Comments on: Is the Anglican Church of Canada a post-colonial church?

By: Cameron Thomson

Cameron Thomson — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 17:06:44 +0000

“Churches of the South recited everything about sexuality and other moral issues as they had been taught by missionaries.”

Does Fr. Laldin really mean to say that the “Churches of the South” aren’t led and peopled by men and women with convictions of their own, based on their own reading of scripture and their own “southern” experiences?

I’d also ask, what were all those churches doing that followed the Apostles’ teaching on sexuality and on the radical contrast between the varied sexualities that they had practiced in their former way(s) of life and the sexual purity to which they had been called as followers of Jesus? Of what Empire, what State Apparatus, what overwhelmingly coercive Institution was St. Paul, for example, a representative?

I spent my formative years in Pakistan and was confirmed in the Church of Pakistan by the then-bishop of Hyderabad, Sindh. I know Pakistani Jesus-followers, both Anglican and otherwise, who recognize that when it comes to sin and redemption, human beings are in one big boat–that all of the inequities and disparities and injustices that mar human history are manifestations of a common plight. I’m guessing they would be offended by Fr. Laldin’s implication that they are merely aping the mores of Victorian-era missionaries–particularly when it comes to sexuality (the fact that he makes this point in order to explain why the Southern church resents the North’s response to their convictions is ironic in the extreme).

If anyone is parroting an ideology that is thoroughly “northern” and “western” it is Laldin himself. Where in the world does he think that Critical Theory, with all of its later iterations, including Critical Race Theory, and Post-Colonial Theory originated? Sure, one can point to people like Gayatri C. Spivak and Edward Said. But come on! The Gospel and the scriptures aren’t Western/Northern. The line running, more or less, from (to name a few) Kant through Hegel, Nietzsche, Marx, Freud, Heidegger, Adorno, Horkheimer, Derrida, Foucault, Butler, and Califa is.

It’s voices like those that I hear resounding through this piece.

By: Jane Cox

Jane Cox — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 19:03:56 +0000

Just a comment about Ian Poole’s ‘comment’….. I agree that Rev Laldin’s article is very good and worth reading a few times as he writes of big and important issues. Ian’s last 2 sentences perhaps were written down too quickly. Bishop MacDonald has written many thoughtful articles about the path of many Indigenous Anglican communities in Canada. Theirs is a form of governance that is different than the parliamentary system and includes the building of consensus. It’s not ‘better’ or worse than the parliamentary system, but just a different way.

By: Ian Poole

Ian Poole — Sun, 19 May 2019 21:40:46 +0000

I think this is a great article, in that it shows that it is recognised that parts of the church feel that their understanding is being dismissed by the current church leadership. As Rev. Laldin points out “Their reaction was first rejected, then criticized and presented as an objection from conservative and biblically illiterate persons and churches. Prevailing was the narrative that the South must come out of the dark ages and interpret the Bible in the same way it is interpreted and presented in most of the North.”
I hope that the ACC leadership is able to understand that traditional Christian values are why some people choose to worship in Anglican churches. I don’t think the church that holds those values is a “break-away” from Anglicanism. Rather, it’s that part of the membership that wishes to subvert Christian teaching that might more accurately be described as apostate.
For example, I don’t think that the proposed change to the marriage canon will make gay “marriage” in any way equivalent to Christian marriage. I think the entire concept of “transgender” is flawed. I’m not sure how the ACC intends to allow diversity of worship if some members celebrate what other members properly call sin and vice.
I’m not sure either that the author has given too much thought as to the form of governance that might succeed the parliamentary system. If there is a better “system where diversity of opinion, religious practices, ethnicity and cultural heritage are celebrated, preserved and allowed to prosper through mutual respect for one another” then I’d like to hear about it.

By: Tony Houghton

Tony Houghton — Fri, 03 May 2019 16:01:48 +0000

In reply to Curt Gesch. Are Gods standards ever taken into consideration ? ,or does it just revolve around trying to keep people happy

By: Curt Gesch

Curt Gesch — Thu, 02 May 2019 21:17:10 +0000

Thank you for these comments that me in my understanding of some of the current discussions, trends, and controversies. My own view is that what you say might well resonate with the Indigenous Church (Anglican) that is also seeing that structural changes are necessary in the church and that room must be made (entrenched in canon law?) for a more pluralistic system that nourishes the respect of various groups. For example, I think that the decision about the marriage canon changes might well be understood as part of a growing understanding of how various elements of the Anglican Church of Canada might prod, inform, encourage, or correct each other while leaving room for cultural diversity and change.