The word "hateful" would certainly apply to certain people for whom any association with a homosexual would be repugnant. If the present controversy eradicates that attitude, then something good will come of it. But if the effort to distance ourselves from that attitude goes to the point where we encourage people to act on homosexual impulses, then we're doing them even greater harm.

The gospels relate that when John the Baptist baptised Jesus, God's voice boomed from the heavens: "This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." And the heavens echo with that phrase every time a child or adult enters the waters of baptism: "This is my daughter, my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

Williams not only came to New Orleans with a closed mind to the provable facts, he came with a plan to swiftly undercut the orthodox Global South and those orthodox Americans whom they have supported. Within days, the optimistic pundits and commentators who thought that Dr. Williams cared about the morality and integrity of the Communion, cared about the Windsor Report, cared about the Dromantine and Dar es Salaam Communiques, were shown to be mistaken. What Dr.

What were these priests playing at when they set out to issue a new official "teaching" on sexual ethics? By the beginning of the new millennium, the sexual taboos they deplored had fallen without their help: divorce was no longer stigmatised; cohabitation was a normal phase of the life cycle; and the majority of Americans, according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project's survey in 2003, believed that "Homosexuality should be accepted."