A friend of mine, a priest who is also a blogger, by no means a traditionalist, made this comment to some of us yesterday after reviewing some of the blither posted to the Bishops/Deputies email list on the subject of the old adage, “Hate the sin and love the sinner”, a catch phrase which is no longer PC because it suggests that some may sin..
“I agree — the small number who hold influential
positions within the power-structure of TEC hierarchy have succeeded in
clouding the minds of many in the middle with the Kool-Aid of
pseudo-scholarly sentimentological nonsense that has constricted the
Episcopalian vocabulary to about six memes:
1. Inclusion
2. Celebrate
3. ‘living into’
4. ‘Baptismal Covenant’
5. prophetic
6. justice”
I must be honest and say that this is an expurgated version of the good priest’s comment, but you get the point.
One might express the above in the form of a new Creed or perhaps a new Anglican Covenant.
We believe in Inclusion, the first and foremost virtue as long as we do not include those who believe that the calling to be a Christian involves embracing a chaste lifestyle or that when we fall, we are to confess our sins, and seek absolution; outmoded and stigmatizing habits not to be countenanced in our Brave New World. We believe in including all religions in equality and suspend judgment about any elements in other religions which may be perhaps unfortunate, poor dears!
We intend to celebrate every cause that comes along as long as we don’t use the word “sin” or imply that anyone sins except for those who are branded by their refusal to accept our latitudinarian lifestyles. We intend to doubt every article of the Creeds and to accept every article of the belief-systems of other religious groups.
We proclaim that we are living into a new world in which the poor and the down trodden will become holy through the atoning offerings of MDGs and all jealousy, envy, hatred, malice and wickedness will no longer be recognized because none are PC.
We believe in the Baptismal Covenant that rite of the church which makes us all automatically good, moral, kind but please not holy. We believe that through this Covenant -see we do believe in Covenants – we are ushered into the tasteful upper middle class glory of Episcopalianism, a religion peculiar to the United States and not to be confused with Anglicanism or the Anglican Communion, a group of churches run by tyrannical and undemocratic prelates.
We believe in being prophetic by which we mean our right as ordained leaders to shout aloud or write books about anything which contradicts the experience, faith, doctrine, discipline and worship of Christians who came before, and particularly of the teachings contained in Holy Scripture.
We believe in justice the sum of all the law and the prophets which means we believe that every person is free to believe and do what their conscience tells them to do without interference from church or state. We do not believe in mercy unless we are the recipient.
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Anglican Thoughts 
Thanks Tony for passing on the trenchant comments of your friend. Episcopalianism really is now another religion.
Tony, with all due respect I think this is a very unfair caricature of progressive Christianity. I have come to expect better than that from you.
Alas, it appears that you have hit the mark. I just hope Johnson’s Law doesn’t apply to you as well.
Thank you for speaking the truth in love.
Loving – I don’t see making fun of people and warping their words as at all loving.
Ann:
Humor even if barbed sometimes prods self-examination in a manner that straight prose does not. But for something more positive see my sermon for tomorrow which follows!
Goodness! Sounds like the latest edition of TEC’s newspaper…… sigh……
I think the list needs to also include:
“relationship”
“invite / invitation”
“context”
“deeper understanding”
“shalom”
Someone with a bit of programming experience and sense of humor could use the listed words and create an “Episcopal Church Theology Generator”. Enter three or four words, and the Generator would make up a sentence using the entered words and several of the listed words.
So let’s see: facing the reality of the facts of God’s creation – to wit, that homosexual people exist, do no harm to others, are committed Christians, and prefer to keep their families intact – apparently now constitutes “a new religion”?
Well, all I can say is, “Thank God for that,” because the old religion sure sounds exceedingly shallow and inadequate.
(P.S.: You might want to consider that this very inability to deal with reality might have in turned spawned the very state of affairs – the “pseudo-scholarly sentimentological nonsense” – you deplore. Shallowness has begotten shallowness, in other words. Just a thought.)
((Fr. Tony))) you old rascal, check out the website, “Inclusive Orthodoxy.” 🙂
I saw your chemo pictures. Every prayer for our Lord’s healing.
Love,
Grace.
bls, I have made no mention whatsoever about the gay issue in recent posts. Indeed the author of the points I listed favors the church changing its position on gay “blessings.” Irony of Irony.
Grace, which Grace are you? Thank you for your love and prayers. I had a blood test last Wednesday. No sign of cancer and my lung is back at work, so it seems through God’s good grace there are still some miles left on this old man.
Praise God, Fr. Tony,
I’m the Grace that often posts over at Fr. Jake’s place.
God bless!