NAVY PLANS NEW SHIP

Friday, January 27th, 2012 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The USS Thoroughly Corrupt Slimebag.

PROMISED LAND

Thursday, January 26th, 2012 | Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Jonathan Clatworthy of Modern Churmosqagogue, the Church of England’s Spongian wing, attempts to refute a pro-Anglican Covenant paper, “Anglican Covenant – Bishop’s Council” by Peter Doll(PDF file), Canon Librarian at Norwich Cathedral, and falls flat on his face.  Selections follow.  The bolded quotes in italics are from that paper.  Everything else in bold is Clatworthy’s ludicrously inept and thoroughly mendacious response:

There is more than an element of cultural imperialism in these American attitudes. Ironically, they resonate strongly with the gung-ho combination of domestic isolationism and foreign interventionism of American political life which so many American liberals deplore, and yet they don’t seem to be able to see the parallels here.

As it stands this is a common criticism of American culture. However it loses its force when one remembers which American action is being condemned. The imperialist intervention, in this case, is the refusal to condemn same-sex partnerships. It is difficult to imagine anything less imperialistic, and less interventionist, than the refusal to condemn other people’s lifestyles.

“The refusal to condemn other people’s lifestyles” had and has absolutely nothing to do with the Current Unpleasantness.  The fact that one branch of the Communion unilaterally changed Anglican theology without so much as a by-your-leave from the churches with which they claim to be in communion is the crux of the matter and Clatworthy knows it which is why he had to so ineptly change the subject.

The American church is not prepared to accept further consultation or dialogue over this issue nor to wait for the rest of the church to catch up with its own understanding of the place of same-sex relationships in the life of the church. Whatever is acceptable and right in a particular American cultural context must be universally applicable to every other culture and context.

This complaint, though often made, misinterprets the nature of the Anglican Communion in two ways: firstly by describing it as a church when it is in fact a communion of churches, and secondly by presuming that what is decided in one part of this ‘church’ must also apply in the rest of it.

The Episcopal Church (TEC) made no attempt to make its actions ‘universally applicable’ or apply them to ‘every other culture and context’. Its understanding of Anglicanism was (correctly) that other churches, like TEC, were free to make their own decisions. It has no intention to act in an imperialist manner towards other churches, but conversely it does not want to be itself the victim of imperialism by other churches.

Interpreting the American actions as a pan-Anglican change was a mistake by TEC’s opponents, some of whom are uncomfortable with the prospect of a group of churches being in communion with each other while having different policies on some issues. If Doll wishes to resist imperialistic impositions, he should address his complaints not to TEC but to its opponents.

Oh my dear Lord.  If Clatworthy actually believes those words, he is a sociopath, a liar or both.  It is Clatworthy who has no Earthly conception what Anglicanism means.  Or he knows full well what Anglicanism means and so he desperately needed to invent a mythical “Anglicanism” to cover his tracks. 

“The Episcopal Church (TEC) made no attempt to make its actions ‘universally applicable’ or apply them to ‘every other culture and context’?”  Guess what, Clatworthy.  They did too.  The Episcopalians knew exactly what they were doing.

Under the rules of the Anglican game, Gene Robinson became an Anglican bishop the moment he received his pointy hat and hooked stick.  There was no opt-out clause and the Episcopalians never considered providing one.

If they had, things would have been different.  If the Episcopal Organization had declared, “The consecration of Bishop Robinson has no meaning outside the State of New Hampshire.  Gene Robinson is the Bishop of New Hampshire and only New Hampshire and will take no part on Communion affairs,” I might still be an Episcopalian today.

But they didn’t and the idea never seems to have occurred to them.  TEO expected the rest of the Anglican Communion to roll over, play dead and meekly accept Robbie as an Anglican bishop regardless of what the rest of the Communion thought about it.  Thus their shocked surprise when much of the rest of the Communion didn’t accept Robbie at all and began cutting all ties with the Episcopalians.

