PLAY NICE Meanwhile in the Great White North, acting Primate David Crawley really hopes that the Anglican Church of Canada stays in a good mood when it apostatizes votes on same-sex marriage:
In an opening address to more than 300 Anglican members of the church's highest governing body, Archbishop David Crawley, the Acting Primate, urged them to move away from the "harsh, vituperative and unacceptable" language that has often been used on both sides of the debate over the blessing of same-sex unions.
"We all feel deeply about this issue," Archbishop Crawley said, "but that is no excuse to descend into the depths. The judgmentalism and the profoundly personal nature of some comments, both private and public, could never reflect the nature of the Realm of God, no matter what you understand it to be."
What kind of "harsh, vituperative and unacceptable" language did the Crawley King Snake have in mind? This, basically:
My examples will come from one side, because that's the kind of letters I get. A letter that says: "I hope I never have to stand next to you, because when God strikes you dead... I don't want to be covered with bits of burnt cowardly episcopal guts." Now, at least he didn't sign it "yours faithfully" [laughter] .. but you'd be surprised how many of them are signed that way.
Odd how Dave's "harsh, vituperative and unacceptable" language comes only from the conservative side. But I guess he had time constraints and couldn't get to the all the "harsh, vituperative and unacceptable" language of the liberals. On the other hand, this language is perfectly calm and temperate and shouldn't bother anyone at all:
That joint statement put out by the primates, which these five primates signed, said that primates should not interfere outside their own countries. And so they're acting improperly and inappropriately. They know perfectly well that we have entered a process, at the request of that meeting of the primates last fall, to provide alternate episcopal oversight internally for dissenting groups.
At this juncture they're behaving very badly. And I have, as acting primate, written them to tell them so.
So's this:
That's rubbish. They have a bishop -- Michael Ingham is their bishop. Anglican parishes do not have the freedom to disassociate themselves from dioceses. We are not a congregationalist church.
This too:
It's inappropriate for those foreign primates to intervene at any time, but it's particularly unhealthy at this juncture.
And this:
Yes, I expect they'd be prepared to do that. They just have -- well, I won't say it. They have no business doing what they're doing. They just have absolutely no business doing it, and it's appalling that they're doing it.
As well as this:
No, because those bishops have no jurisdiction here. Anything those bishops and those primates do here is unlawful and improper. They have no jurisdiction. So these parishes are becoming outlaws. They fondly think that this keeps them part of it, but it doesn't.
So let's hope the language at the ACC's General Synod doesn't get "harsh, vituperative and unacceptable." Because that would be bad.
Posted by Christopher S. Johnson - 9 comments