A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on June 30th, 2008 in Progressive Faith

The New York Times has an article by Diana Kraft and Laurie Goodstein that discusses a “wider split” between conservatives and the rest of the Episcopal Church. I wonder how long it will be before everyone finally acknowledges that the real purpose of this group is not to “widen a rift” but to split off entirely?

[The conservative schismatics] depicted their efforts as the culmination of an anti-colonial struggle against the communion’s seat of power in Britain, from which missionaries first carried Anglican Christianity to the developing world. The conservatives say many of the descendants of those Anglican missionaries in Britain and North America are following a “false gospel” that allows a malleable interpretation of Scripture.

They insisted that they were not breaking away from the Anglican Communion or creating a schism. But their plans, if carried out, could create severe upheaval in the communion, the world’s third largest grouping of churches, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches.

Oh yeah – an “anti-colonial struggle”. What happened to “the truth will set you free”?

The statement the delegates released said it was time to create a new ecclesiastical province in the United States and Canada to absorb the parishes that have been outraged by the American church’s consecration of an openly gay bishop in 2003 and the Canadian church’s blessing of same-sex unions.

What they don’t say is that the unrest is also over the consecration of women to serve as priests. You know why? Because if they printed that, the conservative schismatics would have absolutely zero credibility in this country.

The conservatives also challenged the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury. The current archbishop, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, has disappointed conservatives by not disciplining the liberal North Americans or engineering their expulsion. The archbishop of Canterbury historically has not had the power to decree policy in the Anglican Communion, but has determined which churches belonged to it.

The conservatives’ statement said that although they acknowledged that historic position, they did not accept the idea “that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the archbishop of Canterbury.”

Well, here you go. They don’t want to split from the Anglican communion, they just want to set up a parallel structure within the Anglican communion that can tell the Anglican communion that they are dirty, filthy, unGodly people who should be thrown out of the Anglican communion.

Most of the conservatives at the meeting said they would boycott the Lambeth Conference, a gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world that takes place once every 10 years in Britain. That conference begins in mid-July.

Now why would they boycott the single best opportunity to persuade others of their point of view? Because to do so would risk a denunciation of the group and their methods, if not their goals. Let’s face it, if they view themselves as being locked in an anti-colonial struggle, then they are launching a revolution. As soon as someone drops the pretenses, the battle will be over, the two sides will separate, and everyone will be the better for it. But that, I believe, is the reason no one will acknowledge the seriousness of what is happening. Neither side wants to be the one that walks away – even as they walk away.

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