{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Sgwrs Tei Bow","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.clarkeroberts.co.uk\/cy","author_name":"Clarke Roberts","author_url":"https:\/\/www.clarkeroberts.co.uk\/cy\/author\/clarke-roberts\/","title":"A step backwards for the Church? | Bow Tie Talks","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"lLl3VUU3Eu\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarkeroberts.co.uk\/cy\/2012\/11\/21\/a-step-backwards-for-the-church\/\">Cam yn \u00f4l i\u2019r Eglwys?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarkeroberts.co.uk\/cy\/2012\/11\/21\/a-step-backwards-for-the-church\/embed\/#?secret=lLl3VUU3Eu\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;A step backwards for the Church?&#8221; &#8212; Bow Tie Talks\" data-secret=\"lLl3VUU3Eu\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/www.clarkeroberts.co.uk\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>","description":"Evening everybody. As some of you may be aware, the General Synod of the Church of England, for the past few days, has been deliberating on the issue of female bishops and whether or not to move forward and change Church legislation, allowing women to hold the role. \u00a0In what some might consider a shock move, the Synod voted against the movement, loosing by a small minority in the House of Laity. I ask the question, is this failure of the Anglican Church to allow the ordination of female bishops, a step backwards, or is it in fact a leap in the right direction for the preservation of an age-old faith caught up in the constantly changing modern world? Let me start if I may with the latter proposition: the refusal to change its [the Church&#8217;s] stance on female bishops is in fact a step in the right direction. At first, some of you may be thinking that I am a sexist,\u00a0misogynistic,\u00a0chauvinistic, patriarchal dinosaur who believes that women&#8217;s place is in the kitchen and not in professional roles. Well, you&#8217;d be completely wrong in this assumption but that does not deter from the fact that perhaps it&#8217;s a good thing that the Church is putting its foot down on something that it clearly feels so strongly about. Now, at this point I may have to feign ignorance and admit that I&#8217;m not 100% sure of what I&#8217;m about to suggest, but the Church bases its stance on female bishops on a passage from 1 Corinthians, which states that women should &#8220;remain silent in Church&#8221; (1 Cor 14:34). As suggested, I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s more than that and as I don&#8217;t know enough about it I shan&#8217;t speculate as to what those other reasons might be for fear of getting it completely wrong, but let&#8217;s say for argument&#8217;s sake that it is this passage alone that contributes to the Church&#8217;s stance on this matter. Why should we expect the Church to change its mind on an issue that is clearly prohibited in its literature? The Church is having an identity crisis. There have been episodes of people leaving the Anglican community as they feel it is straying too far from the traditional teachings of the Bible and of the originally intended catholic* Church. Christianity is founded on scripture, it is founded on the Church tradition dating back over 1500 years; if one is expectant of the Church to constantly evolve and change its views on certain issues, if one is demanding that the Church &#8216;modernise&#8217; and sacrifice its integrity and original identity by conforming to secular norms and customs, what is left of the authentic tradition it started out as? Should we demand that the Girl Guides allow male members? Should we demand that male football teams be comprised of both sexes? The answer is no. The single-sex nature of the examples given is what characterises these groups. They have, for whatever reason chosen to be exclusive to a particular gender, so [&hellip;]","thumbnail_url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-qAxfwkeH-zg\/Tx8T_hsnGrI\/AAAAAAABGGk\/F_GfUz5AcxU\/s1600\/cwpix.jpg"}