From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 00:23:36 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 0:23:36 Subject: Opening Comments 9-6-2001 Message-ID: Dear Brothers and Sisters, This past week you received two stories without comment. The first was an exclusive interview with Mrs. Joan Grein the soon to be divorced wife of former NY Bishop Richard Grein. The second was that of the Rev. Janet Broderick Kraft former vicar of Grace Church on Broadway, New York. Both women came up against the tyranny of a single man who put his passions ahead of Scripture and reason. Bishop Richard Grein is not untypical of the mind-set of a vast number of liberal and revisionist bishops in the Episcopal Church USA. First they abandon orthodox theology and Biblical Faith for sub- biblical theology and immorality. Sooner or later, with no theology to fall back on, they themselves fall from grace. It's the old story where moral failure follows bad theology. When you don't know what you believe in anymore what then are the standards to live by? If Scripture is no longer normative for faith and morals, then we are, sooner or later, left to our own devices and desires. We become the captains of our fate. And that can be fatal. Bishop Grein is such a man. He was, by all accounts a sorry example of a bishop. He was an introvert who basically disliked people and was deeply conflicted. He hid behind the robes of his office and Russian Orthodox baubles he loved to collect when he went atouring, and whenever priests sought his counsel he yelled at them that he would not allow them to be co-dependent on him and urged them to "find themselves" in Myers-Briggs. A famous quote from Grein was "Christology is Anthropology", he had little or no faith, he was a bearer of the tradition and the organization, said one rector. He killed the Evangelism Committee in the diocese of NY - stopped it completely. He said he "couldn't find priests who knew what evangelism was" - he said evangelism was not proclaiming the Good News to unbelievers - it was "helping believers to live into their baptism." Shades of Frank Griswold. And he had a double life -- while he liked to have a world-wide reputation as a Trinitarian -- a Conservative even. In the diocese of NY he said, "What I don't know I don't have to deal with" -- so when people were celebrating gay marriages he just said, "Do whatever... but don't tell me about it." It's like he had no sense of personal integrity, said another rector. His fey Anglo-Catholicism was little more than trumped up smells and bells, robes and vestments concealing deep insecurities; a shell of a man who knew neither himself nor anyone else, preying on women he allegedly loved but mostly hurt. Grein was never the victim. His actions always lead to others being hurt. Now he is the fallen victor. So venal is his behavior, that even attorney Michael Rehill who defended Walter Righter in the now infamous Righter Trial has taken up the Rev. Janet Kraft's case. This is a man who defends homosexuality in the Diocese of Newark, where he lives, but when he saw this case he did an about face and will now butt heads with whoever steps up to defend Grein. Oh how the worm has turned. And so now Grein must face his accusers, an ex-wife who will tell all in court, and a presentment hearing that could go to trial and see him defrocked and deposed. And Grein cannot be sure that he will get the same treatment as Righter or even Jane Dixon. Griswold has loaded the "jury" in favor of Dixon knowing she will never be brought to trial. He is on safe ground. He has already come out slamming Fr. Edwards, calling him schismatic. Dixon's "innocence" is a sure thing. But not necessarily Grein. You see Joan Grein has friends in high places including the Griswolds themselves and the Carey's, and Frank Griswold must walk warily as he dare not offend George Carey whom he leans on to defend him against the increasing inroads of the AMIA into ECUSA. This is a tricky one for Frank, a veritable minefield in fact. Grein is a liberal like unto himself; pro-gay, pro the whole nine yards of gay and lesbian agit- poop, but he is a liberal who has gone too far, he stepped over the line and Griswold even called him once to account. You can preach it but God help you if you practice it. Former Montana Bishop "Ci" Jones learned that lesson the hard way. He's out, gone forever. Grein practiced his liberal morals and now he is going down big time. And great will be the fall thereof. When you have no morality and very little theology you end up practicing what you preach, and the list of liberal and revisionist bishops who have stepped over the moral line in recent years is a mile long. Just before he retired, Massachusetts Bishop David Johnson put a bullet through his heart just as he was about to be exposed as a major league adulterer by one of his women. By contrast I cannot imagine a single evangelical or evangelical Catholic bishop like, say Ackerman, or Iker, John-David Schofield or Herzog, Bena or Fairfield, Howe or Jecko, Marshall or Rodgers doing and saying the things that Grein said and did. If one of these men did