Bishop Cleared of Allegations

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 5 — The clergyman seeking to become the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church has been cleared of 11th-hour allegations, church sources have confirmed, NBC News’ Jim Avila reported Tuesday afternoon. The vote by bishops to confirm the elevation of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, which had been postponed Monday for an investigation into the surprise allegations, was rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

JUST AS BISHOPS convened Monday to consider Robinson’s promotion to bishop of New Hampshire, allegations emerged that he inappropriately touched a man and that he was connected to a group whose Web site can indirectly link users to pornography.
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said Robinson, along with Douglas Theuner, the current bishop of New Hampshire, and representatives of his diocese, decided together “that a thorough investigation be undertaken before we proceed.”
Robinson did not comment. His spokesman, Mike Barwell, said that Robinson learned of the claims about 8 a.m. Monday and that “nobody is falling apart.”
“He’s been amazingly calm,” Barwell said in an interview Tuesday morning. “We are not afraid.”

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http://www.msnbc.com/news/947847.asp?0cv=CA01

this last-minute smear campaign really pissed me off. I just knew it was a hatchet job by some desperate extremists.

Some people are just bigots and do their best to ruin innocent people. So glad it worked out for the best, for all concerned.

trying to ruin a good man

I want these so called upholders of morality and traditional values how it's okay for them to lie, slander, and try to subvert the will of the people but it's wrong for Gene Robinson to be in a loving and committed relationship.

I don't accept the Bible as the literal word of God, but that Jesus fella seemed to have some pretty good ideas most of the time - I think I know who's side he'd be on throughout all of this.

I figured the timing of this was just too coincidental.

If this man has been a clergyman in the church and has been openly gay, why is there even a discussion about his qualifications to be a Bishop. Are gays only allowed to get to a certain level in the church and no further?


I don't understand the logic.

And, what does the bible say about homosexuality? It didn't seem to make the big ten. What about divorced, adulterous, or even light fingered clergy? What about the ones who say damn it? They're just dragging this through the great American political muck.

whoops.
This is great I'm so sick of the homophobes and their hatred.

But not so clear on the gay thing for the clergy. In fact there is a list of things that keep people from serving god and homosexuality is not amongst them. Lev 21

...which we don't. If we did, wearing wool and cotton at the same time would be nixed, not to mention a host of equally obscure and completely benign behaviors.

about the poor rabbit. I mean Lev 11:6 says I can't cuz it chews its cud. But it doesn't chew its cud. Whats up with that?!

He was openly gay, and if people couldn't deal with that they could always attend another church. Once he's a bishop though, many churhes are under his jurisdiction (like it or not).
Anyway, its nice to see a Repuke smear that didn't work.

"We are not afraid." Good for Robinson, and his supporters!

for the investigation to have finished so quickly

As soon as he's confirmed I sincerely hope he sues the person responsible for this.

Who said the guy making the 'boundary' charge is a _very_ well respected, much loved member of the community. Said source said the charges were probably blown out of proportion.

From what I've read, I'd agree; I said this in another thread on Gen. Discussion and it looked a lot like something every woman has to deal with: some guys are 'touchy feely' (but not necessarily harrassing) when you're in a conversation with them. Sometimes you're comfortable with it, and sometimes your not.

He put his hands on the man's shoulder while he was talking. While he might have tolerated this from a straight male, knowing he was gay makes him uncomfortable.

blown out of proportion. Why do wingers have such a hard time taking responsibility for their actions?

The person I spoke to had not yet heard the charge was dismissed.

In all likelihood you won't know this, because it tends to lower the drama of this and the media did not mention it prominently at all, to wit:

The bylaws of the church required that there be an investigation of this kind of accusation, irrespective of how flimsy it seemed on the surface. And boy did it seem flimsy. Two parts to the allegation:

1. "Pornography"--"A website he was involved in linked with a pornographic site." or words to that effect.

Bzzzzzt! Wrong! Thank you for playing! The facts were that a link on a website for an organization he'd helped establish for gay youth linked to another site that allegedly had a link to a pornographic site. He wasn't even administratively associated with the original group/website anymore.

2. A man who claimed that at some meeting Robinson had touched him "inappropriately." That could mean a lot of things, but from the highly cautious, almost legalistic wording in the email my impression was that it didn't amount to anything like harrassment, or the accuser would have said so. It was much milder than that--guy said something about Robinson "not respecting appropriate boundaries" which sounds like a catch-all qualification to me (sorry, don't have the exact text handy).

My wife, who was attending the convention and came back last night, said that it was quite clear the presiding bishop and others regarded this as a transparent delaying tactic. The fact that the investigation was completed so readily testifies to this as well. I can assure you--from some close personal experiences--the church is very serious about such accusations. They would not have let this go if there had been anything to it. What the incident says about the ethics of those on the other side of the question speaks for itself.

edit: format, clarification

Because the priests "lay on their hands" on a person's head
and or shoulders...I would imagine that the "inappropriate" touching
was just pastoral care.

My husband was raised Episcopalian so he has been following the story rather closely. We thought it was funny that some people did not think that this was an obvious delaying technique. If it wasn't, the allegations would have been brought up earlier. Homosexuality should not be a disqualification for being a bishop. If the Episcopalian Church thinks that it is, they should be honest about that rather than having someone make fictious allegations right before the vote upon his appointment.