The fact that then-Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold signed his name to this statement, went home, consecrated Robbie anyway and started all the trouble completely cuts the ground out from under Clatworthy’s idiotic claims about “imperialism.”  By the way, we don’t have “different policies on some issues.”  We have mutually-exclusive theologies.

The Episcopalians imposed Gene Robinson on the rest of the Communion, Clatworthy, which really is a “pan-Anglican change” whether you believe it is or not.  And when the Episcopalians did that, then under the rules of the Anglican Communion, 2,000 years of Christian teaching were jettisoned without the input of the churches with whom the Episcopalians claimed to share a tradition.  That is what actually happened, Clatworthy, not your deliberately hallucinatory version of events.

America is a self-referring cultural power; it does not occur to most Americans to consult others, politically or spiritually, to arrive at an understanding of truth and right.

Again this is a common criticism of American culture. It characterises empires at their height; a hundred years ago the British thought of themselves as the pinnacle of civilization, thereby convincing themselves that the brutalities their troops were inflicting on others would benefit the victims. In this instance, however, the boot is on the other foot. Given that the criticism of Americans is centred on their toleration of same-sex partnerships, any serious attempt to consult others must surely pay close attention to the experiences of gays and lesbians. It is the Americans who have done this, and it is their opponents who exclude the supporters of gays and lesbians from Anglican decision-making bodies.

Once again, Clatworthy evades the question.  As difficult as this might be for Clatworthy to accept, the Episcopalians did not consult the rest of the Communion before imposing Gene Robinson.  They just established a fact on the ground and essentially told the other Anglican churches around the world to deal with it.

As for this notion about paying “close attention to the experiences of gays and lesbians,” a question.  How does Clatworthy know that other Anglican provinces haven’t done it?  Perhaps they have and decided that “the experiences of gays and lesbians” does not and should not trump the clear Word of the living God. 

The matter is simple.  Jonathan Clatworthy and the rest of the Anglican left know that they are obviously right about The Issue and people like me are obviously wrong.  Therefore, “consultation” means that we keep talking until people like me realize that. 

True consultation, on the other hand, means that both sides must be willing to admit that they might be wrong.  I’ve said in this space many times that if the Episcopal left ever provides me with a solid, Scriptural case for consecrating an unrepentant sinner as a bishop, I’ll go back to my former Episcopal church this coming Sunday.  But they never have and they never will because they never saw the need to.

What with being right and all.

The great American literary scholar Harold Bloom, a secular Jew, has argued that virtually all Americans, whatever their religious disposition or denominational label, are Gnostics. What does he mean by this? 1) That there is no higher religious authority than the private individual. 2) That every individual can reach religious truth by his or her own efforts. 3) External expressions of formal religion (churches, worship, creeds) are unnecessary, and potentially a harmful block to true spirituality. 4) Any attempt to tell me what to believe is a threat to religious freedom.

However, when Doll appeals to the weaknesses in early Reformation theology he should take care whose side he is on. Today the different Protestant theories have polarised into two opposing camps, usually called ‘conservatives’ and ‘liberals’. It is those who are opposed to same-sex partnerships who still defend the view that God’s will can be ascertained by individuals reading the Bible, without needing support from other Christians. It is those who accept same-sex partnerships who appeal to new insights arising within Christian communities where believers share their understandings and consciences with each other.

If you have a few minutes, Clatworthy, read the one about Elijah at Mount Carmel.

The Episcopal Church has in practice refused to be bound by communion-wide restrictions. I would argue that if the principles of communion are right, if the Gospel calls us to be subject and accountable to one another, then we must be obedient and patient and trust in the rightness of the outcome under God and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It may mean that we won’t have what we want when we want it.