fall from grace they would fess up in a moment. I am told Grein will never admit to any wrongdoing. Ever. He's never wrong said his wife Joan to me. Well I'll tell you this. If he tries to lie his way through the Presentment and civil court hearings he'll be in for some big surprises. Count on it. One wonders where and when it will all end. Now you know why the Continuing Churches and the AMIA exist and why thousands have left ECUSA and thousands more anticipate they will leave. And you wonder why there are deep wellsprings of anger in ECUSA, so many men and women, priests and laity have been hurt and betrayed by those higher up in the pecking order. One priest on reading the August 28 Virtuosity wrote saying, "It was very sad for me. The story could be told several times over in the recent history of X. What makes me the most sad is that any clergy who dares to resist ends up, win or lose, unable to continue in ministry. The personal attacks from the Bishops and their attorneys and the accusations they make are ultimately a fatal poison for further placement regardless of the legal outcome. We as a church are really doing a horrible thing to many dedicated clergy who only seek to serve. My choice in similar circumstances was to take the hit and continue to serve. I hope that my witness to the Gospel will be more helpful to the people I serve than any witness I could give in the courts. But, as you can see, I too struggle with this problem. It deeply cut me and my family. It hurt my children." In my E-mail this week I received more stories from two other women similarly treated by bad bishops. One has a book in the works with her story. As the new Episcopal nomenclature is to tell stories, perhaps I'll tell you there's, and Canon John Peterson of the Anglican Consultative Council can travel the world with these stories in his back pocket to share with others, in his phony "Ministry of Communication" especially to Third World bishops. But they will already know them. Episcopal gentility and bonhomie is wearing thinner by the day. "Gin and sodomy in the garden, Rodney, and don't forget to bring the pistol, we'll play Russian roulette with it after we've tied one on. I'm told it's an even bigger high than sex if you can imagine that." The truth is The Episcopal Church USA is playing Russian roulette with the souls of men and women, consigning their souls to hell because they do not proclaim a Biblical gospel. Frank Griswold's "mission" saves no one and nothing, and neither did Grein's. Griswold and Grein perfect together. And at the end, Hell. TRACHE AGAIN As the Episcopal Church turns who should surface again over the lip of the toilet bowl but the Rev. Robert Trache the wanna-be Bishop of Atlanta. He was a priest in the Diocese of Virginia before he sought higher office, but he had a few problems along the way, among which was a pending breakup of his marriage and some indiscreet hiding of funds, bankruptcy, and perhaps a whole lot more. It's time for Virtuosity to revisit the Trache case and see what skeletons emerge from the Diocese of Virginia closet. Well he's so mad he didn't get the job in Atlanta that he is suing Griswold and Clayton Matthews our wonderful wellness bishop and Frank's hit man for Episcopal indiscretion, for a cool $10 million. Now that should keep both men up at night. Is ECUSA going the way of Canada? Janet Kraft is suing Grein for $5 million; Ci Jones may well sue for a few bucks as well, especially after the way he was treated. A 20-year old sex charge for goodness sake! Who could blame him? A million here a million there, after a while it starts looking like real money. One wonders how many more disgruntled priests and bishops are waiting in the wings to pounce on the national church and Frank "I believe in diversity" Griswold. The real zinger will be when a sodomite priest sues the national church for sexual discrimination; "How dare you refuse to make me bishop of Washington, I'm perfectly well qualified. Freemantle and I have been together for at least six months, haven't we Freemantle. And boy do I know how to swish and toss a mean thurible." I can't wait. In the DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON everyone is waiting in breathless anticipation for the judge to rule in L'Affair Accokeek. Will he toss the charges out or will he side with the bishop and the diocese? We shall soon know. In the DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA where Bishop Ed Salmon is suing for the parish property of All Saints' Waccamaw Episcopal Church, the home of the Anglican Mission in America the summary Judgment motion concerning the properties apparently went better than expected for the parish. Judge Breeden heard the case in Conway, SC where the hearing took place August 31 instead of Sept. 4. The parties have till Sept. 27 to file any responses. The judge will rule by October 15. In the DIOCESE OF EAST CAROLINA, Bishop Clifton Daniel III is gearing up for another crack at St. Andrews, Morehead City. He lost the first time round but he's not ready to give up apparently. And in the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA, Bishop