A Bishops's Courage to Pursue Illicit Affections & Intoxicating Addictions
15 Feb 2006
News that V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, has checked himself into an alcohol treatment center due to his “increasing dependence on alcohol,” was met with an unequivocal endorsement of Robinson by his dioceses. Speaking for the dioceses, a committee of priests and parishioners issued the following statement in support of their openly gay, alcoholic bishop: “We commend him for his courageous example to us all, as we pray daily for him and for his ministry among us.” Although I agree with the diocese that Robinson stands in need of prayer, I’m having a hard time understanding why he’s still in the ministry and what his diocese means by “his courageous example to us all.”
Is Robinson courageous for giving into temptation; and if so, are those who overcome temptation cowards? Is he deemed courageous because of his brazen assertion that nothing is wrong with all of his wrongdoing? Since he sees neither his sexual deviancy nor his drunkenness as sin, he’s made no courageous public confession of shortcomings. Neither has he bravely relinquished his bishopric due to his unworthiness to hold so high an office. Why, then, does Robinson’s dioceses laud him for his exemplary courage?
V. Gene Robinson is an audacious man who attempts to reinterpret the meaning of sin. To Robinson sin is not disobedience to God; rather, it is a matter of being true to oneself. Thus, Robinson presents himself to his parishioners as brave hearted and true. He is merely a man being true to himself in the pursuit of his natural affections. For instance, since Robinson sees himself as having no choice in his sexual orientation, he views his homosexual lifestyle as the fulfillment of God’s will for his life. To repent of his sexual perversion would be disingenuous, which is the lone sin in Robinson’s modern translation of Scripture.
In the brave new world of V. Gene Robinson, the only sin is being untrue to oneself. There is no such thing as sinful desires, only natural desires, which don’t lead to estrangement from God, as the Bible teaches, but to us becoming all that God created us to be. Herein lies the reason for the Episcopal Church’s touting of their openly gay priest for his exemplary courage. Robinson is indeed a most rare rector. He is a homosexual, alcoholic bishop with the courage of no convictions, exemplifying for his parishioners the bravery of pursuing illicit affections and intoxicating addictions.
Don Walton
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