A church politics of nondomination
Liberal Anglicans and Methodists often face a tension between LGBTQ inclusion and anti-colonialism. But we don’t have to choose.
(Illustration by Katrien De Blauwer)
Is affirming LGBTQ people an act of colonizing theology? When the Episcopal Church elected its first openly gay bishop 20 years ago, an Anglican bishop in Africa responded, “We grieve because we remember the pain that has come from similar imperial actions in the past.” More recently, after the Church of England decided to bless same-sex unions, traditionalist Anglicans invoked colonialism when they said that they no longer want to be led by the archbishop of Canterbury: having the head of the Anglican Communion based in England, they said, perpetuates patterns of authority from British colonialism. Meanwhile in Methodism, US traditionalists perennially say that they stand with Methodists in Africa when opposing ordination of LGBTQ clergy or recognizing same-sex marriage. We hear that progressives should be ashamed of ourselves for acting so colonialist in our LGBTQ support. Legacies of European colonialism have been at the heart of worldwide church conflicts over queer inclusion.
All this can feel dizzying for progressive Episcopalians, Methodists, and others in global church traditions. Sometimes we feel flat-footed, unsure what to say in response to this critique. We view ourselves as against colonialism but might feel lost for a response. We may assuage our conscience by saying that the colonial critique is a traditionalist strategy to employ our own affirmations against us. While I don’t doubt that some rhetorical strategy is at play, I also believe that the colonial critique isn’t entirely wrong. Progressives have sometimes used colonial-styled rhetoric, portraying a pro-LGBTQ stance as a necessary step in a path of progress defined by the sensibilities of liberal Western culture.
More importantly, progressives have struggled to articulate how affirming LGBTQ people is part of a comprehensive vision inseparable from the struggle against racism and colonialism. We’ve struggled to be both pro-queer and anti-colonial. In this regard, we’ve sometimes given in to a traditionalist framing of these issues that says we can be either pro-queer or anti-colonial but not both. Without a larger framework, we haven’t overcome this stark division.