This text illustrates Doll’s rhetoric at its most inventive. The ‘communion-wide restrictions’ which TEC refuses to be bound by do not as yet exist: the Anglican Covenant would create them for the first time. To say that ‘we must be obedient and patient and trust in the rightness of the outcome’ means no more than ‘we must accept the Anglican Covenant’, and ‘through the guidance of the Holy Spirit’ means, of course, ‘through the guidance of the Anglican Covenant’. This text is an excellent example of the rhetoric oppressors use to persuade the oppressed that they have a moral duty to accept their fate. When we notice that the repeated word ‘we’ in the last sentence really means ‘gays and lesbians and their supporters’, the argument loses its devotional aura; instead it is revealed as just a way of telling people to do as they are told.

Body of work.  The Episcopalians treated the Windsor Report and the various primates communiqués as so much toilet paper.  As for the rest of that paragraph, Clatworthy, which, once again, has absolutely nothing to do with what Canon Doll wrote, you could feed a very large herd of cattle for a year on all those straw men of yours.

Bottom line, Clatworthy.  The Anglican Covenant is a weak, flawed and probably useless attempt to declare that for the first time in their 500-year history, Anglican Christians actually believe something.  Not everything.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized | 37 Comments

Once again we see that when it comes to The Issue, there is only one right answer:

A 15-year-old Wisconsin boy who wrote an op-ed opposing gay adoptions was censored, threatened with suspension and called ignorant by the superintendent of the Shawano School District, according to an attorney representing the child.

Mathew Staver, the founder of the Liberty Counsel, sent a letter to Superintendent Todd Carlson demanding an apology for “Its unconstitutional and irrational censorship and humiliation” of Brandon Wegner.

Wegner, a student at Shawano High School, was asked to write an op-ed for the school newspaper about whether gays should be allowed to adopt. Wegner, who is a Christian, wrote in opposition. Another student wrote in favor of allowing gays to adopt.

Wegner used Bible passages to defend his argument, including Scripture that called homosexuality a sin.

Naturally, a couple of local gays bitched about it.

After the op-ed was published, a gay couple whose child attends the high school, complained.

Whereupon the school district went into Episcopalian mode.

The school immediately issued an apology – stating Wegner’s opinion was a “form of bullying and disrespect.”

“Offensive articles cultivating a negative environment of disrespect are not appropriate or condoned by the Shawano School District,” the statement read. “We sincerely apologize to anyone we may have offended and are taking steps to prevent items of this nature from happening in the future.”

And then graduated to full Gestapo.

But Staver said what the school system did next was absolutely outrageous. He said the 15-year-old was ordered to the superintendent’s office where he was subjected to hours of meetings and was accused of violating the school’s bullying policy.

“When Mr. Wegner stated that he did not regret writing it, and that he stood behind his beliefs, Superintendent Carlson told him that he ‘had got to be one of the most ignorant kids to try to argue with him about this topic,’” Staver said.

At that point, Staver said the superintendent told the boy that “we have the power to suspend you if we want to.”

The superintendent allegedly told Wegner that he was personally offended by Wegner’s column.

“The superintendent wants everyone to accept homosexuality as normative and homosexual adoption as something that should be standard practices,” Staver said. “In doing so, he’s belittling the views and the biblical views of many people across this country. He is playing a zero-sum game. He’s not interested in dialogue. He wants to cram his view down the throat of everyone else and will not tolerate an opposing viewpoint.”

Fortunately, a lame “apology” might not prevent the school district from getting sued into the ground.

Staver said an apology from the superintendent may not suffice – and they may consider taking legal action.

Do it, Matt.  Take the bastard down.

LONGEVITY

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 | Uncategorized | 12 Comments

I know that there are lots of grandchildren of former US presidents who are still alive.  But I never would have dreamed it possible that one of those US presidents with living grandchildren would be John Tyler.

A UNITER, NOT A DIVIDER

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 | Uncategorized | 26 Comments

Barack Obama.  Bringing people together since 2008:

Now, suddenly, we have headlines about the president’s “war on the Catholic Church.” Mostly they stem from a Health and Human Services mandate that forces every employer to provide employees with health coverage that not only covers birth control and sterilization, but makes them free. Predictably, the move has drawn fire from the Catholic bishops.

You might not believe who else is angry about it.

