Who's That in the Mirror?

It is not, I admit, a particularly charitable thought, but in the wake of the Pittsburgh vote to realign, my first thought was how offensive the fait accompli, pre-printed "glossy brochure" announcing the vote is.

It's one thing to feel the need to part--that raises theological and ecclesiological issues, as to which (at least the theological) I feel that there are legitimate arguments to be had. Questions of scripture and tradition are important. So too are questions of church polity--although I feel the dissentients' views are even more strained and less convincing on that front.

But is it really necessary to caricature the views of those on the other side in such contemptuous terms? I'm extremely tired, most extremely tired, of being treated like a Christ-denying pagan because I believe that inclusion of women and gays and lesbians is more consonant with the spirit of Christianity than the traditional position. The distored image of my views and those who are aligned with my wing of the Church reflected back is a very hard one to view as other than defamatory.

As to those who claim on Bishop Duncan's behalf that he is a martyr, I suppose I should be grateful that they haven't claimed that Duncan avoided the House of Bishops meeting for fear that the Presiding Bishop was planning to reenact the end of The Wicker Man.