View From The Pew
by Gerry Hunter
(Posted May 29th, 2001).
Fidelity BC Responds to Cathedral Play in New Westminster
Mr. Peter Turner, Chairman of
Fidelity BC, and Another Chance Ministries, has written to the people producing
the play “Articles of Faith,” to be presented tonight at Christ Church
Cathedral, Vancouver. The play, which was heavily promoted to synod delegates
in the diocese by the synod office, dramatizes the split in a parish,
ostensibly over the question of blessing same sex unions.
The timing and promotion of the play, presented by Savage God, the theatre
company resident in the Cathedral, has caused controversy because of both its
subject matter, and the timing of its presentation.
The letter, which follows, raises questions concerning the absence of an ex-gay
perspective in dealing with the question of blessing same sex unions, the
apparent misuse the story of Matthew Shepherd’s brutal murder for manipulative
purposes, and the nature of the efforts undertaken to promote the play.
Here is the text of the letter Mr. Turner sent:
May 29, 2001
Donna Julliani,
Director of Articles of Faith
Christ Church Cathedral
Dear Ms. Julliani,
Thank you, again for taking the time to speak with me this afternoon,
especially so close to the opening of your play as I know you must be very
busy. While I do not doubt the sincerity of your efforts with this play, and
while I do not pre-judge the bias of the material, I do have several serious
issues with the contents, the manner in which it has been promoted, and the
timing and location of the play.
In discussing your work it became clear that it has a total absence of an Ex-gay
perspective, and while that may indeed reflect the Port Alberni situation, it
is in keeping with the marginalization that Ex-gays have experienced in the
dialog process in this Diocese. It sounded like you are not very familiar with
people who have left the homosexual lifestyle. If you would ever like to find
out more, or if you would like to talk to former homosexuals please let me
know. The ministry I mentioned to you, Another Chance Ministries has a lot of
resources as well as people willing to share their story. They were also
marginalized by the dialog process. See also www.exodusnorthamerica.org
<http://www.exodusnorthamerica.org/>.
The other major concern I have about the content is the potential misuse of the
tragic story of Matthew Shepherd. If this material is not balanced with an
equally tragic story such as that of Jesse Dirkhising
(<http://www.covenantnews.com/dirkhising.htm>) you leave yourself open to
the charge of psychological manipulation. Mr. Shepherd was brutalized and killed
by two heterosexual thugs; thirteen year old Jesse was brutalized and killed by
two homosexual thugs. The difference is that the Shepherd tragedy was
sensationalized by months of news media, while barely a word was mentioned
about Jesse. The Shepherd story has been manipulated by gay proponents to
accuse innocent Christian ministries such as Exodus International and Focus on
the Family of complicity simply because they do not agree with the gay rights
movement.
The Shepherd story is still used in the media to impose a sense of guilt on
those who do not accept the gay rights agenda. This well-known psychological
technique is called guilt by association, and it works like this: simply by
rightful moral outrage over Mr. Shepherd’s suffering, a person will view Mr. Shepherd
with compassion; yet if that person does not agree with Mr. Shepherd’s
lifestyle, that person will be identified instead with his killers. It really
is a tasteless method of psychological manipulation. Is that why you chose the
Shepherd story? To make those who oppose gay marriages feel guilty? What other
reason could you have to highlight this sad story? Since you targeted Synod
delegates with free tickets on the eve of Synod, are you not guilty of vote
tampering by psychological manipulation?
I also object to marketing the play directly to Synod delegates. I suppose I
must, however, take that issue up with the Synod office as you mentioned that
contacting the delegates was done with the support and approval of them.
Isabelle in your office did, however, mislead my wife when she gave the
impression (perhaps in her enthusiasm) that she was from the Bishop’s staff.
Church secretaries were also contacted last week and requested to make sure
notice of the play went into their Sunday bulletins. Coming from the Bishop’s
office, such a request is intimidating.
The timing is also very upsetting to me, coming on the very eve of Synod with
no time for critical evaluation and response. This is an issue that really does
demand sensitivity and balance on both sides of the issue. It also requires a
lot of integrity, trust and openness. All of that is now gone and unfortunately
your play, coming the way it has, with the content as you described, and
marketed as it was, destroys any pretense that this was a fair process.
Sincerely,
Peter W. Turner
Peter W. Turner,
Chairman
fidelitybc@telus.net <mailto:fidelitybc@telus.net>
cc: Bishop Michael Ingham, FidelityBC Board, Dean Peter Elliott, House of
Bishops