Split in Church necessary, traditional

Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson was consecrated as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New… Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson was consecrated as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire on Nov. 2, an event that threatens to split the Episcopal Church.

Robinson is openly gay – in fact, he’s the first openly gay bishop the Church has elected. And his election faced opposition from the more conservative factions of the Church, championed by the Pittsburgh Diocese’s Bishop Robert Duncan, who may leave the Church altogether.

Despite the controversial nature of this issue, both sides seem to be remaining peaceful. Gone are the hellfire and brimstone that can accompany disagreements about gay people’s roles in religion. Absent are the sulfurous accusations, and, if any Bibles are being thumped, the people thumping them are doing so quietly, and with consideration of those nearby.

Even Duncan, who wrote, in an e-mail to Robinson, “I can’t rejoice in your election … I can promise I will pray for you every day,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, seems free of malice, if not of smug moralizing. All in all, everyone seems to be accepting that a change is going to occur.

Robinson, for his part, is doing something brave. He has probably received many letters nowhere near as temperate as Duncan’s, and his choice to do something remarkable should be commended, no matter what your stand on the issue is.

But things seem, on the whole, civil. Indeed, according to the treasurer of one church in Rochester, N.H., during the consecration, those opposed to Robinson’s election were able to voice their protestations, after which they left, to go “quietly down the road to [their] own worship service.”

And isn’t that what religious sects should do? When confronted with a major issue – divorce or gay people’s roles – they should split. The Anglican Church, which spawned the Episcopal one, was formed through such a schism – when the Church of England divorced itself from the Roman Catholic Church over, well, divorce. And the tradition continues.

Religion is about faith and belief, and about following who or what you have faith in and what you believe. If people oppose Robinson, and cannot support a faith that does, rather than having bloodshed and shouting matches, they should simply and quietly exit. And they are.