Anglican Covenant: Much Ado About Nothing

I know this is probably passe by now, none the less.

I have waited patiently for the convention to act on the Anglican Covenant.  Each and every diocese and each and every parish/mission was requested to review and comment on the Covenant.  With all the "to do" about the Covenant I thought that something substantive would come out of the discussions.  Well folks, here it is in all it's glory and with all the decisive power we have in our great church.

B005

TOPIC: ANGLICAN COMMUNION

Ongoing Commitment to The Anglican Covenant Process

PROPOSER
Douglas, The Rt. Rev. Ian
ENDORSED BY
Doyle, The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew; Curry, The Rt. Rev. Michael

SPONSORED BY

PAGE NUMBER(S) FOR REFERENCE

Blue Book: p. N/A; Constitution & Canons: p. N/A

HOUSE OF INITIAL ACTION / LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
HD / World Mission
CURRENT FILING STATUS
Filed
REVIEW STATUS (PB&F, CONSTITUTION, CANONS)

not yet reviewed; N/A; N/A

RESOLUTION TEXT
Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 77th General Convention
express its gratitude to those who so faithfully worked at producing and responding to the proposed Anglican Covenant (www.anglicancommunion.org/commission/covenant/final/text.cfm); and be it
further

Resolved,  That the 77th General Convention acknowledge that following extensive study and prayerful consideration of the Anglican Covenant there remain a wide variety of opinions and ecclesiological positions in The Episcopal Church; and be it further

 Resolved, that as a pastoral response to The Episcopal Church, the General Convention decline to take a position on the Anglican Covenant at this convention; and be it further

 Resolved, that the General Convention ask the Presiding Officers to appoint a task force of Executive Council (Blue Book, 637) to continue to monitor the ongoing developments with respect to the Anglican Covenant and how this church might continue its participation; and be it further

 Resolved, that the Executive Council task force on the Anglican Covenant report its findings and recommendations to the 78th General Convention.


EXPLANATION

The first three resolves are the same as those offered by the Executive Council and the D020 Task Force. The fourth resolve substitutes “an embrace” of the Preamble and first three Sections of The Anglican Covenant for the Executive Council’s resolve that The Episcopal Church “is unable to adopt The Anglican Covenant in its present form.” The final two resolves call for a task force of Executive Council, as outlined in the Executive Council’s August 2011 report on The Anglican Covenant, to study and report back to the 78th General Convention with respect to The Episcopal Church’s ongoing participation in The Anglican Covenant process. The resolution affirms that The Episcopal Church is still in the process of adopting The Anglican Covenant and thus maintains our “participation in the decision making of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion or of the Instruments of Communion.” (The Anglican Covenant 4.2.8)

  Printed: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 at 06:10 PM. Page 1 of 1


(NOTE: This is not quite the format the resolution is in but the verbiage is correct.)


One of two things happened here.  First, the convention/delegates decided skip the heavy lifting since several of the resolutions passed  and already being acted on are already hot and so lets not piss off the rest of the world.  Or, two, let's hope this whole thing blows over before we have to really reject this silly and redundant document created by silly people for silly people who think that this is now the Ministry of Silly People (apologies to Monty Python).  At any rate, you all pick what you think happened.

Why did all our laity put so much heart and soul, blood, sweat and  tears into "let's think it over".  I do know our parish worked hard to read, digest and come up with our decision and now we realize that everyone was just kidding.  That is a good way to keep us all on  the same page.

 

BTW, Bishop Douglas is an expert on the Anglican Communion.

Warriors

I have borrowed this from a friend, I hope that friend agrees with this post.

Who are our warriors?  Where are our warriors?

 Have we been abandoned?

Religion and the Current Political Landscape

The republican party has been hijacked by the "Christian Right", this we all know.  I would like to add my voice to some of the "diatribes" in which "it is God's will to prohibit abortion, that the US is a Christian Nation, that women have no need of equal rights, equal pay or equal anything.
that the ten commandments needs to be posted in all courthouses, that full health care for all Americans in a violation and that we NEED to reduce taxes, reduce unions, reduce government spending and require that the poor have babies and then end food stamps, health care, free and reduced lunches, etc. and just let them fend for themselves."

So let's begin with a couple of quotes from Thomas Jefferson to show his opinion of religion and politics.

"Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination. "

-Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, in reference to the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom

Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptist Association, CT., Jan. 1, 1802

History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.

-Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, Dec. 6, 1813.

Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.

-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

I have intentionally belabored this point because there are so many right-wingers that believe the nation was founded under Christian beliefs and principles that one needs to "hammer" this point.  The fact is the man who wrote much of the nation's cornerstone documents has much to say about the issue of this nation and what principles were used.  And for you scholarly types, much of Jefferson's work comes right out of John Locke and some can be found in On Liberty.

Here is my corollary.  The bedrock of Christian principles can be found in two places.
The Beatitudes

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

(Matthew 25:31-40 ESV)

If you, the Christian Right (or for that matter any Christian) are interested in "bringing Christ into this world let's start with these two statements.  Use these two sayings to live your life by and the rest will be taken care of -- trust me.