A canon thumper gets put in his place.

One liberal Father Zabriske wrote a letter to Bishop Allison, one of the retired orthodox bishops who have crossed diocesan boundaries to minister to orthodox Episcopalians. Zabriske said “good Episcopalians can differ regarding important theological and ethical matters� but crossing diocesan boundaries is going too far. Yes, we must hold to geographical fundamentalism, said the canon thumper.

Bishop Allison's reply is wonderful. Among other pointed comments, he said, "I am thankful that our Anglican forebears did not do the idolatrous thing in elevating polity over 'important theological and ethical matters.'�

Amen. It frankly provokes me when liberal bishops throw out basics of the faith, but insist on canon thumping and geographical fundamentalism and use it to oppress the orthodox. To Hell with using the canons as cover for apostasy and persecution!

Here's the article.

The first time I heard the word "Anglican"

The first time I heard the word "Anglican" somewhat randomly came to mind today.

One of the first times I saw Monty Python's Flying Circus, there was the Ron Obvious sketch. In it, Ron Obvious tries, among other things, to eat a cathedral. When he is about to begin his attempt, John Cleese as a breathless announcer says Mr. Obvious will now attempt to "eat an entire Anglican cathedral."

I had no idea what "Anglican" was. I was a young teenager, and it went completely over my head.

Of course a few years ago, I still didn't know what "Anglican" was.

I'm a bit pressed for time today. But I recommend a bold, perceptive letter comparing the situations in the mainline Presbyterian and Episcopal churches.

You might remember that I'm a former Presbyterian.

I’ve been really looking forward to Holy Week this year. . . . Ha! That’s quite a change in the past year, me just calling it Holy Week.

Anyway, I went to my first Anglican Palm Sunday service at Christ Church Episcopal this morning. Geez, I made a crying fool of myself. In the service, I was overwhelmed with Christ and what He’s done for me. I even clutched the little palm cross to my heart like I was a weeping Catholic. Oh dear, what’s become of me! ;^)

This week will also be my first time at Anglican Maundy Thursday, Stations of the Cross, and Seven Last Words services. And I’m looking forward to praying the collects and doing some of the BCP scripture passages for each day.

Again, what a change in me. In the past, I didn’t even pay much attention to Palm Sunday. And although I certainly think of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, I’ve never been to a Good Friday service. To be honest, Easter sometimes hasn’t been a big deal to me either. Of course, the death and resurrection of Jesus mean everything to me and has for a long time. I’ve just never gotten into celebrating certain days – until now. I might talk more about that sometime.

Anyway, this is already looking like a very special week.

Peaceful Islam? Yeah, right.

Iraqi Sunni Muslim clerics have denounced the mutilation of murdered Americans in Fallujah. But they refuse to condemn the killings themselves.

That’s one more reason not to feed me any crap about “peaceful Islam.�

Infant Baptismal Regeneration II

I’ve been in e-mail discussions with a rector I respect and have been doing a bit of reading and . . . now, don’t get too excited, my Anglican friends, but . . . now you can color me confused on the subject of infant baptism.

I still see problems with the Anglican view of infant baptism, but I understand it better and see there’s a persuasive Biblical case that can be made for it. And I see there are problems with my believer’s baptism view. I will do more reading and study, including a Bible word study on baptism. But I’m not at all sure I’ll come to a final view on the subject. I see the problems with both sides as quite thorny.

I do respect infant baptism more now. And since, like a good Anglican, I give weight to tradition, I have to consider that those who don’ t practice infant baptism are definitely in the minority, both now and historically.

I am glad to hear from the rector that my views shouldn’t be a problem in joining an Anglican church since I have an attitude of not raising a stink about differences on non-essential theological issues. Moreover, I think he enjoys vigorous theological discussion and would enjoy having me around.

That’s good since it’s very possible I’ll end up joining his parish.

Whiney Fundamentalist!

Whiney Canadian Geographical Fundamentalist, that is. (Ha! Had you wondering. April Fools!)

Yes, my favorite apostate Canadian, Acting Primate David Crawley is whining again about bishops and archbishops committing the crime of actually trying to help out distressed orthodox parishes in Canada. How terrible.

Crawley’s combination of hubris, apostasy, and whining is a wonder to watch. Out of his Geographical Fundamentalist grasping for power, he is now rebuking not one, not two, but four Anglican primates! Do you think Crawley is losing his grip? Do you think it’s not just orthodox parishes he’s alienating, but big chunks of the Anglican Communion?

Of course, unlike the four primates, Crawley doesn’t give a flip about the authority of scripture and Biblical sexual morality. But try to cross diocese lines and watch him fulminate! What a Canon thumper!

Crawley is a whiney fool, and not just an April one. If the Anglican Church of Canada continues to follow in his direction, it will hasten it’s decent into irrelevance.