Okay, I'll admit to being a little slow at catching on to Anglican political posturing, but as I understand it, the Anglican leaders at the Lambeth Conference agreed to moratoria on:
(A) Consecration of actively homosexual bishops and same-sex blessings;
(B) Incursions into the U.S. by foreign archbishops/primates.
Did I get that right? Because it strikes me as odd.
Here's an analogy that explains how I see it:
The Firemen and the Arsonists
In my analogy, bishops are like firemen. They are responsible for putting out the flames of heresy wherever they may appear. The primates (or, in the U.S., the Presiding Bishop) are the Fire Chiefs. But in The Episcopal church, way more than half of the firemen have given up on putting out the flames of heresy, and have gone over to the other side: they are now arsonists, setting congregations and dioceses alight with the flames of heresy. The Presiding Fire Chief herself is actively engaged in burning down the buildings of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason.
Some foreign firemen have noticed this, and have received calls from many in the U.S., whose houses of worship were ablaze with heresy, pleading with them: Please come help us put out these fires! Many of these foreign Fire Chiefs responded in the affirmative.
So, let me see if I've got this right ...
Lambeth has created some sort of moral equivalence between arson and the act of putting out a fire in someone else's jurisdiction?! That's the way it seems to me.
I guess my response, if I were one of the foreign Fire Chiefs would be: Okay, fine. You stop starting fires, and begin putting out the existing ones, and I'll stop coming over there to put them out.
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3 comments:
Despite the way some within TEC have tried to portray it, nothing at the Communion level since the Windsor Report, the latest statements from Lambeth included, has drawn a moral equivalence between the "arsonists" and the "firemen." The fact that the interventions have in fact been caused by the breaches of TEC has been recognized again and again. However, what has also been recognized is that such interventions have not been limited to Dioceses that promote such breaches (The fact that AMiA is based in the Diocese of South Carolina exemplifies this, as well as the fact that many extra-mural Anglican bodies find their strength in geographic areas concurrent with orthodox TEC dioceses.) What has been said is that SS blessings, where they occur with the Bishop's approval, should be stopped concurrent with a stop in interventions. It's not an either or, it's supposed to be a both/and. At the very least interventions should be confined to those Dioceses that are promoting such innovations. The real conflict however, is amongst the orthodox, since some obviously do not believe that one can be orthodox in TEC at all.
Thanks, Jody+ ... your clarifications are helpful. I think that the example of South Carolina is a very good one for me to keep in mind.
Your truly,
Paul
Hot Rod Anglican
Jody+,
I have noticed that in the letter from Bishop Bob Duncan (which was recently leaked to the public), Bp. Duncan also thinks that Lambeth made a moral equivalence between the moratoria!
His letter may be read here.
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