Phalze Prophet

Apparently, in a move designed to build support for the hate mongering that has gone on in both the United States and in Canada the Mr. Peter Jensen (this would be little Pete as opposed to Big Pete Akinola) has decided that while the ACC is meeting in Jamaica, second only to Nigeria in the anti-gay movement, to strike out on his own and see if he cannot get other Christians in Ireland to turn the cheek of LGBT persons in Ireland.

In the Church of Ireland Gazette Mr. Jensen  

. . . issued a rallying call to Church of Ireland evangelicals to be vigilant that no "official act which endorses sin" should take place in the Church of Ireland.

Archbishop Jensen, . . .

told his audience that this was a "solemn time" for Anglicans, as the Anglican Communion was facing a crisis over the authority of Scripture. Dr Jensen said that the Anglican Communion was "a very significant body of Christians" in today’s world and that anything that divided it was bad.

Clearly the entire GAFCON crowd has determined that if you are not with me, then you are against me. Shades of John Foster Dulles. That stupidity in foreign policy brought us Viet Nam and lately Iraq.  Now a bunch of old white men would like for us to believe that Christ said "it's my way or the highway".

Jensen then gives us this fine statement,

the 2003 consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, a practising gay man, had deeply torn the Communion. Bishop Robinson’s consecration, he added, had been the culmination of years of liberal teaching and had taken place despite the guidance of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the view of which had been "set aside" by the US Episcopal Church.

What really has this old men on their toes is the fact that TEC elected a woman presiding bishop and that has torn their fabric right down their zippers!  The Episcopal Church in the United States elects a woman and Jack Iker, a chief apostle of these culturally dominant boys, says, "She is NOT my bishop, never has been and never will be!" and then they want us to believe that +Robinson is the issue?  As they say down under, "Are you nuts?".  

Now, we get to the only real point that we should be taking seriously, Jensen says,

. . . but a fundamental issue concerned the "locus of authority".

That locus of authority is THEM!  The GAFCONEERS and the Conealoneialists want to be in charge.  They want POWER.  This whole thing is about power.  They could not get their way in any real body of the Anglican Communion so now they just make stuff up so they can have some power.  GAFCON, Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Common Cause, Anglican Communion in North America -- it is all just so they can have power.  The terrible thing is that we are duplicitous in this.  We (the TEC, ACoC, Anglican Communion) have allowed them to do this -- rather than just saying No.  

Apparently Dr. Jensen, along with all his cronies rejects the Hooker concept of a three legged stool balancing scripture with reason and history.  

Dr Jensen said that among Christians there were differing emphases on the place of reason, magisterium, experience and Scripture in terms of authority, but he went on to assert that in the events in North America "culture has trumped Scripture".

 Clearly, the faith once given is in the Bible and God no longer speaks to us -- and apparently hasn't since a bunch of old men got together in about 325 or so.  

Here is what I refer to as the "gem of Jensen"

An over-emphasis on the individual’s rights had led to an increasing trend towards cohabitation, as people did not want the restrictions of marital commitment.

  We were not given free will and a mind to think and an ability to enter into a loving covenant with God, no free will is bad and Dr. Jensen and Mr. Akinola (and only these guys) can tell you what is good.  It sounds to me like these great thinkers would like to take the Bible away from everyone.  I think that was tried in the middle ages and what did we get for that?  Oh, the inquisition.  And when we tried free will and democracy and the like what did we get?  Oh, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and not only a great and Godly country but an open, loving and caring church that has moved to full inclusion.  

And now, as if to add emphasis to GAFCON and their anti-Christian behavior,

Archbishop Jensen told his Dollingstown audience that, at the recent meeting of Anglican Communion primates in Alexandria, Egypt, some of the primates would not receive Holy Communion with others and some had not wished even to be photographed with others . . .

Didn't our Lord say something about this?  Yep, he did.  And yet these men call themselves Christian?

Finally, Mr. Jensen tries to "win" (as if this were some game) the Irish to GAFCON and hatred:  However, this was an emergency, Dr Jensen said.

• There was a need to plan ahead and to know what to do if an "official act which endorses sin" were to take place, such vigilance stemming any "drift";

• There should be a strengthening of the Church of Ireland’s biblical identity;

• There was a need to understand the issues and to be able to refute subtle arguments;

• Responsibility should be taken for the Church of Ireland as a denomination and conservative evangelicals, who generally tended to be focused on their congregations, should go forward for membership of boards, committees and synods and should speak with leaders to make their position clear;

• There should be a new commitment to the Gospel in mission, the Church needing "to invade the culture";

• The laity should become more active in taking responsibility in this proactive agenda, because "the Church belongs to the laity, not to some bureaucracy";

• Leaders needed to be supported in putting aside all pride and being ready for sacrifice for the sake of biblical teaching. During a question and answer session, Archbishop Jensen stressed the need for the pastoral care of same sex orientated people. He declined to comment on the fact that all the Irish bishops had attended last year’s Lambeth Conference, which he himself had not attended for "fellowship" reasons. He said that some of his friends had attended, and some had not.

Now, folks, are we not tired of this old nonsense? Isn't it time for something radically different?  How about we here in the Episcopal Church get one step ahead of these folks who aid and abet hatred -- hatred of women, hatred of handicapped, hatred of culturally different peoples and hatred of LGBT persons.  How about we pass a resolution in the upcoming General Convention that allows EVERYONE to participate fully in the life of the Episcopal Church and allows everyone to fully approach their God in a loving and caring relationship.  How about an Episcopalian Bill of Rights.  It is time.