Organizers of England’s Greenbelt Christian arts and music festival, which is expected to draw some 20,000 people to Cheltenham this weekend, are facing criticism for invited Bishop Gene Robinson to address the gathering.
 
The Bishop of New Hampshire is scheduled to make his presentation, “Homosexuality: What the Bible Says and Why it Matters,” on Monday, the festival’s closing day.
 
The Rev. Canon Chris Sugden of the traditionalist advocacy group Anglican Mainstream, said that while Greenbelt has often been a forum for exploring new ideas, Bishop Robinson’s views will be the only ones presented on the issue of human sexuality.
 
“Gene Robinson was invited because he’s a controversial celebrity,” Canon Sugden told the BBC. “The festival will be full of families with teenage children, a ready audience who might be persuaded by his sophisticated presentation technique. I suggest it’s a sign of prejudice by Greenbelt that they haven't invited other speakers.”
 
Beki Bateson, the festival’s coordinator, rejected that claim, telling the BBC that the festival has had presentations from all sides of the sexuality debate in the past. She said Bishop Robinson was invited based on the strength of his presentations at other appearances, and stressed that his would be just one voice among many.
 
“Sometimes those voices are not always programmed at the same festival,” she said. “Some issues, including the debate around sexuality, have been addressed over a number of years from varying perspectives.”
 
“Greenbelt believes that young people learn what they want to learn,” she concluded.
 
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