Bookworm has news of a theological breakthrough by the hierarchy of the Episcopal Church in America.
On July 9, 2012, the Episcopalian Church officially banned discrimination against transsexuals. …
What makes the decision to do so funny is that, as one of those who opposed the proposal pointed out, those advancing this successful viewpoint about gender identity issues were explicitly arguing that God erred:
The Rev. Canon James Lewis, Deputy from South Carolina, said that while “gender identity and expression†may have meaning for the proposers, “to be honest I would be hard pressed to explain the boundary between identity and expression.â€
“No explanation of these terms or a theological explanation has been offered,†he said, adding that the arguments put forward by supporters were incoherent and contradictory. Canon Lewis said that the arguments put forward for the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church was that as God had made them that way, and that God did not make mistakes, so the church should not exclude them.
However, the argument put forward by the supporters of the transgendered resolution said in effect that God had made a mistake when he made transgendered people, who by seeking surgery or other means to change their gender were correcting God’s error.
It seems to me that an official resolution that is predicated on God messing up sort of negates the whole God thing. It’s one thing to revisit what He’s said and reinterpret it in different ways (making the Bible the religious equivalent of a Living Constitution), but doesn’t it take things to a whole new level to go out to ones congregants and say that God is as fallible as anybody else, and that it’s up to the Church to take proactive steps to shield individuals from the consequences of God’s errors?
What the Episcopal Church obviously has done is simply correct the old medieval notions of Ontological hierarchy, preeminence, and omniscience.
In the bad old days, people believed that God was perfect, the supreme ruler of the universe, and omniscient. We now know that the elite community of fashion possesses superior insight and moral understanding and consequently outranks God.
Go and make trouble about any of this, and they’ll take your historic church and sell it to the Muslims for a mosque.
Hat tip to Karen L. Myers.
JKB
That last link reminded me of this excerpt I just read on the New England Township. It is unlikely these breakaway congregations can find a new world to build but that doesn’t mean they can’t build something.
Couple that with the environment driving men from the universities and you have many of the same conditions that transformed the world some 300 or so years ago. Perhaps new innovations and new ideas of human freedom, all not beholden to the ruling orthodoxy. Sure things could go bad with socialistic totalitarianism taking over, but they also seem to be building the potential to be very transformative in the other direction as well.
GoneWithTheWind
The Episcopal church was taken over some time ago in a bloodless coup when no one was paying attention. Far left activist have taken over the reins and are pushing a far left agenda. I predict that someday soon they will have used up the church and they will walk away from the broken and lifeless remains of what was once a fine church.
SDD
These people might be qualified to be on the Supreme Court. First, decide the outcome that you want. Next, invent a rationale to support the outcome. Then dismiss any contradictions with the facts or history.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master. That’s all.”
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