Charles E. Bennison is just dying to get his hands on St. James the Less. Watch for lawyers to win big time on this one. There's so much legal stuff going on in ECUSA these days it's enough to make your head spin, and there is no sign of it letting up. By all accounts it can only get worse. TODAY'S LEAD STORY takes us to the DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH where a disgruntled black priest wants Bishop Robert Duncan to pull the plug on supporting the Province of Rwanda because the Primate there participated in the Denver AMIA consecrations. Read all about it. IN OTHER STORIES, I have written about how the Anglican Communion News Service out of London spins ECUSA news in support of its American paymasters. Bishop Jack Iker in the DIOCESE OF FT. WORTH takes a swing at ECUSA in an address to Forward in Faith, the ultra-conservative wing of the Episcopal Church and in other news related to this Anglo- Catholic Bishop, Jack Taylor, the private detective in Dallas has started an investigation into this good bishop's background. Taylor has a history of this that included yours truly and most recently Mr. Chuck Nalls, canon lawyer in the Christ Church, Accokeek case against Bishop Jane Dixon. Syndicated columnists Mike McManus and Terry Mattingly are up today and there are a number of other stories for your reading pleasure. I close as usual with a Devotional. A REMINDER. If you haven't signed up to attend the Anglican Institute's lecture series in New York Oct. 2-4 then you can still do so by dropping a line to the Rev. Dr. Donald Armstrong at GraceRector at aol.com. He'll take care of you. Some of the world's best known theologians will be there including Dr. Chris Seitz and Dr. Alister McGrath to name but two. If you would like to review past VIRTUOSITY digests you may do so by going to; http://www.orthodoxanglican.org/virtuosity and hitting the ARCHIVES link. You may purchase your books from Amazon. Com from my Website as well and Amazon will bless me with a few dollars for your troubles. I want to warmly welcome the more than 20 new Virtuosity subscribers who have signed on this week, some from as far away as Norway and Sweden. If you would like to support this ministry you may do so by sending a donation to Media-Link, 1236 Waterford Road, West Chester, PA 19380. This ministry totally depends on you, its readers, for support. For your gift I will send you a copy of THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS edited by Don Armstrong. Some of the contributors include N.T. Wright, Alister McGrath, Diogenes Allen and Gareth Jones. I hope that for many of you who have been reading Virtuosity for some time now will seriously consider supporting this ministry. Thank you. All blessings, David W. Virtue From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 00:36:39 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 0:36:39 Subject: Black Activist Rector Calls for Pittsburgh Diocese to Terminate Support... Message-ID: BLACK ACTIVIST RECTOR CALLS FOR PITTSBURGH DIOCESE TO TERMINATE SUPPORT OF RWANDA PROVINCE OVER CONSECRATIONS By David W. Virtue A liberal black activist priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh wants the diocese to "terminate immediately" its relationship with the African Province of Rwanda because it supports schism in the Episcopal Church USA. The Rev. Harold Lewis, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh argues in AGAPE his fortnightly parish publication, that the continuing relationship the diocese has with the African Province "sends a signal that we are supportive of the schismatic actions of the Rwandan bishops." "The fact that the Archbishop of Rwanda, the Bishop of Shyira were among the consecrators [of the four AMIA bishops] is a matter of grave concern for us in the Diocese of Pittsburgh." Lewis said he wrote to Bishop Robert Duncan requesting that the Diocese of Pittsburgh "terminate immediately" its relationship with the diocese. "If this fails, the Calvary delegation, with the approval of our Vestry, will present a resolution to that effect at the diocesan convention in November." Lewis concludes; "While our actions may give new definition to 'exercise in futility,' given the theological climate of this Diocese, at least we shall be on record as being in concert with the Archbishop of Canterbury and our own Presiding Bishop, who have roundly condemned the consecrations." Lewis noted that Trinity Wall Street, the richest parish in ECUSA, had withdrawn its "two cents" worth of support for the diocese in the amount of $146,000 dollars for theological education, but the Anglican Mission in America was now making up this amount at the instigation of Bishop Charles Murphy. "When we entered into relationship with the Rwandan bishops, I objected, but was told that 'politics' has nothing to do with it, and the relationships existed solely to enable us to assist Rwanda orphans and refugees. The orphans are a smokescreen. Bishop Duncan has himself affirmed that he is working closely with African bishops to help bring the Episcopal Church "back to its senses." By continuing these relationships, we