What about those who are not at the table?

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.