Less predictable—and far more interesting—has been the heat from the Catholic left, including many who have in the past given the president vital cover. In a post for the left-leaning National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters minces few words. Under the headline “J’ACCUSE,” he rightly takes the president to the woodshed for the politics of the decision, for the substance, and for how “shamefully” it treats “those Catholics who went out on a limb” for him.

The message Mr. Obama is sending, says Mr. Winters, is “that there is no room in this great country of ours for the institutions our Church has built over the years to be Catholic in ways that are important to us.”

Mr. Winters is not alone. The liberal Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles, blogged that he “cannot imagine a more direct and frontal attack on freedom of conscience”—and he urged people to fight it. Another liberal favorite, Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Fla., has raised the specter of “civil disobedience” and vowed that he will drop coverage for diocesan workers rather than comply. They are joined in their expressions of discontent by the leaders of Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities, which alone employs 70,000 people.

Interesting.  Whether all this translates into reduced enthusiasm for the President this fall among at least one group of liberals, however small, remains to be seen.

APPLES AND EPISCOPALIANS

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 | Uncategorized | 35 Comments

The Ordinariate must have SERIOUSLY rattled the Episcopal Organization for Jim Naughton to screw up this badly:

In part to bolster Episcopal spirits, and in part to provide reporters with some sense of perspective, I thought it might be helpful to take a look at some numbers. According to the 2004 U. S. Congregational Life Survey—which I believe is the most recent one available—11.7 percent of Episcopalians were formerly Roman Catholic.

The Episcopal Church had slightly fewer than 2,248,000 members in 2004, indicating that not quite 263,000 of its members were former Catholics.

The Episcopal Church has shrunk some in the last seven years, and now has about two million members. Assuming that the percentage of former Catholics in the Episcopal Church has remained constant (I think it is likely to have risen, but that’s an essay for another day), there are currently some 228,000 former Roman Catholics in the Episcopal Church.

There may be a good reason that the departure of fewer than 1,500 Episcopalians to the Roman Catholic ordinariate deserves extensive media coverage while the departure in recent years of more than 225,000 Roman Catholics to join the Episcopal Church goes unmentioned even in stories about the creation of the ordinariate, but I don’t know what it is.

Slow way down there, big smacker.  The Ordinariate has been in existence for what, two months, give or take?  You may not be aware of this but you guys have been around for 222 years.  And all those ex-Catholic Episcopalians became Episcopalians “in recent years?”  Really?  Every single one?  No ex-Catholic Episcopalian joined before that time?

I’ve got news for you, Jim.  Episcopalians were fleeing to Rome decades before the Ordinariate was a gleam in the papal eye.  See if the American Catholic church has any figures about the number of ex-Episcopalians in its ranks.

While you’re at it, go to the Orthodox, Southern Baptists, conservative Presbyterians, Anglican Continuers, etc. and see how many ex-Episcopalians they all have.  And for that matter, ask ACNA as well although I know you don’t believe their numbers.

But that’s okay.  Given the great gulf fixed between Episcopal membership numbers and Episcopal average Sunday attendance, nobody with a functioning brain believes that there are anywhere near 2,000,000 Episcopalians anymore.

VISION TROUBLE

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized | 13 Comments

For a guy like me, the religion sections of modern news web sites can be wonderful places.  The following, written by a woman from Ireland named Lorna Byrne, appears in the Huffington Post and is presented without comment:

I have been seeing and talking with angels since I was a baby. I see them physically as clearly as I see someone sitting in front of me. I never told anyone about what I was seeing until a few years ago after my husband died and my children were reared. It was only then that I started writing and talking about what I was seeing.

I am a Catholic, born into an Ireland that at that time was largely Catholic. From the time I was a baby I saw guardian angels behind each and every person, regardless of religion. In fact like most children I didn’t realize that there were different religions. The first time I got any inkling of the different beliefs people have of God was when I was about six and was walking past a Protestant church near my home with my aunt. I was looking at two big powerful angels who were standing on guard outside the church when my aunt told me I was never to go in there — that that was a Protestant church and no place for any Catholic. I looked at her in bemusement.

