Poor, Pitiful Bishop Little
The Chicken-Little-in-Chief of the HoBD listserv today shared with us an excerpt from this September 25 editorial from The Living Church, written by Northern Indiana’s Bishop Edward Little. (The Rev. Chicken-Little-in-Chief has earned his title by his regular clucking that the Episcopal Church is dying -- nay, hemorraghing! -- due to its acceptance of queers.)
In his essay, Bishop Little recalls that Archbishop Carey “asked a difficult question in April at a conference sponsored by the Anglican Communion Institute.” For those not keeping up, the Anglican Communion Institute is a discredited group, fondly known as "Three Guys and a Webpage," supported by Don Armstrong, who is currently up on felony charges in Colorado.
Photo (at left) of Bishop Little is courtesy of Diocese of Northern Indiana
In his essay, Bishop Little claims to quote Archbishop Carey:
"Can conservative believers be assured that they have a future place in TEC without censure or opposition?”
Then Bishop Little offers his own whine:
"This question is both apt and pressing. We need a conscience clause with canonical and constitutional authority, a conscience clause that contains no sunset provision, that cannot be revoked."
As far as I’m concerned, the simple answer is simply: “No!”
Without a doubt, conservative believers in our church should be assured they have a future place in TEC without censure. I respect my parishioners who disagree with my beliefs. They are all entitled to their position, just as we progressives are bound to respect and listen to them and to engage them. But they certainly should not – and I hope they will not – be guaranteed a place “without opposition.”
How arrogant of Bishop Little to demand a Special Place Without Opposition! (Am I the only one for whom “special rights” carries some verbal baggage?)
For over three decades, progressive theologians and activists have made our case. We have done it in the face of censure, in the face of apothegms of “Heretic!,” and in the face of great, virulent opposition. Bishop Little has railed against the progressives. More recently, the Chicken-Little-in-Chief and his minions
How dare Bishop Little and the Chicken-Little-in-Chief demand that their little sinecure be allowed to thrive “without opposition”!? Methinks they are asking for Special Privileges – privileges that they have withheld from the rest of us in the past several decades.
Has there ever been a group in the Anglican Communion that has claimed it has a right to hold its position “without censure or opposition”? I don’t know, for I am not a master of Anglican theology. But I suspect this is a Very New Thing that Bishop Little is demanding.
I think we Anglicans have spent centuries fighting about our theology, challenging and engaging each other. I don’t know how Bishop Little concocted this notion of a little island of refuge – free from any breath of criticism or challenge. But I don’t think it’s an island within the Anglican Communion. Perhaps it’s an island off the coast of Rome.
In his essay, Bishop Little recalls that Archbishop Carey “asked a difficult question in April at a conference sponsored by the Anglican Communion Institute.” For those not keeping up, the Anglican Communion Institute is a discredited group, fondly known as "Three Guys and a Webpage," supported by Don Armstrong, who is currently up on felony charges in Colorado.Photo (at left) of Bishop Little is courtesy of Diocese of Northern Indiana
In his essay, Bishop Little claims to quote Archbishop Carey:
"Can conservative believers be assured that they have a future place in TEC without censure or opposition?”
Then Bishop Little offers his own whine:
"This question is both apt and pressing. We need a conscience clause with canonical and constitutional authority, a conscience clause that contains no sunset provision, that cannot be revoked."
As far as I’m concerned, the simple answer is simply: “No!”
Without a doubt, conservative believers in our church should be assured they have a future place in TEC without censure. I respect my parishioners who disagree with my beliefs. They are all entitled to their position, just as we progressives are bound to respect and listen to them and to engage them. But they certainly should not – and I hope they will not – be guaranteed a place “without opposition.”
How arrogant of Bishop Little to demand a Special Place Without Opposition! (Am I the only one for whom “special rights” carries some verbal baggage?)
For over three decades, progressive theologians and activists have made our case. We have done it in the face of censure, in the face of apothegms of “Heretic!,” and in the face of great, virulent opposition. Bishop Little has railed against the progressives. More recently, the Chicken-Little-in-Chief and his minions
How dare Bishop Little and the Chicken-Little-in-Chief demand that their little sinecure be allowed to thrive “without opposition”!? Methinks they are asking for Special Privileges – privileges that they have withheld from the rest of us in the past several decades.
Has there ever been a group in the Anglican Communion that has claimed it has a right to hold its position “without censure or opposition”? I don’t know, for I am not a master of Anglican theology. But I suspect this is a Very New Thing that Bishop Little is demanding.
I think we Anglicans have spent centuries fighting about our theology, challenging and engaging each other. I don’t know how Bishop Little concocted this notion of a little island of refuge – free from any breath of criticism or challenge. But I don’t think it’s an island within the Anglican Communion. Perhaps it’s an island off the coast of Rome.
posted by Lisa Fox at 9/26/2009 10:46:00 PM
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