Bishop bans same-sex marriage because ‘Satan loves gay sex’
Albany Bishop William Love said that Satan was encouraging gay sex (episcopal diocese of albany/facebook)
An Episcopal bishop in Albany, New York has banned churches in his district from performing same-sex marriages, which he said Satan was using to encourage gay sex and “hurt and destroy” the denomination.
Bishop William Love placed a block on clergy in the Diocese of Albany performing gay weddings, in direct opposition to the Episcopal Church’s vote in July which passed Resolution B012, allowing same-sex couples to marry in any of its churches.
In an open letter published on Saturday (November 10), he attacked the resolution, writing that the Episcopal Church had been “hijacked by the ‘Gay Rights Agenda,'” which he said was “very well organised, very strategic, very well financed, and very powerful.”
Bishop William Love said that Satan was pushing the Church into allowing same-sex marriages because it leads to gay sex (YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty)
Albany Bishop William Love blames Satan
The Albany bishop, who has held his position for more than a decade, insisted that the devil was manipulating people within the Episcopal Church to bring it down.
He wrote: “Satan is having a heyday bringing division into the Church over these issues and is trying to use the Church to hurt and destroy the very ones we love and care about.”
Satan was doing this, Love wrote, “by deceiving the leadership of the Church into creating ways for our gay and lesbian brothers and sister to embrace their sexual desires” and engage in gay sex, “rather than to repent and seek God’s love and healing grace.”
He added: “There is no doubt The Episcopal Church and now the Diocese of Albany are in the midst of a huge storm that can rip us apart if we are not careful.
“The Episcopal Church has been hijacked by the ‘Gay Rights Agenda'”
— Bishop William Love
“That is exactly what Satan wants. We don’t have to play his game. If we focus on what divides us, we will be destroyed.”
Albany Bishop William Love: Episcopal Church is pushing sinful gay sex
Bishop William Love condemned the Episcopal Church’s vote in July (BabyBlue Anglican/youtube)
The bishop said that in passing the overwhelmingly popular Resolution B012, which according to HuffPost is expected to come into effect on December 2, the Church was telling him to “turn my back on the vows I have made to God and His People.”
Same-sex marriage, he wrote, made queer people think that it was accpetable to have gay sex, which he said God had “identified as sinful and forbidden.”
But, the Albany bishop added, he was not taking this position “out of mean-spiritedness, hatred, bigotry, judgmentalism, or homophobia,” but instead “out of love,” especially for people “who are struggling with same-sex attractions.”
Bishop Michael Curry, the head of the Episcopal Church—who gave a sermon at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s royal wedding—responded to the letter by reaffirming his denomination’s favourable approach to same-sex marriage.
Episcopal Church leader Bishop Michael Curry reiterated the Church’s support of same-sex marriage (Owen Humphreys – WPA Pool/Getty)
He said: “We are committed to the principle of full and equal access to, and inclusion in, the sacraments for all of the baptised children of God, including our LGBTQ siblings.”
The bishop added that he was “assessing the implications of [Love’s] statement and will make determinations about appropriate actions soon.”