In the years following the angels explained to me that different religions have different beliefs, different traditions and different ways of praying. They always emphasized, however, that it was one and the same God and that one day all religions would come together under one umbrella.

Prayer is extremely powerful and the angels have told me that the prayers of people of all religions are equally powerful.

The angels tell me that when people of different religions gather together in prayer it pleases God. That when people of different traditions pray together, it creates a synergy, an intertwining of prayer that makes their prayers even more powerful.

MCJ PSA

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Always remember to keep your tools away from dangerous animals.

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE AN OMELETTE…

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized | 20 Comments

…you have to murder 54,000,000 human beings.  Our idiot president on the most evil Supreme Court decision since Scott v. Sanford:

In his statement on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, Obama said it reflects the broader principles of America.

“As we mark the 39^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters,” Obama said. “I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right.

“While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue — no matter what our views, we must stay united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant woman and mothers, reduce the need for abortion, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption,” Obama said.

“And as we remember this historic anniversary, we must also continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”

UPDATE: Katherine jacks one into the seats.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized | 9 Comments

This February, George Lucas will release Episode 1 of Star Wars in 3-D.  And I hope you realize what that means.  A three-dimensional Jar Jar Binks.

LEMONADE STAND

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Got any spare cash lying around?  Pension you’re not using, 401K just sitting there, some antique in the attic appraised for six figures, that kind of thing?  If you do, New Jersey Episcopal Bishop George Councell would like to hear from you:

The Diocesan Finance and Budget Committee has been seriously deliberating the issues necessary to produce the annual, balanced Diocesan budget for 2012. That budget, as always, is built primarily upon the pledges made by our individual congregations related to the Askings. The preliminary budget for 2012, approved at the 2011 Convention, was predicated on receipt of pledges at 70% of the asking. The actual commitments to date, when added to estimates for the forty congregations yet to make a pledge, accrue to only 60% of the asking.

When we combine the estimated income with an extremely tight expense budget projection, and as we search for a new bishop, we are almost $600,000 underfunded. Even after planning, as a result, to reduce our budgeted pledge to The Episcopal Church to a tithe, we are still left with a lot of ground to make up.

To those 27 congregations who have already pledged the full asking, and to those of you who continue to move toward that goal by increasing your pledges, thank you. Perhaps this communication will underscore to your congregations the true importance of your continued leadership and support, as well as our appreciation for it. Unfortunately, numerous congregations have reduced their comparative commitment. A dozen of the larger churches have reduced their pledges by a combined total of over $130,000. Finally, many, many congregations have pledged less than 10% of their parochial income.

I wouldn’t worry about it, Bishop.  You could have a diocesan telethon or something to raise enough scratch to tide you over until all those progressives start flooding into Episcopal church because of Gene Robinson.  They’ll be here any day now.  Trust me.

OWS HITS BOTTOM, DIGS

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 | Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Strikes bedrock, and drills through to magma:

DIVORCE

Saturday, January 21st, 2012 | Uncategorized | 22 Comments

Chuck Murphy makes it official:

Bishop Chuck Murphy along with the other former bishops of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) have rejected the protocol for reconciliation with the Church of Rwanda brokered by the Archbishop of Kenya at the 4 January 2012 meeting in Nairobi.

Speaking at a conference in Houston this week, Bishop Murphy reiterated his plans to form a mission society with an international focus from the remnants loyal to him within the former AMiA.  The decision to repudiate ties with Rwanda severs the last link to the Anglican Communion for Bishop Murphy and his faction within the AMiA.

Bishop Phillip Jones, one of the resigned suffragan bishops told the Houston Conference, the new group no longer sought to be Anglican or to work within the confines of the Anglican tradition.  The Murphy group wanted to be attached to some wider organization, but in its current form it was a non-institutional entity with a global focus, that did not need to be Anglican, Bishop Jones said according to those present at the meeting.

