Brother Causticus

On the Panel of Reference

Brother Causticus has weighed-in, not so much on the Panel of Reference's report on Fort Worth, but on the response from Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori (included in this ENS report) and on people's responses to her response.

His explanation of the "Dallas Plan" (which the POR endorsed) is simpler and clearer than most others have offered. In a nutshell:

the Bishop of Fort Worth’s practice of sending women seeking Holy Orders down the freeway to his brother bishop in Dallas so as to avoid laying hands – in an episcopal manner, BC hastens to add – upon those possessed of a putative call, but lacking the requisite Y chromosome.

(Obviously, he has the gift of brevity which continues to elude me.)

There are so many brilliant rhetorical flourishes in his essay that it is difficult for me to select a mere handful. But this one is surely a contender. Observing that the POR called for Our ++Katharine to make a response to their report, he explains: for "the 'hate Kate' consortium … anything other than text messaging Bishop Duncan 'just kidding! keys 2 815 under mat lol' would be an inadequate response."

There's much to enjoy in Brother Causticus' turn of phrase and marvelous wit. But, like all good satire, there's also much that can sting. I'm not quite ready to put him in the Satirists Hall of Fame alongside Swift and Twain, but he's working his way there. He does us all a service. Go read Texas Hold 'Em.