... I note that Kendall Harmon is "leading" (for the moment!) with a disappointing interview with Bishop Nathan Baxter [Central Pennsylvania] -- which included this Q & A between the reporter and Bishop Baxter::Q: You said in New Orleans that “sometimes traveling as a body means slowing down the pace, in the hope that all can make the journey.” What should gay and lesbian Episcopalians understand when you say that?
A: I want them to hear that the commitment to the journey of full inclusion continues. We don’t know what it will ultimately look like. But we want them to know we’re still on the journey.
What I have found is that many gay and lesbian Christians are concerned not just about their sacramental inclusion, but about the church. Many have shared that they’re willing for us to pause and have that conversation. There are some who are pretty angry, and I understand that.
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How diasappointing.
Disappointing that the Bishop of Central Pennsylvania appears to have bought the "either/or" spin: that those who advocate for the full inclusion of all the baptized in the Body of Christ do so out of selfish desires for their own "sacramental inclusion" and not out of a deep commitment to the health and wholeness of the church AS the Body of Christ.
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The Anglican Communion has been committed to "the conversation" since 1978. What I don't understand is why the bishop isn't angry about that!
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What I DO understand is that there's never been a better time for the remedial reading of Martin Luther King, Jr's LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL -- which I commend in whole at the link above and in part in this quote below:
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Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action Campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation..For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost Always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied.".
7 comments:
Susan:
A bunch of people from my congregation went to see the new documentary "Because the Bible Tells Me So" last night. I recommend that every bishop in the episcopal church be sent to see it!
We'll never convince the twisted, angry, hate-mongers to stop their war against us, but I definitely believe we can light a fire under well-meaning, but misinformed fence-sitters. That documentary would go a long way in that direction.
-J
Can't say enough good things about it ... "For the Bible Tells Me So" is a HUGE gift to our collective discourse ... Now Playing (if you're lucky) at a theater near you.
We're doing a screening at All Saints on Oct 21st ... and it's on my agenda as one of the pieces we'd like to see screened on this side of the Pond for the Lambeth Bunch. Stay tuned ... glad you liked it!
I saw an interview with Billy Jean King when she was leading the fight for pay equity for women in tennis. She described a response from a black player "you girls don't deserve more." "You girls! That from Arthur Ashe whom she had tried to help when some country clubs did not want a black player on their court.
;;sigh;;
We all have our bigotries, somewhere. The question is what we do with them, I think.
FWIW
jimB
Which is why I think education on ALL the "isms" that helps make the connection between racism, sexism and heterosexism is so important -- otherwise it's "divide and conquer" time as those whose power is challenged work to frame the debate around who gets which crumbs off "their" table rather than the debate that we SHOULD be having about EVERYBODY being AT the table
I agree with all the comments made and fine this even more discouraging as someone who was active in the Diocese of C. Pa during his election (I was an acolyte at his consecration). Many of us were very excited about his time as bishop, and hoped that Desmond Tutu preaching at his consecration would set a tone for his episcopacy.
Its discouraging to see his desire to "wait" and "pause," but so it goes.
Susan:
You work so hard at what you do, and we truly appreciate you at All Saints Pasadena. I look forward to Oct. 21 to see "Because the Bible Tells Me So"
Peace and Blessings
Joe
Ah, yes, Billie Jean King. Reminds me of her famous match against whatever-the-heck his name was. I won a case of beer betting on her, to the astonishment of the rest of the guys I was watching the match with.
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