Aren't We Gentle Persons

The Reverend Dr. Bruce Robison of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, in the Highland Park neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1994 had this to say today:

Although this convention was an incredibly sad and difficult event, it was led with dignity and restraint, and my own impression is that members on both sides of the critical question conducted themselves with grace and gentleness. 

Let's think about this for just one second -- no, I do not think grace and gentleness should come into play when it comes to theft, arrogance, greed, pride, destructive behavior that causes grievous harm to persons who wish to worship in a manner that is apparently not approved by all.  Your church, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America is slowing being ground into dust.  The expressed written desire of the deposed Bishop of your diocese as written by a fellow Standing Committee member is to destroy your church. They count on your charity and your grace and your gentleness.  It is being used against you.  And yet we continue to treat persons who:

1, will not recognize women as first class citizens,

2,  are presiding bishops who happen to women as outcasts, 

3, treat LGBT persons as pariah; 

3, recognize bigots as heroes;

4, will not pass the peace to/with EVERYONE; and,

5, will not receive communion with everyone 

as genuine persons who have a slightly different opinion from ours with gentleness and kindness we help them kill our church.  These folks want TEC to be eliminated.  They do not want peaceful co-existence, they do not want detente, they do not want glasnost.  They want TEC dead!  

Keep the following in mind:

Each time we take this tact we drive another stake into the heart of the Episcopal Church of the United States.  Yes, me, you, he, she, him, her we are all responsible for this death.  A few years from now, when we look around and they have come for us, keep in mind that we could have stopped this when they first came for the women; we could have stopped this when they came for the LGBT members of our community; we could have stopped this when they came for the "librals" but we did not.  

Look around gentle persons, there is no one left to help us.