusive); also David Blankenhorn, The Future of Marriage, pp. 149-50 for the distinction between monogamy and exclusivity; finally, conversation with Canon Dr Gavin Ashenden who spent many years ministering to LG people in Brighton and discovered that 'faithful' meant negotiated sex outside the committed relationship for many people. The most famous gay couple in Britain, Elton John and 'husband' David Furnish, enjoy an open relationships, news of which got reported around the world a few months ago, but was censored here in the UK.

This article focuses on how gay men have successfully opened up their 'marriage'. It is called having your cake and eating it.

9/ https://journeysingraceandtruth.com/commendations/

10/ Historic Appointment of Bishop Susan Goff as Assisting Bishop of Liverpool

11/ http://www.psephizo.com/sexuality-2/did-jesus-heal-the-centurions-gay-lover/

12/ CofE Sr. Manager in LGBT Awards

13/ minster to team up with york pride in historic show of lgbt-support

14/ Open Air Sex Strangers

15/ Pastor Response to LGBT Young People

16/ http://www.rachelmann.co.uk/pp002.shtml

17/ http://changingattitude.org.uk/about-changing-attitude/who-we-are/trustees. http://changingattitude.org.uk/category/blogs/shared-conversations offers conservatives sobering reading. Though not uniformly bleak they either ended in 'draws' or encouraged LGBT participants.

18/ http://www.stonewall.org.uk/our-members Several hundred educational institutions are Stonewall Champions in the UK.

19/ Valuing All God's Children

20/ http://www.educateandcelebrate.org/; http://anglicanmainstream.org/our-children-as-gay-champions-2/. Other examples here. At one of the most evangelical Anglican secondary schools in the UK, only two youngsters (who were not from the UK) were against SSM in their class; the rest were pro-gay. Romance Academy works with Soul Survivor, with the former now affirming Steve Chalke's position on 'relationships'. Last summer New Wine (Wk II) published and promoted Spring Harvest's handbook, Big Issues, for young people on relationships and other concerns. The most positive interpretation of Big Issues would be that homosexuality was wrong but a second-order issue. The worst interpretation was seen in its promotion of 'trans' lesbian activist Rachel Mann's (mentioned above) book, Dazzling Darkness. Another concerning incident related to a NW seminar with adolescents on sexuality. After the talk, a group descended on our stall and informed us that our views on homosexuality were hateful and wrong because being gay is fine!

21/ Polyamory may be the future of love: Polyamory does not feature in any census tick box but anecdotal evidence suggests that it is on the rise. Some are even calling for it to be recognised by law following the legalisation of gay marriage in the UK and the US. This is just the latest demanding rights for plural relationships (either heterosexual, bisexual, gay or lesbian). http://polyinthemedia.blogspot.co.uk/ is poly's premier site.
Polyamorous Man's Two Wives give birth has more photos of the happy trio. Much poly propaganda is now produced for mainstream media.

22/ Also Judeo Christian Civilization collapsing>;

One chapter contains countless (and mostly unknown/ignored) cases where individuals have been punished for maintaining Christian beliefs in the public sphere while the Church did nothing. How is this just? Indeed, WWJD?

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