My Real Fear
I responded earlier to something my friend Josh wrote in a comment. I just feel I need to rant a bit more about where I am now and what really scares me about the whole Eames thing.
My big diatribe yesterday, which looking back today I realized was like 4 double spaced pages worth of stuff (I wish exegesis pages came that easy), I think really beat around the bush as to what scares me so much about the Eames Report. I thought and prayed about it, and what scares me to the bone is the fact that when the Eames Report fails, the communion will break, not in half, but shatter into dozens of small little fragments like a clay pot thrown to the floor.
Essentially, this is how I see the whole Lambeth thing playing out. The Windsor report goes to the appropriate committees (or as I call them, Anglicanism's perverse gift to the world, the gift that keeps on giving) which will ultimately result in action from the Primates at Lambeth. The Primates, most of whom are from the Global South or Conservative areas will reject the Commission Report as too toothless and try to enact more severe penalties, ranging from banning the ECUSA from Lambeth, etc., etc. ECUSA will, in typical American fashion, thumb its collective nose at Lambeth, creating a systematic theological mess for those of us priests, or soon to be priests. (I label this a systematic theological mess because what will have happened is that Bishops who labelled us conservatives (wrongly mixing us wth the likes of those AAC people) as schismatics but by resisting Lambeth, the Bishops themselves become the schismatics...argh)
Anyway, ECUSA will go on its merry liberal way, regardless of whatever draconian measures the Primates come up with. The Africans, out of necessity because they get pressures from cultural taboos, islam, and fundamentalist christians, will have no choice but to formally separate from Lambeth creating a seperate Anglican whatever. But having no further allegiance to Canterbury, per se, they will revert to their petty international infighting, which African nations are famous for, and another schism or two (or ten) will occur.
With that happening, ECUSA and Canada will have all but left the Communion, or just give it lip service. Or at least the Communion will have no real teeth to deal with anything. With Africa leading the way, other 3rd world primates will either jocky or position at Lambeth or else go their merry way. Its the same story with secession in the US Civil War. Once X secedes, it sets the precedent for Y, Z, A, B, C, and D to leave and the whole bloody thing collapses. In a sick way, the British Empire is collapsing again. (Bad news for us Imperialists...just kidding)
I hope this is a worst case scenario, but that's how I see things playing out. (FYI, I did leave out the meteor about to hit England, ice caps melting, the ocean turning to blood, and plagues of drunken Red Sox fans pillaging the streets)
My big diatribe yesterday, which looking back today I realized was like 4 double spaced pages worth of stuff (I wish exegesis pages came that easy), I think really beat around the bush as to what scares me so much about the Eames Report. I thought and prayed about it, and what scares me to the bone is the fact that when the Eames Report fails, the communion will break, not in half, but shatter into dozens of small little fragments like a clay pot thrown to the floor.
Essentially, this is how I see the whole Lambeth thing playing out. The Windsor report goes to the appropriate committees (or as I call them, Anglicanism's perverse gift to the world, the gift that keeps on giving) which will ultimately result in action from the Primates at Lambeth. The Primates, most of whom are from the Global South or Conservative areas will reject the Commission Report as too toothless and try to enact more severe penalties, ranging from banning the ECUSA from Lambeth, etc., etc. ECUSA will, in typical American fashion, thumb its collective nose at Lambeth, creating a systematic theological mess for those of us priests, or soon to be priests. (I label this a systematic theological mess because what will have happened is that Bishops who labelled us conservatives (wrongly mixing us wth the likes of those AAC people) as schismatics but by resisting Lambeth, the Bishops themselves become the schismatics...argh)
Anyway, ECUSA will go on its merry liberal way, regardless of whatever draconian measures the Primates come up with. The Africans, out of necessity because they get pressures from cultural taboos, islam, and fundamentalist christians, will have no choice but to formally separate from Lambeth creating a seperate Anglican whatever. But having no further allegiance to Canterbury, per se, they will revert to their petty international infighting, which African nations are famous for, and another schism or two (or ten) will occur.
With that happening, ECUSA and Canada will have all but left the Communion, or just give it lip service. Or at least the Communion will have no real teeth to deal with anything. With Africa leading the way, other 3rd world primates will either jocky or position at Lambeth or else go their merry way. Its the same story with secession in the US Civil War. Once X secedes, it sets the precedent for Y, Z, A, B, C, and D to leave and the whole bloody thing collapses. In a sick way, the British Empire is collapsing again. (Bad news for us Imperialists...just kidding)
I hope this is a worst case scenario, but that's how I see things playing out. (FYI, I did leave out the meteor about to hit England, ice caps melting, the ocean turning to blood, and plagues of drunken Red Sox fans pillaging the streets)
Comments
But I'm still going to have to apologize for all those times I threw around the H-word for fun.
(Heretic)
You know I am kidding. :) Have a good one...