[Magdalen] Mass e-mails, was Test

[Roger Stokes]

On 08/04/2015 19:43, Scott Knitter wrote:
> One parishioner who left as soon as the organist and choirmaster were let
> go let it be known a $2M bequest was leaving with him. I care not and would
> rather not know such things,  but he apparently wanted us to know that to
> lose him as a member is worse than to lose someone else.  But he wouldn't
> be satisfied unless we called an old-time closeted rector with a particular
> personality, as though that were essential to a Catholic parish. It
> certainly ain't.
>
> What saddens me is that people with whom I was on friendly terms have
> started avoiding me because I'm not on the Save Ascension list. And I will
> not participate in coffee-hour gossip about it. I'm sick of the conspiracy
> theories, demonizing, lies about an "empty" church and choir loft (not
> remotely true), and brickbats thrown from afar by folks who haven't been at
> the church in years or ever but are sure they know what is behind the staff
> changes, a sinister plot worthy of a bestseller.

If the truth were told would you get a publisher?  Unless they were 
well-versed in church politics they would regard the plot as just too 
implausible.  From the midst of an election season in this country 
which, sadly, seems to be descending into attack politics more than any 
other I still see one essential difference between ecclesiastical 
politics and that in the secular world.  "Normal" politics is civil.

Roger