are sending a loud message to the worldwide church that we are supportive of schismatics. It is time that the official diocesan relationships with Rwanda be severed, an act that would not necessarily preclude the possibility of our providing humanitarian aid to victims of Rwandan genocide." Responding to the accusations Bishop Duncan said; "I have been in touch with the Archbishop of Canterbury to seek his advice about our Rwandan partnership, since it was the Archbishop's office that first asked Pittsburgh to partner with the whole of the Province of Rwanda (January '99) and since questions about continuing our relationship have been raised as possibly disloyal to His Grace. Archbishop George has urged us to continue our partnership, which is so deeply humanitarian in nature." Bishop Duncan said he was not consulted, nor were he asked to approve of, the Denver consecrations either before or since June 24th. "We lament the state of dis-ease within ECUSA, the desperation of many Anglicans within North America, and that the Province of Rwanda has been drawn into our domestic affairs. After consultation with the Bishop of Winchester, England's Rwanda partner, we are mutually convinced that we cannot turn aside from our relief efforts in the re- building of Rwandan society. The gospel will not allow us to abandon the orphaned, the widowed, and the poor." Lewis has a history of Episcopal activism. He served as the Director of Black Ministries office at 815, the national church's headquarters in New York the Eighties and early Nineties under the disastrous leadership of Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning. Calvary Episcopal is the most heavily endowed parish in the diocese with more than $9.1 million, is second in operating budget of $1.1 million and has the second highest membership in the diocese with 1,513 but with average Sunday attendance of 379. St. Stephen's, Sewickley is first with 1,892 members and nearly 900 in attendance and is first with an operating budget of $1.4 million. Calvary has seen its attendance slump in recent years. Since Lewis arrived as rector they have slipped from number two to number five. Four of the top five and eight of the top ten churches in Sunday attendance in the Diocese of Pittsburgh are solidly evangelical. Five years ago it was second in average Sunday attendance but many of the more conservative members of Calvary left the parish for other parishes including Church of the Ascension in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, St. Thomas, Oakmont, PA or Fox Chapel Episcopal Church in Fox Chapel, all considered upscale like Calvary but more conservative and evangelical in theology. Two years ago Calvary Church's homosexual organist/choirmaster and his "partner" had their adopted child baptized, which many considered an affront to Scripture and church teaching. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:29 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:29 Subject: Devotional - Our Door of Hope Message-ID: DEVOTIONAL - OUR DOOR OF HOPE "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt." - Hosea 2:14-15 Donna Rice accepted Christ as her Savior when she was in high school. However, at the University of South Carolina, Donna admitted that she "backslid in her faith." After graduating in 1980, she began a modeling career and began running with the wrong crowd. In March 1987, Donna was introduced to former Colorado Senator Gary Hart. In the following months, Hart announced his candidacy for President and then he withdrew when his relationship with Donna became public. Donna's life began to fall apart from the publicity and pressure. In February 1988, some loving Christians began ministering to Donna and she regained her love for the Lord. She began "Enough is Enough," a Christian organization fighting to keep pornography out of the hands of minors. She is thankful for the support of her family and friends, but Donna is most thankful for God's work in her life: "God loves us, but he doesn't grant us immunity from the consequences of our choices. However, when we mess up, if we ask his forgiveness, he'll redeem those choices, using our mistakes as a 'door of hope' for other people. I have great empathy for victims of sexual abuse and pornography. God has brought purpose to my pain." Christ is merciful and when we seek Him, we have a "door of hope" where we can return to the joy of our Salvation. Have you "backslid in your faith?" Today in prayer, thank Christ you're your salvation and seek to do His will with all of your heart. "To hope in Thee above all things is the strongest solace of Thy servants." - Thomas `a Kempis God's Word: "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." - 1 Timothy 6:17 By Peter Kennedy From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:33 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:33 Subject: Priest sues Episcopal diocese because his bishop post was canceled Message-ID: Priest sues Episcopal diocese because his bishop post was canceled ATLANTA (AP) - An Episcopal priest is suing the denomination for $10 million because his appointment to bishop