I have been following the
discussion on the proposed changes to the Marriage Canon of the Anglican Church of Canada fairly closely. I was encouraged to note the special
consideration and care afforded to our Indigenous brothers and sisters in this discussion
and the willingness of the governing bodies of the Anglican Church of Canada to ensure that their cultural practices and religious values are honoured
and protected during the process and in the Marriage Canon. It is indeed an important realization, as we
work towards reconciliation with the Indigenous peoples of Canada. This, in my humble opinion, is a departure
from the culture of assimilation and the dominant culture imposing their will,
theology and biblical interpretation on others.
While I applaud, rejoice and
take comfort from this; I am equally disturbed, despondent and disillusioned by
Church’s indifference to Non-Caucasian members of the Anglican Church of
Canada. I am disappointed that the
church has not made any effort (at least to my knowledge) to consult with and
more than that to acknowledge the discomfort and angst of visible ethnic
minorities in our churches. It seems to
me that we are expecting them to accept the outcome of the discussion and to
follow the lead of the dominant culture in the church.
As you know, Christian
Missionaries closely followed the empire to various parts of the world to
preach the gospel. The basic premise was
to convert the heathens and to make them in the likeness of the state and
dominant religion. To this end, the
cultural and religious practices were condemned and presented as witchcraft and
the converted were taught to live in accordance to the moral code of the
bible. This moral code was presented as
the wishes of and from God. As a result
of this, polygamous, polyamorous, metrosexual and pansexual
communities morphed into the likeness of missionaries and their interpretation
of the bible. Whether it was good or bad
is a conversation for another day.
What is pertinent to today is
to think about and reflect on the spiritual trauma ethnic communities are
dealing with in our own churches. The
trauma is rooted and embedded in a simple inquiry about the moral code of and
the interpretation of the bible. One of
the common comments that I have heard from visible ethnic members is; they told
us that it was bad and we had to change our ways and now they are telling us
that all of this is fine. Their
objection and discomfort is neither acknowledged nor appreciated by their own
church. I appreciate this at various
levels as I am a visible minority whose family (five generation ago) was converted from Sikhism and
who did grow up with a strict and narrow biblical moral code. Incidentally, I have personally wrestled with
this particular issue and through my passionate interaction and dialogue with others support equality in marriage.
Perhaps the only way to deal with this is to invite diverse voices to the conversation learn about one another. This will perpetuate trust which will allow us to honour our differences and to seek a common ground and a way forward.
