All About Trey

All In The Family - Anglican Style

So we went to church as a family yesterday. This was the church I went to when I was in high school, so I thought I knew what to expect. Well, sort of. It's gone very high church in the last decade or so. No incense, but I wouldn't be surprised if they start to use it soon. Who has a "Verger" anyways these days? Since it was the service before the 4th of July, we sang several patriotic songs, including "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" which is the Navy hymn. So that was cool. What was not cool was the sermon.

I struggled to stay silent and listen to the words that were coming down from the pulpit as if they were the word of God. The rector called out against the "godless liberalism" that is rampant in our society and the "tryanny of the minority". He said that the church should be more proactive in government and politics and that the media shouldn't be publishing secrets. He talked about how individual rights weren't/shouldn't be superior to the rights of the community. It was just a very harsh, political, sermon. And I kept thinking, what about talking about how Jesus would feel about the war? About how the US send prisoners to foreign countries to be tortured? About how millions of more people now live below the poverty line? About how Jesus would feel about the immigration issue facing the US and how he would address it?

Needless to say, some of his comments were directly related to the ongoing struggle within the Anglican Communion around the world. I've been reading a lot of religious blogs lately to catch a lot of the nuances that I wouldn't otherwise get. In the Post today, it's clear that some dioceses are going to revolt against the new Bishop-elect. And in the mean time, our fellow Anglicans in Kenya are referring to the US Episcopal church as a "cancerous lump" that should be excised due to our decision to elect a gay, and now a woman, bishop. If I weren't a Christian, I would say that people who live in glass houses with multiples wives (also against biblical teachings) shouldn't throw stones. And this is despite the fact that at the General Convention, the US Episcopal Church pretty much threw the LGBT community under the bus and said that they wouldn't elect any more bishops that would upset the greater worldwide Anglican Community. I think a lot of people voted for it thinking that it was the only way to keep the Anglican Communion together as a whole. Unfortunately, I'm just not sure that's possible. I think the only thing that would have satisfied the ultra conservatives would have been to have Bishop Robinson removed/deposed. And that just wasn't going to happen. And with every new announcement from the conservative Anglicans here in the US and abroad, it's getting clearer that a schism is coming and no amount of appeasement is going to prevent it.

Which brings me to the bumpersticker of the day:

posted by Trey @ 5:29 PM