For all that, Anglicanism’s public troubles proceed from the takeover of Western Anglicanism by theological activists whose purpose is the remolding of Christianity into something less like the old-time religion than like the platform on which Barack Obama will run for president.
Whereas orthodox Christianity insists on the salvational role of the second person of the trinity – more popularly called Jesus – activist orthodoxy calls for supporting climate change and advancing women’s rights. And for establishing homosexuality as a sexual “preference” equivalent to heterosexuality.
It was the Episcopal Church’s consecration of a gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire that, for many Anglicans, here and abroad, finally ignited the gasoline on the brush pile. American conservatives blasted the consecration; foreign heads of overseas Anglican churches promised to support their brothers’ stand for God-given, as they saw it, moral norms. Great ugliness ensued: ungenerous words spoken on all sides; declarations of independence from the church; lawsuits levied by the church against rebels seeking to take their churches with them; the Gospel made a token of strife and mutual accusation.
A fourth-century father of the church, speaking of his own time, pronounced on ours: “We are making war upon one another,” said Gregory of Nazianzus, “and almost upon those of the same household. Or if you will, we the members of the same body, are consuming and being consumed by one another.”
This seems to me to be a pretty shotty piece of writing filled to the brim with gross over-generalizations.
Most of the things he has said are sound and accurate. But one thing is quit e clear. We shouldn’t be at war with each other. T his is a waste of blood and ammunition. We should write out a bill of divorcement and proclaim it; we get the house and we give the liberals the gate.
T his is not difficult and it should be obvious to everyone now that internecine war will yield no victories. TEC will never alter its course.
So goodbye yet already. Haven’t we better things to do than this?
Larry
This is a sound piece of writing. It captures what I think is the real problem, and I am glad to see it expressed clearly.
I believe deeply in justice, charity, and mercy, but I do not see them as the main goals of a politicized Anglican Church; nor do I have any more sympathy for Roman or “Christian Right” political agendas. I want first of all to worship God reverently, liturgically, and in accordance with scripture as interpreted in a tradition both apostolic and reformed. As an American, my cultural concerns are not those of the Global South, and I do not appreciate having people who know little about my culture condemn my heretics for the wrong reasons. Yes, that goes the other way, too.