I believe that our sin is indeed driving this conflict—not the sin being talked about, but the one we keep hidden: the sin of colonialism with its attendant racism is visiting itself upon us unto the third and fourth generation. Lesbians and gays are but scapegoats, a convenient issue that presents itself to those whom we have systemically devalued and abused for centuries flex their muscles as for the first time, their bishops have become a majority of the Anglican Communion.

The Anglican Communion is the accidental byproduct of British colonial rule, and in time, a byproduct of American colonialism as well. The New York Historical Society has for several years now mounted a series of exhibits about slavery in New York City. The “stock” at the original New York stock market was human stock: it was the slave market. Much of the wealth and power of this country, of this city, and of the Episcopal Church, derives from the fortunes made, directly and indirectly, by slavery and by the continued economic subjugation of descendents of slaves.

During this Lent, take a tour of neighborhoods you don’t normally visit in this marvelous capitol and ask yourself, “Of what I see here, how much is part of the continuing legacy of slavery?”

The cure for sin is not guilt—the gift that keeps on giving—but rethinking and right action.

Ask yourself what you can do to reverse the legacy of slavery? For example, you might organize a diocesan task on Reparations. You might ask John Johnson how you can become more involved in supporting the Millennium Development Goals (the MDGs). If you have not already done so, calculate .7% of your own annual income and send it to Episcopal Relief and Development earmarked for microeconomic projects in the world’s poorest nations, or earmarked for work with bringing black people back to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

My friend Alex Baumgarten, John’s colleague in our Washington Officeis has warned me that even in individual responses to MDGs we may make ourselves feel better and yet still miss out on an opportunity to have a bigger impact in eradicating economic injustice. .7% from every Episcopalian, if given, would be fine, but only a drop in the bucket to the amounts that Episcopalians can hope to raise for MDGs if we pressure our government to make a similar contributions to the economies of the poorest nations, whose resources corporate and individual American interests have too often exploited.