Today is one of those days when it is exceedingly depressing to be an Anglican. Jeffrey John's nomination as Bishop of Reading has cause a good deal of anger and vitriol. Some of this is sane, much isn't. So we have the very unedifying sight of the Bishop of Carlisle telling the nation on Newsnight that 'obviously the penis belongs to the vagina: that is something fundamental to the way God made us'. This is neither true nor helpful, it's a crass oversimplification at best. The church is very definately confused over sexuality. Bishops seem particularly unable to deal with the subject. All we get is the incessant round of 'the Bible says' as if it didn't say lots of things that we don't worry about in the same way. It makes me want to scream. What does God really think about all of this? There's a great cartoon in the Guardian today which has a Breugel-esque painting of widespread death and destruction. One of the characters being massacred is saying 'I think that bishop over there is gay' to which another replies 'We're doomed!!!'.

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