Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Episcopal Pravda Online


One of the more distressing things about my Episcopal life is reading propaganda rags such as "EpiscopalLife Online."

Does your Diocese pay for it?

Like N.P.R. News, I gave up on the Episcopallife Online site for the sake of my soul, and I only check it for amusement, or when my suspicions are raised such as the time they tried to brainwash us with their twisted history of the Lambeth Conference as reported here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Sarah Hey recently called attention to this post which perked up my "Sunday ears" a little. Read the whole thing, or most of it here:

ENGLAND: Liberal Anglicans defend diversity, oppose covenant
By Mary Taylor, November 12, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] The council of the Modern Churchpeople's Union (MCU) met November 6 in London's Docklands to develop a strategy for the defense of liberal theology.

The council members, many of them Church of England clergy, agreed that the organization will be re-branded, re-named, and re-constituted to reflect more fully its openness and diversity. Furthermore, the group decided that an administrator should be appointed and a system of working groups set up...

Founded in 1898, the organization was originally named The Churchmen's Union for the Advancement of Liberal Thought. This soon became The Churchmen's Union, then The Modern Churchmen's Union. The change to 'Churchpeople's' was an inevitable, though arguably belated, innovation in the 1980s.

Modern "Churchpeople's" Union sounds soooo PC. You also should worry about an organization that has to keep reorganizing or renaming itself.
The original aims and objectives -- "to unite [those] who consider that dogma is capable of reinterpretation and restatement in accordance with the clearer perception of truth attained by discovery and research" -- are consistent with MCU's view 110 years on. Asked after the November 6 meeting how he would like to see MCU develop, Clatworthy said, "It is important to offer an account of Christianity which is consistent with modern scientific understandings of the world, open to new insights and constructive in its social and moral judgments."

We all know what that means; roll out the lightning rod...
In July, MCU members welcomed Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as a guest speaker at their conference, "Saving the Soul of Anglicanism."

Any other geniuses out there? Oh yes here are a few:
(Bishop) Griswold told the July gathering that the search for truth is a communal one, and that "the Holy Spirit can do different things in different places."

A little dose of functional modalism. If it works in New Hampshire, it must be the Spirit blowing in off the water, or was it just "smoke on the water?"

Mwamba spoke of "delusions of grandeur" among some of the African primates and noted that many church members throughout the continent had not been consulted about issues of human sexuality, and were "frankly not bothered with the debate."

Uh oh, do I detect a note of ugliness?
"Some of our primates act like ecclesiastical Mugabes," he said, making reference to Zimbabwe's tyrannical president who has led his country into a humanitarian crisis and financial collapse.

Now that was ugly. Why would they print that? You might think they are bloggers.
Speaking in opposition of the Anglican covenant, proposed as a way to maintain unity amid difference throughout the communion, Adams told the July gathering, "There is no single version of humanity within the church."

I am glad they did not capitalize "Church." They can't even agree on a version of humanity! But I thought they already decided that humanity doesn't start until the 3rd trimester, or was it when the baby is born? This is one statement that holds a kernal of truth, at least in the Episcopal Church.
The article closed with one more choice quote,

Badham, in his MCU booklet Liberal Anglicanism, argues that the church seems willing to "abandon two centuries of liberal scholarship and -- in the case of homosexuality -- to return to an ethic based on biblical taboo."

Bad, bad Biblical ethos, shame on you Bible...




Poor liberal Churchpeople, they don't know where to stand because they have set their feet on the shifting sands and have abandoned what was their rock and foundation.


(Holy Yoke)

2 comments:

  1. Love it.

    Please explain the choice of Soviet poster.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It looked cool. I have added my second choice (Holy Yoke) to the post.

    ReplyDelete