Sunday, November 7, 2010

Refer to the Text

Things have been heating up across the pond as the Anglican Covenant becomes the center of much discussion and debate. On the BBC, Revd. Dr. Lesley Fellows was going toe-to-toe with one of the architects of the proposal, Bishop Gregory Cameron (the one who calls the opponents of the Covenant an ecclesiastical BNP). Here's a link to the BBC podcast. The portion on the Anglican Covenant is about 24 minutes into the show.

The bishop defended his characterization of the likes of me as a British Nationalist bigot by complaining that we aren't debating on the merits of the text, and that we are trying to scare people by saying it will create a centralized authority, two-tiered Communion, and allow churches and provinces in other parts of the Communion to prevent one such as The Episcopal Church from following what it believes is a Gospel of inclusion.

The truth is that many of us have posted several times on the actual words in the Covenant that support our assertions that this is a flawed document which, put in the hands of those who think "relationship" is about control, will use these words for the purposes of putting some members of the Anglican Communion in some kind of perpetual "time out".

Read the text for yourself. Think for yourself. Ask yourself, "Why is this really necessary?" Are we trying to force a relationship that has no love, no real bonds of 'affection'?

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