of the Atlanta diocese was canceled. The Rev. Robert Trache, former rector of St. James' Episcopal Church in Richmond, has filed suit in Federal Court against the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal News Service reported Thursday. Trache was elected bishop of the Atlanta diocese in 1999, but eight days prior to his scheduled consecration in 2000, the event was canceled. Diocesan officials cited a ``lack of disclosure in personal and family matters'' as the basis for their decision. Those included filing for bankruptcy and marital problems. Trache maintains that the diocese had no authority to terminate his employment. The amount of $10 million dollars is for compensation for the ``severe emotional, social and economic distress'' and because the cancellation damaged his professional career, according to the suit. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and the Rev. Clay Matthews, executive director of the Office of Pastoral Development for the House of Bishops, also are named in the suit. Trache charges undue interference with the Diocese of Atlanta's decision to terminate his contract to serve as bishop of Atlanta. ``I think this man has forgotten that (the bishop's chair) is a gift from the church, not something you earn,'' said the Rev. Tom Jones, dean of the Columbus (Ga.) Episcopal Convocation. ``For him to air grievances in this fashion is a pretty worldly way to deal with it.'' Griswold is ``aware of the suit and has instructed counsel to defend him and Bishop Matthews,'' said Barbara Braver, assistant to the presiding bishop for communication. ``The allegations are unfounded.'' The diocese covers 91 congregations and about 53,000 members in north Georgia, which includes Macon and Columbus. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:26 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:26 Subject: American Anglican Council Statement on AMIA Denver Consecrations Message-ID: American Anglican Council Statement on AMiA Denver Consecrations AMIA Bishop John Rodgers responds By David W. Virtue Significant changes in the life of the Episcopal Church have been troubling to many, and the church has witnessed a variety of responses to these developments, says a statement from the Board of the American Anglican Council, the Evangelical wing of The Episcopal Church. "While also concerned by certain of these developments, the American Anglican Council remains faithfully committed to the Episcopal Church of the United States and continues to seek to reform our common life by aggressive mission and grace-filled engagement of the existing as well as the developing processes of our church." "We are disappointed and saddened by the recent actions of some of our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Mission in America, specifically the recent consecrations in Denver, which can only be interpreted as divisive of our common life in Christ. The AAC continues to pray and work for the spread of the Gospel and for the unity of the Anglican Communion." Responding to the AAC's statement, Dr. John Rodgers, AMIA bishop said, "The consecrations made it clear we would not dwindle away but that we are here on a mission to stay and that sooner or later the questions we raise about the importance of truth, doctrinal faithfulness and the unity of the Church will have to be addressed." END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:31 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:31 Subject: Hooking up, in the silence -- Part 1 by Terry Mattingly Message-ID: Hooking up, in the silence -- Part I By Terry Mattingly EDITOR'S NOTE: The first of two columns. The girls thought they were "hooking up" with some fraternity brothers. But the guys called it "Showtime at the Apollo." The game went like this, said one of Vigen Guroian's students, describing in a class assignment what went on at her boyfriend's fraternity at another college. A boy would bring a girl home, then leave the curtain parted on the glass door onto the dual-access balcony. Then his fraternity brothers in the next room could sit outside and watch. "Now my boyfriend's defense of his brothers is that any girl who will allow you to sleep with her on the first night, and doesn't leave after you begin to do such degrading sexual acts, deserves it," wrote the student. The bottom line: "You only treat a girl like a slut, if she is a slut." What did the girls think they were doing, auditioning for suburban siren roles in American Pie 3? It's even more sobering to ponder the roles played by the colleges, said Guroian, professor of theology at Loyola College in Baltimore. "The failure of America's institutions of higher education -- especially that of Christian schools -- is not merely administrative. It is a failure of vision and religious and educational mission," he wrote, at www.Wilberforce.org. "When students are learning all the wrong habits in their daily college life, how can a truly humanistic higher learning occur? "How can I teach Christian ethics with force and effect in the classroom when my college will not address or remedy the degrading living conditions my students