WHIPLASH!

Well, the newest edition of the San Joaquin Star is out and I now have my neck in a brace!  That is correct, my neck is in a brace.  Ex-bishop now Mr. John David Mercer Schofield has made  a couple of statements that snapped my neck so hard that I may sue him for my whiplash injuries. Get this:

"Despite constant opposition and attempts to confuse the people of San Joaquin, deceit and scare tactics have been revealed for what they are."

I do not suppose that he has thrown open the doors (of information) and allowed all the people of San Joaquin to look and read the Episcopal News? The deceit and scare tactics like: bringing in a defrocked priest to "takeover" a parish in Turlock, CA?  The deceit and scare tactics of locking out a mission from it's own premises?  The deceit and scare tactics of selling a parish out from underneath the mission so he could finance his personal legal wranglings to keep him out of court?  Maybe he meant the scare tactics he tried to use in Taft to screw his faithful people down there.

That was the first time my neck snapped faster around than a broken clock.  Our dear Mr. Schofield says, 

"By initiating law suits against those who for conscience sake know they must leave an unfaithful church -  . . . - leaders of the Episcopal Church have instead chosen to intensify their legal efforts to gain control over property and money.   Such material things are not essential, but they are helpful tools in reaching out to a world especially at this time when we face greater turmoil than we have in living memory."

Let me just say that he ruined a large number of peoples lives by selling property to build a legal war chest in order to steal all the property and and all the money and then "blows this off" by saying "such material things are not necessary" ?  Say big guy, why not just give all that non-essential stuff back?  Ya know St. Francis lived in a cave and went around begging for food and contributions.  How's it going in Fresno in your bought and paid for home with 40 different types of silver and china?

Well, my neck is nearly a pile of mush when this gem comes out:

"Not unlike the diocese of Pittsburgh we have kept the changes to a minimum, we too will await the coming together of the larger body of  a new province where common canons and and Liturgy will be among the many things that bind us together"

Well let's see 'bout them changes.  Elsewhere in the STAR is the GAFCON nonsense so the people can read those minimum changes for themselves but for whiplash purposes let's see:

The Archbishop of Canterbury is out! Mr. ex-bishop John David Schofield promised everyone that we needed to make the move to the Southern Cone in order to stay in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury but that is now gone.  

Whose constitution and canons ya'll going to use?  The ones from the Southern Cone that say you cannot be there or that JDS had to retire 2 years ago?  How about your own? You know, the ones that you ignored in order to move to the Southern Cone?  Or how about Pittsburgh's?  Or Quincy's? or Forth Worth?  I know, you are just going to make it up on the fly.  That would be in keeping with your minimum changes.

And remember you promised the people of San Joaquin that they would still be using the good old prayer book? Nothing would change there.  Nope, it is still the good old prayer book - ya right - from 1662.  The people get to pray for the Queen of England as the head of State!  Gee whiz, that's not much of a change!  Let's keep in mind that you wanted the 1928 prayer book but what you got was something that predates even you!  Certainly no change there.

I really did get whiplash and I am thinking about adding my damaged and scarred neck to the myriad of lawsuits since "material things are not essential".