And now a word from our Anglican brethren

While web cruising (an unfortunately rationalizable exercise in time-wasting), I came upon some lively thought and writing on a blog dedicated to the discussion of "Continuing Anglicanism" (aka churches that have withdrawn from the Episcopal Church in the USA in response to the unorthodox beliefs and actions of recent years). Although leaving me with the unfortunately (though perhaps undeserved) impression that good and faithful Anglicans are trapped, for now, in defining themselves by what they are not (e.g. Not Protestant, Not Papist, Not Heretical), the vigor and dedication of the writers' commitments to following Jesus faithfully is apparent and inspiring. I am honored to consider them brothers and hope they would reciprocate.

A post that particularly impressed me is a discussion by one of the contributors (nom de plume "Poetreader") on Pope Benedict's recent remarks on gender identity. Poetreader's essay, Benedict on Gender, is one of the most well-articulated discussion of the issue of homosexuality and the Church that I have ever come across. What makes it more striking is that it is written by a man who himself experiences same-sex attraction.

There are those of us who, for whatever reason, genetic, biological, psychological, or social (where it comes from doesn't really matter all that much), find ourselves attracted to members of our own sex. That is a present reality. It is, so to speak, the hand we've been dealt, and we need to be able to play that hand according to the rules. There's a difficulty, a struggle, involved in that. I am male, and that does make me different in a surprising number of ways from females. That is biological fact and any attempt to ignore that or to minimize it is an attempt to make me less than God intends, and this is so for the female as well. True freedom does not arise from denial of biological reality but from embracing it, and it is not freedom to be imprisoned by one's desires, but in knowing how to rise above them and, when they are not acceptable, to deny them.

The author has gone into greater depth about his personal journey here.