have described?" Every fall, millions of students go to college. Every fall, faculty, administrators and the parents who pay the bills have another chance to ask: "Do we really want to know what's going on?" The feisty Independent Women's Forum recently offered an unnerving glimpse into the moral and sexual challenges facing co-eds in a report called "Hooking Up, Hanging Out and Hoping for Mr. Right." It was based on interviews with 62 women on 11 campuses, backed with follow-up telephone work with 1,000 young women. Courtship is dead and dating is on life support. What has emerged is "hooking up," which most defined as "when a girl and guy get together for a sexual encounter and don't necessarily expect anything further." For young women, this intentionally vague term can refer to anything from kissing to heavy foreplay, from oral sex to intercourse. More than 90 percent of the women said "hooking up" was common and 40 percent said they had experienced this phenomenon. Some said this made them feel desirable and helped them compete for males in today's overwhelmingly female campus scene. Others said "hooking up" made them feel awkward, ashamed and used. Yet 83 percent said, "Being married is very important to me" and 63 percent expected to meet their mate at college. Washington Post columnist William Raspberry's reaction was blunt: "These women are out of their minds, and the adults who should be teaching them better ... have pretty much walked away from the job." Political philosopher J. Budziszewski has watched this trend at the University of Texas and, writing as the fictional "Prof. M.E. Theophilus," he also addresses campus moral dilemmas for www.Boundless.org. Several parts of this study rang true for him, especially the pivotal role that faith played for the women who were trying to live chaste and modest lives. But no matter what choices they had made, almost all -- 87 percent - stressed that they thought it was wrong to pass judgment on the sexual behavior of anyone, even males who were "hooking up" with scores of women. Many also said they could not lean on their parents. Nearly 40 percent of the girls from homes rocked by divorce reported "hooking up" more than six times, compared with about 20 percent of those from intact homes. "They have been taught that they must not judge," said Budziszewski. "So when they are hurt, they have no one to blame but themselves. They can't even say the guy is a rat. Young women can't even speak the truth to each other and help protect each other." NEXT WEEK: Silence in pulpits and pews? Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic College and is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:28 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:28 Subject: Ft. Worth Bishop Scores ECUSA'S Intolerance Message-ID: FT. WORTH BISHOP SCORES ECUSA'S INTOLERANCE by The Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker "We live in a very conflicted time with a high level of tension in our lives as Christian believers," addressing the Dallas convocation meeting of Forward in Faith, recently. "This has always been the case in terms of the relationship of believers with the world. However, I am speaking of the conflict and tension which we are experiencing within our own church." "Revealed religion is under attack by a liberal, revisionist agenda which seeks to change the faith and practice of our church. See II Timothy 4:3-5. 'For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings. . .' Ours is such a time in the life of the Episcopal Church." "It is nothing less than spiritual warfare. The faith is under attack, and a persecution of traditional believers is now underway. Paul's advice to the Church in Ephesus are words for us as well; 'Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.' (See Ephesians 6:10-20.)" "There is a new level of intolerance in ECUSA. Though we talk long and loud about how diverse we are and how diversity of any sort is welcome in the church, the truth is that there is only one position that is no longer welcome in the Episcopal Church and that is the position of traditional, biblical orthodoxy." "Indications of a new level of tolerance and of intolerance were seen at the General Convention of 2000. On the one hand, in resolution D039, the church expressed its acceptance of all manner of sexual diversity, including same sex relations being put on the same level as holy matrimony. While on the other hand, in establishing the A045 Task Force, the Convention expressed its willingness to take action against those dioceses which remain opposed to women in the priesthood. No more diversity will be permitted on that issue! They are to have women priests in every diocese of this church, no matter what it takes to accomplish that goal. Full compliance or else!" "'Enough is enough!' has been the decision of many faithful priests and laity. It is this that has led to the growth of the American Mission in America and the subsequent consecrations in Denver. While willing to have conversation with a variety of other groups, our Presiding Bishop has yet to meet with AMIA leaders." "Another indication