A Church at War : Anglicans and Homosexuality

Rating:
Summary: Teen-reader
Review: At first glance this book,Church at War:Anglicans and Homosexuality,looks promising.But once the reader delves into its biased pages, they will not see a fair and balanced book, but a mean spirited, one-sided,and un-polished view. The author, Stephen Bates, portrays conservatives as ( and these are quotes)," Portly and Red-faced," and also," Older, white,and mousy." Keep in mind these are people he obviously does not agree with.When describing liberal people however, he says things like," Young, bright and black." These comments are offensive to me. My vote is a thumbs down.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant exposé of evangelical fundamentalism
Review: Bates provides a brilliant exposé of how a small cabal of conservative Evangelicals, a minority even within the Evangelical tradition in Anglicanism, have made homosexuality the definining issue in the Anglican Communion today. Bates ruthlessly exposes the media spin, American big money backers, unbalanced extremists and double standards behind the anti-gay camp in Anglicanism. Bates traces the growth of conservative Evangelicalism within Anglicanism in contrast to an increasingly pluralist and tolerant social stimmung in Britain and Ireland, relating how the sense of being backed into a corner makes the extremist wing of the Church more dangerous. He also casts a caustic eye over the double standards that make male-male sex a defining issue of orthodoxy for conservative Evangelicals while they ignore issues like polygamy and Christian involvement in the Rwanda genocide.

This book is disturbing. After reading it, moderate, Catholic and open Evangelical Anglicans will be in no doubt that we are engaged in a war for the soul of the church. In his final chapter, Bates looks at some of the casualties of that War. For the sake of those broken people, it is a war we must win.

Rating:
Summary: Bates Motel
Review: Unless you are a liberal, save your money. Stephen "Norman" Bates' book belongs in the slasher novel category. He is guilty of lobbing grenades at the orthodox and conservatives. After reading Bates book, the reader can understand why Nigerian Archbishop Akinola and Dr. John Stott didn't grant Bates an interview. Bishop Edward Little must wonder why Bates called him "mousey". What a shame Bates, an Oxford historian, marred his book with such an infantile description of Dr. David Virtue. His book fails miserably at helping the warring factions to understand each other. Until Bates gets to a gym, he should refrain from calling others "portly". Mercifully, he spared the reader his mug shot.