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3 of 26 Anglican Bishops Turned out for Vote on Bill Which Severely Restricts Christianity

By Hilary White

LONDON, March 23, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - 23 of the 26 Anglican bishop members of the House of Lords absented themselves from Wednesday's vote on the Sexual Orientation Regulations, a result that has earned them the wrath of the Christian laity of the Church of England. The bishops of Southwell and Nottingham, Winchester and of York attended.

Early this week, Anthony Archer, a Synod member of the Crown Nominations Committee, addressed a letter to the bishops saying that their relevance as members of government was at stake in the vote.

Yesterday Archer told a Church of England newspaper that the bishops by their absence had done nothing to help justify their continued presence in the House of Lords.

Since the establishment of the protestant Church of England as Britain's official state religion, bishops of that church have enjoyed the privilege of holding seats in the Upper Chamber. But as Britain becomes increasingly secularized and anti-Christian trends are rising, many are re-examining the relevance of their presence as bishops in a body of government.

Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the think tank Ekklesia, said, "At a time when their unelected place in the House of Lords is in question, particularly after the Common's vote for a completely elected Second Chamber, it was unlikely that bishops would turn up in significant numbers. If they did, and it had a significant [negative] bearing on the outcome, it would have undoubtedly increased calls for their removal from the House of Lords."

"The whole episode however raises even more questions about the role and legitimacy of 26, all male, unelected, bishops from just one religious grouping, sitting in the middle of a Parliamentary democracy."

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, of Ugandan origin and the second most senior cleric in the Church of England was the strongest Anglican voice against the imposition of the Regulations. He said that the government was seeking to have "consciences surgically removed." While the government introduces a "new hierarchy of rights," religious people were quickly becoming a "sub-category" in society.

Dr. Sentamu quoted William Wilberforce, the 18th century slave trade abolitionist, saying, "The time is fast approaching when Christianity will be openly disavowed, in language as in fact it is already supposed to have disappeared from the conduct of men: when to believe will be deemed the indication of a feeble mind and contracted understanding."

Another who attended the vote, Rt. Rev George Cassidy, said, "It is hard to escape the conclusion that the right to freedom of religion is being treated as of lesser weight than other human rights."

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: UK Christians to Anglican Bishops - Show up and Vote Against SOR's or Forget About Relevance http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07032008.html

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