the latest rants; installment 1

So my latest rant (and by far the largest) has been over my on-going relationship with the Episcopal church-USA. There have been the headlines with stuff about gay ordination and so forth and so on. My basis for ranting is a rampant hypocrisy and a lack of vision that astounds me. Steve Taylor has a line in a song that says "You're so open minded that your brain fell out." It has always made me chuckle- and partly because I have seen it in action.

A little background- the national Episcopal church is a small bunch- we number 2 million nationwide. That represents something like less than 1 % of the US population. Within that narrow margin are several divergent opinions- but they can be boiled down to two or three at best. And every three years, they get together to vote on what the majority of them think. It is unfair to use broad brush strokes on any group- but I do so after watching "the majority" rule. Over the past 30 years most Episcopalians could be characterized as middle class, well-educated, socially liberal (more democrat than republican) but fiscally conservative (more republican than democrat). Given that they created their own insurance company to handle the assets and retirements, they have in large part, focused more on larger American social policies. (so they focus more on the socially liberal part since the fiscal conservatism is taken care of) They are usually found on the side of the democrats- and I mean that in a good way. )I also firmly believe that Jesus really meant what he said by things like "feed the poor" "Love your neighbor" and "Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me." My rector has a bumper sticker that says "I'm pretty sure that when Jesus said 'Love your enemies' He meant don't bomb them") There seems to be a preponderance of Episcopalians in the northeast (the legacy of the 13 English colonies) and they are by in large liberal folks.

So you end up with a church full of social activists- people who are interested in setting right those things wrong in the world- standing up for the oppressed- respecting the dignity of every human being. These aren't bad things...they just fall short in practice. The Episcopal church was one of the first in the world to ordain women, they have effected change in the condition of coal miners, taken stands on holding conventions at hotels with racist views (Adams Mark) and embraced those who stand outside the norm- those with AIDS, divorced persons, etc. etc. etc.

I think if you did a survey, a majority of Episcopalians would be against the war in Iraq- and you'd hear them say "Its not right for us to force our views of democracy and societal norms on other cultures- we need to respect their right to self-determination and to decide their own destiny. "

I just realized how long I've been ranting. I will have to make this into multiple entries. So that's enough for now.