[Magdalen] 224th Convention of The Episcopal Church in SC

[Marion Thompson]

I like this, James.

Marion, a pilgrim
On 11/18/2014 10:52 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford wrote:
> I'm sure you're right.
>
> I, however, am just talking religion.  And my point remains that we in
> organizations such as the episcopal church have been accepting and
> tolerant.  I think that's reasonable.
>
> The putative Anglican Churches in several other countries has become
> infected with toxic  fundamentalist ideas, and they apply their
> fundamentalist views to Bible interpretation, and then call us heretics if
> we don't immediately agree with stuff we have never agreed to to begin
> with. (at least, not in my lifetime) We find ourselves facing non-starter
> arguments we are used to getting from Baptist or non-denom types and other
> know-nothing types, and it is awkward to face incredibly horrible theology,
> poorly formed and abysmally badly understood, without saying something
> like, "Excuse me, but your theology would not pass muster in first year
> seminary in our church."
>
> We in the Episcopal Church are willing to support another communion quite
> actively, regardless of theological slant. We have in fact done just that.
> Repeatedly. And I would not oppose it.  However, the problem is that the
> other folks have no interest in tolerance. They see a difference, label it
> sinful and all those other dreary words that I wish folks would excise from
> their vocabulary, and they want us to do as they believe or they apparently
> intend to do whatever they can to bring us down. They were nurtured in the
> Anglican Tradition but it would seem that they do not understand the
> central underpinnings of that tradition.
>
> I can certainly understand the strong feeling that we need to realize that
> these folks have been badly treated by a long line of Westerners over
> centuries and we need to cut them some slack.  Oh I'm perfectly willing to
> cut them all the slack in the world.  But they don't get to dictate how we
> do church.  That would be analogous to banning all music in the Western
> tradition because a lot of Blacks find it offensive.
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
>
> On Tue, Nov 18, 2014 at 5:30 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <ichthys89 at comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
>> I'm not just talking religion here James...
>>
>> It is my opinion that 'the west' still calls many shots that are residue
>> (emphasis on the due, perhaps) of colonial thinking... rooted in power and
>> control (by force or multitude)
>>
>> It is like the racial consciousness training conversation that was had on
>> the HoB/D last month, of anyone here happened to follow that.  People can
>> think they are not biased , and they can learn to do things that are not
>> biased, but unless they deeply examine their though processes and verify
>> that they have changed not just swerved, they are merely  making a small
>> dent.  This is the way with the Western Civilized world and the trickle
>> down into our times... spirits of cooperation and benevolence do not an
>> equal plain make.  We still view ourselves as being 'more ahead' and
>> therefore more experienced, mature, etc... thus more able to see everyone's
>> bigger picture.  That's still holding on to power, IMO.
>>
>> Lynn
>>
>> From: "James Oppenheimer-Crawford" <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 3:18 PM
>> To: "Magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] 224th Convention of The Episcopal Church in SC
>>
>>   I think the West has been very, very willing to allow other parts of the
>>> world to find their own way.  It was only when they found that something
>>> we
>>> were doing was not okay in THEIR book that the trouble started.
>>>
>>> My feeling is that the other folks can continue to oppose and attack
>>> whatever they want; I just won't ever support any aid to any of them. Fair
>>> is fair, after all. If our theology is too tainted for them, so is our
>>> money.
>>>
> .
>