of the intolerance and persecution characterizing those in power in ECUSA has to do with the court cases involving the church that now abound across the U.S. In Pennsylvania, churches are sued for building and property, and there is no room for negotiation or accommodation. In East Carolina, the Central Gulf Coast, and Colorado, priests and congregations are seeking a way to maintain the traditional faith and practice of the Anglican Communion. Rather than finding ways for them to live within ECUSA, their bishops have taken them to court! The most celebrated case, of course, involves Christ Church, Accokeek, where a liberal, feminist, gay rights bishop has refused to allow a conservative, orthodox priest to serve in her diocese. What evil has he done? He has simply witnessed to the traditional faith of Anglicans and has criticized the continuing liberal drift of ECUSA on a national level. Strange that this kind of intolerance should take place in a diocese that prides itself on inclusivity and diversity!" "There are signs of hope as like-minded Episcopalians take counsel together and stand together to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. A helpful development has been the plan to conduct a series of 'Festivals of Faith' around the church. The first was held at St. Luke's, Bladensburg this past spring, where a wonderful statement was issued called 'The Bladensburg Call to Catholic Faith and Order.' If you wish a succinct statement of what we stand for, there it is. Get a copy of it. New 'Festivals of Faith' are planned in various sites during the coming year." Tough choices are facing traditional believers in the Episcopal Church. The times of persecution which are already upon us will get worse. The purge has begun, and we must stand firm in resisting it. Father Sam Edwards said in a recent talk to a Forward In Faith gathering in Washington, D. C. that we have three options: capitulation, compromise, or resistance. The problem with compromise, he points out, is that it so easily leads to capitulation. " "My own summary of our three choices is slightly different. (Forgive me for using a Crystal Cathedral's Robert Schuller kind of a slogan here!) They are 'fright, flight, or fight!' Many of our clergy and laity are frightened into silence and are afraid to speak out. Others have had enough and have taken flight to other ecclesial bodies. As for me, I am going to stay and fight! I'm not giving up, I'm not giving in, and I'm not going away!" May God bless and strengthen you as you stand firm in your faith and continue your witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. Bishop Iker is the Anglo-Catholic bishop of Ft. Worth, Texas. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:34 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:34 Subject: 100,000 Mentor Couples in 10,000 Churches by Mike McManus Message-ID: Ethics & Religion 100,000 Mentor Couples in 10,000 Churches by Mike McManus The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) made an extraordinary announcement this week that they will seek to train 100,000 married couples as marriage coaches in 10,000 churches over the next five years. "This is the best news I have heard this year for the marriage- strengthening movement," commented Diane Sollee, founder and director of the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couple Education. "Research shows that the people who can best teach the skills of how to have a good marriage are those who have solid marriages, serving as mentor couples. People get married in churches, so this work is best done in congregations, where there is trust. It is natural to recruit couples who are part of that community." Most marriage preparation today is done by pastors or professional counselors, such as AACC members. Sollee, a former Associate Director of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, thinks that is a mistake: "We don't need to turn marriage into a mental health issue. Marriage is not a disease. It is a language that must be learned. Mentor couples do a better job of teaching because they are not outsiders with a white coat syndrome. For example, a stepfamily couple who has walked the walk, can be more helpful to a couple entering a stepfamily than some professional who may never have been in a stepfamily and may not even be married." AACC President Tim Clinton said his group's 45,000 members were moved by recent George Barna polling data showing that "divorce in the church is at a par with the society at large. The divorce rate is still at an epidemic proportion. About 40 to 50 percent of people who are getting married this year, will end up getting divorced, and if separations are also counted it is 66 to 67 percent." Therefore AACC is calling not just the church "but the nation to some type of effort to curb, to reduce the divorce rate. We are demonstrating our commitment by providing resources to help strengthen marriages. We have produced "Marriage Works," 30 one-hour videos by some of the finest people in marriage coaching and marriage mentoring. We have enrolled 5,000 already, with more than 100 from a single