People who are on slippery slopes don’t like slippery slope arguments.
The slippery slope argument says that once you allow ‘A’, you are at the top of a slippery slope which will sloppily and slippily carry you down the slidy thing you are on to ‘Z’. The people who are heading in the direction of ‘Z’ tend not to like being told they’re heading that way, presumably because they are ‘A’-type people.
So with apologies to people who don’t like slippery slope arguments, here’s a reminder about what conservative, reformed evangelicals were arguing about five—okay, seven—years ago in the Church of England:
It is no good arguing that female presbyteral ministry is only a second order issue.
For the sake of argument let us say that it is. An evangelical then finds himself in the invidious position, not only of having to create a canon within the canon of Scripture but also of having to argue that it is perfectly all right for a church to be a little bit disobedient to Scripture.
The current argument (we’re told by those who managed to convince us about the previous argument) is about whether or not to install practising homosexuals as Anglican bishops within the Church of England. I’m not convinced that it is really about that, but I am more and more convinced about slippery slopes.
Gordon,
On the current topic of women as bishops in Australian Anglicanism, I noticed the phenomenon you are speaking about.
Some of its proponents suggest the same approach will be taken with encouraging acceptance of homosexuality.
For example, Australian Anglican primate, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, said he believed the homosexual issue would need to be dealt with in “the same kind of way” as the ordination of women.
Dr Patricia Brennan, former president of the Movement for the Ordination of Women, has also likened the acceptance of gay marriage to the acceptance of women priests.
Of course not all proponents of women’s ordination hold this view and notably Australia’s first female bishop, Kay Goldsworthy said (same link as the Aspinall one) she thought having homosexual clergy was a different issue from having women clergy. Certainly most of my evangelical friends who are in favour of women’s ordination are opposed to homosexual marriage or ordination.
But in the above remarks one certainly sees some evidence of this slippery slope!
I forgot that Rev Sue Emeleus of my own Diocese also appears to link the issues here.
Hi Gordon
I predict a slide for the Sola Panel when you post 4 times in a row. Before we know it, it’ll be Sola Gordon and no panel anymore!
BTW – 1 Cor 10:12 seems to be a good reminder to be on guard for slippery slopes.
It’s interesting to note in the article you reference that the next item in the slippery slopes is multi-faith worship. Apparently the President of the Uniting church in Australia, the Rev Gregor Henderson has recently said that ‘Other faiths, [are] not for conversion’, why? because you might upset the interfaith dialogue. Coming soon to an Anglican church near you!