Fr Joseph O'Leary writes

The letter below appears in today's Irish Times.

Christians and homosexuality
Madam, - Susan Philips (Rite and Reason, August 19th) agrees that St Paul's view of women "reflected cultural norms". Yet she thinks it "intellectually dishonest" to speak in the same way of biblical rhetoric on same-sex relations, which she sees as "deep foundational commands on how to live a life pleasing to our Creator." But a consistent scriptural hermeneutics cannot adopt liberal attitudes on women and illiberal ones on gays.

The open discussion among Anglicans on this issue is a practice run for what the Roman Catholic Church will soon have to face. The palette of discord was entirely predictable. Disappointing, however, is the failure of Anglican bishops to speak up for the victims of homophobic violence. Last year in Tanzania they obsessed for a week about American gay couples while ignoring the brutal mistreatment of gay Africans. This year's Lambeth Conference was a love-in among bishops, but without any convincing message of love to gay people.

The poisoned ideology of biblical fundamentalism leads African bishops to deny the existence of gay men and women or collude in their suppression. In contrast, far from representing a thoughtless faddism, as Ms Philips seems to think, the attitude of the Episcopal Church is one of deep moral responsibility, rooted in the real biblical values of faithful and creative love. - Yours, etc,
Rev JOSEPH S. O'LEARY, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan.