We Don't Understand What "Tradition and Reason" Mean

By Carter Heyward

As many conservative church activists are currently making clear, much of the leadership of the Anglican Church in Africa and other parts of the world is strongly opposed to the ordination of gay and lesbian people and the blessing of same-sex relationships. More than a few of these same leaders are also strongly opposed to the ordination of women. Small wonder, since most of the Christian world beyond Europe subscribes to a colonized version of Christianity, imported over the past several centuries by missionaries from Europe and the United States who espoused the inerrancy of Scripture.

We North American Christians -- Episcopalians and others -- should not be surprised that this legacy of colonialism and imperialism is coming back to haunt us now in the guise of a harsh Biblicism. By "Biblicism," I mean a strict adherence to the letter of the biblical law rather than an effort to live in the spirit of biblical teachings, which require us to listen carefully and prayerfully for what God may be saying to us about the issues that face us today. 

What U.S. conservative Episcopalians and most of the international voices they cite fail to acknowledge is that Anglicans -- including Episcopalians -- have traditionally held that the Word of God reaches us not through the Bible alone, but rather in the Bible as informed by Tradition and Reason. Among Anglicans, the meanings of "Tradition" and "Reason" have always been ambiguous.

For some of us, "tradition" includes the threads of justice-struggle and liberation theology . . . By contrast, most Christians view "tradition" as obedience to religious authority. Ironically, since religious authority usually supports the political status quo, this puts most Christians on the wrong side of the struggles for justice in their own time.

For some of us, "tradition" includes the threads of justice-struggle and liberation theology that weave in and out of the Christian story from its earliest days, beginning with Jesus himself. Later saints -- such as Francis, and Clare of Assisi, and Joan of Arc, and modern-day prophets like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Desmond Tutu -- are among countless Christians who have born witness to a liberating God who is never popular among the majority of Christian people. By contrast, most Christians view "tradition" as obedience to religious authority. Ironically, since religious authority usually supports the political status quo, this puts most Christians on the wrong side of the struggles for justice in their own time.

Similarly, for most Christians, "reason" refers to a cerebral activity and nothing more.  But for some of us, "reason" does not refer merely to the rational thought processes of the human mind, but rather, more broadly, to what we are able to learn from the whole arena of human experience. This includes, for example, our feelings of joy and fear, and our experiences of yearning for intimacy and of sexual desire. Reasoning in this way, Archbishop Tutu concludes that sexual pleasure is such a grand gift from God that heterosexual people should not be selfish in wanting it all for themselves but should be glad that homosexuals can share in this gift!

Like other advocates for gays and lesbians in and beyond the church, Desmond Tutu understands that the consecration of a gay man, Gene Robinson, as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire was a justice issue as well as a festive celebration of the spiritual leadership of this very fine and very faithful man. In the context of contemporary questions about gay and lesbian Christians, Anglicans -- Africans, North Americans, and others -- would do well to realize that matters of sex and gender are serious justice matters, with profound moral meanings and consequences for everyone, not just gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Christians. 

Of course there are other matters of justice and peace that weigh upon us, and must be taken to heart, if we intend to follow in the ways of Jesus: racism, tribalism, poverty, economic exploitation, environmental destruction, war, militarism, violence and abuse in its many dreadful forms, the special needs of children, elderly, disabled people; and the well-being not only of humans but of all species on earth. The peoples of the earth and the earth itself cry out for love, compassion, and justice, as church leaders -- conservative and progressive alike -- who work with people suffering from AIDS in Africa will understand. It is always our responsibility, as Christians and as persons of other spiritual traditions, to respond with God's help to human and creaturely suffering.

It is simply a historical fact that, from St. Augustine in the 5th Century on, misogyny (contempt for women) and erotophobia (fear of sex) have been foundations of Christian theology.

But we must not forget that women and sexual minorities -- those considered immoral and damned in all patriarchal religions, including Christianity -- are always on or near the bottom of the heap in the minds of the men who wield religious power. It is simply a historical fact that, from St. Augustine in the 5th Century on, misogyny (contempt for women) and erotophobia (fear of sex) have been foundations of Christian theology. Up to this present moment, they provide a mighty link between the Pope, the various international Anglican bishops cited by conservative activists, and their counterparts among Christian leaders in the United States today.

As a lesbian priest myself, I speak for those men and women -- in South Africa and Uganda as well as my own region of western North Carolina -- who today are navigating challenging passages between, on the one hand, renouncing Christianity as a hostile religion of fear, ignorance, and oppression and, on the other, assuming naively that the church will turn from its faithlessness if we ourselves exercise patience, humility, and compassion in relation to those who believe there is no place for us in Anglicanism.

There is truth in both claims: the church is oppressing gays, but, because the Spirit arcs toward justice, the church is indeed changing. Along the way, the better part of wisdom for Christian gay men, lesbians, and our allies is to cultivate a "revolutionary patience" in which the Spirit helps us weave together our anger at oppression, our insistence upon justice, a sweetness of spirit and humor, and a tenacious faith in God to move the struggle. 

At the end of the day, those who come after us will realize that gay folk have been a gift to the church.

 

The Rev. Carter Heyward, Ph.D. is an Episcopal priest who lives in Brevard, N.C., where she is is currently serving as liturgical coordinator for the Brevard Episcopal Mission. She is the Howard Chandler Robbins Professor of Theology at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., where she has taught since 1975, and is the author of more than a dozen books. Carter may be reached by email at carterhey@cs.com