Dialoguing to Death

Call it the Law of Unintended Consequences. Our seemingly endless fascination with dialogue over the homosexual issue in this denomination may have the direct result of increasing the death toll of believers in the rest of the world. While that may seem harsh, a recent article in World magazine (March 28, 2009) points out that many non-western Christians particularly in Africa may be paying with their lives while we play word games. The article by Faith J.H. McDonnell makes the claim that "by pushing sexual politcs, Episcopal church leaders are compromising the churches' witness abroad, exposing Christian brothers and sistes to violence, and unwittingly aiding and abetting the Islamization of Africa and elsewhere."

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of Sudan relates in the same article that Sudanese Christians "are called infidels by the Islamic world when they hear our brothers and sisters from the Christian world talking about same-sex [realtionships] to be blessed...It will give them [Muslims] the upper hand to kill our people."

Some might call it ironic that the Reformed Church is carrying on its dialogue regarding homosexuality at the same time as it publicly calls for an end to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Some may call it that...I call it tragic.