Normally, I’d consider a willingness to walk away from an “official” Anglican connection to be admirable.  But not in this case.  I can’t see any “wider organization” that would willingly take on a group headed by Chuck Murphy.  Prior to Murphy’s power grab, AMiA already had a global focus.  It has considerably less of one now.

CAN DULY KICKED

Friday, January 20th, 2012 | Uncategorized | 30 Comments

Question: does this mean anything?

Archbishops Rowan Williams of Canterbury and John Sentamu of York have suggested that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion ought to be in “an open-ended engagement” with the Anglican Church in North America.

Williams and Sentamu made their remarks in a report to the Feb. 6-9 sessions of the Church of England’s General Synod.

The report comes in response to a resolution the synod passed two years ago in which the Church of England recognized and affirmed ACNA’s desire “to remain in the Anglican family,” but said it was not yet ready to be in full communion with the breakaway entity.

The February 2010 resolution referred to “the distress caused by recent divisions within the Anglican churches of the United States of America and Canada,” and the archbishops said that that distress will continue “for some considerable time.” The divisions occurred over the decisions of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada related to full inclusion of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in the life of the church, the ordination of women and the authority of scripture.

“Wounds are still fresh,” Sentamu and Williams write. “Those who follow developments in North America from some distance have a responsibility not to say or do anything which will inflame an already difficult situation and make it harder for those directly involved to manage the various challenges with which they are still grappling.”

Thus, they said, the outcome of the open-ended engagement that they suggest “is unlikely to be clear for some time yet, especially given the strong feelings on all sides of the debate in North America.”

Answer: not a heck of a whole lot.

Read the report; it’s not long, only four pages.  Then read the comments at the ENS story.  They are not happy campers over there.

My view is that this report doesn’t really say very much.  It doesn’t grant ACNA the “official” recognition it seeks but it also doesn’t do what the Americans and Canadians fervently wish, namely, taking ACNA recognition permantly off the table. 

It does grant ACNA the following:

Where clergy from ACNA wish to come to England the position in relation to their orders and their personal suitability for ministry here will be considered by us on a case by case basis under the Overseas and Other Clergy (Ministry and Ordination) Measure 1967.

Which means that if Bob Duncan is invited to England by a conservative parish or diocese and Dr. Williams grants him a license to preach, ACNA is effectively recognized as Anglican whether Dr. Williams or the Anglican Consultative Council agrees or not.

So there’s that.

INCLUSIVIDIOCY

Thursday, January 19th, 2012 | Uncategorized | 23 Comments

The Episcopal Organization’s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music has its work cut out for it.  Seems they’re going to have to come up with a marriage liturgy for lesbians who like sex with men:

“I’ve figured it out! I am a lesbian!” I exclaimed to my other Sapphic friends.

Within weeks though, I was engaging in very unexpected behavior. I resumed sleeping with men with a vengeance, and yet, still identified as a lesbian.

It started with an ex-boyfriend, Eli*. He got back in touch with me a few months after we broke up. After some email exchanges, we decided to hang out. I met him at his apartment and we caught up over wine. As the saying goes “one thing led to another,” and like a scene out of a movie, I was laughing, fell on top of him, looked into his eyes, and we started to make out. Minutes later, we were having sex.

For nearly a year the pattern continued. Whether I had one-night stands or was screwing guys casually, I still identified as a lesbian, and most of these men knew it. I never experienced any cognitive dissonance, confusion, or felt I wasn’t gay. I had learned the art of compartmentalizing and detaching emotions from sex. Sex was sex, not a declaration of sexuality. I liked having sex with men because it felt good and fulfilled all of my urges and cravings.

Right.  I guess gay guys who enjoy sex with straight women will have to have their own marriage liturgy as well.  As will lesbians who enjoy sex with gay guys.  And straight guys who enjoy sex with straight women but only if they imagine that the women are lesbians.  And straight guys who enjoy sex with straight women but only if they imagine that they themselves are the lesbians.

But I’m probably leaving somebody out.