church." Most marriages fail due to selfishness. What they need to see modeled for them is selflessness. No one can do a better job teaching selfless love than a couple who has learned that lesson - often painfully. Consider Kevin and Julie Steuber of Overland Park, Kansas. Both had one failed marriage before marrying each other 15 years ago. Four years later, Julie filed for divorce. Police showed up to escort him out of the house. Why? "Kevin was very controlling. When I got a job and brought home a paycheck, he said, `It has to be spent on what I say it goes to.' No matter how many times I explained how I felt, he did not understand. We differed on the way we should raise children, in our communication styles and did not agree on anything." Kevin thought he was the "perfect husband," a Christian who was a good provider, working at two jobs, who never chased other women. But he now ruefully acknowledges that "I never listened to Julie, to hear what she needed. I couldn't understand why she got so emotional." They paid $100 an hour for eight visits to a counselor who agreed that Kevin was doing all he could in the marriage. He told Julie, "You better shape up and listen to your husband." Pretty hopeless, right? Not at all, because Kevin was taken in by a friend, Dale Hedrick, who, with his wife, showed him videotapes by Gary Smalley, "Hidden Keys to Loving Relationships" which explain in an often humorous way, how radically men and women differ. Dale also went to Julie and showed her the same videos. "They softened my heart," she recalls. "I learned why he does not understand my feelings. I agreed to allow him to come back to the house. "He then listed everything we had ever argued about, and said, `When I said this, I really hurt you.' He was right, dead on. Once you break through the communications barrier, how each sex works, we could work things out." Today they lead a "Marriage Assist Team" of marriage mentors at Christ Lutheran Church who came alongside a dozen conflicted couples, all of whom saved their marriages. The key, says Kevin, is "God's plan for marriage. If you think of God first, your spouse second, and yourself last - your priorities are straight. Selfishness is a huge problem." He knows from experience and can teach it. END TXT Copyright (c) 2001 Michael J. McManus From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:37 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:37 Subject: Christ Church Winning Attendance 'Contest' by Robert Stowe England Message-ID: Christ Church Winning Attendance 'Contest' By Robert Stowe England ACCOKEEK, Maryland -- Christ Church, Accokeek, is winning an unofficial 'contest' it never entered -- a rivalry over who has the largest attendance every Sunday: Christ Church or a competing service held at a nearby community center. The rivalry was begun by the Diocese of Washington as part of a public relations offensive to portray itself as commanding greater allegiance from members of the divided parish and to falsely portray the supporters of Fr. Edwards as a small group of renegades. Acting Bishop Jane Dixon organized the illegal alternative services that began June 3 within the boundaries of Christ Church as a response to its objection over the call of Fr. Samuel Edwards to be rector of the parish. Despite false claims to the contrary, after three months of competing services, Christ Church has significantly higher attendance numbers, both on an average basis and on a direct Sunday-to-Sunday basis at three services selected at random. Since neither the diocese nor the community center has not released official attendance numbers, a comparison of the two is based on three services attended at random by the author of this report: June 3, July 15 and September 2. An unofficial count of the attendance at these three services at the community center by the author is 62, 51, and 42 respectively. On these same three Sundays, Christ Church had 78, 65, and 52 people present. These comparisons of three randomly selected Sundays stand in stark contrast to claims made by diocesan deployment officer and Dixon spokesperson, lay canon Carter Echols. She has frequently told the press that the community center services, held every Sunday at 9 a.m., have averaged 60 people. At the same time she has regularly claimed that the services at Christ Church averaged only 30 to 40 people every Sunday. Based on the random sample, it would appear that Echols has been significantly exaggerating average attendance numbers at the community center while seriously distorting actual attendance numbers at Christ Church on the low side. Fr. Edwards reports that during July, August and September, the average attendance at Sunday services at Christ Church has been 63. This is almost identical to the average attendance of 64 during the same three months of last year. Despite Echols estimate of 60 members attending the community service every Sunday, the random sample suggests that a fairer estimate of the average attendance at the community center would be closer to 50. St. John's Pomonkey A comparison of attendance that counts only current and former members of Christ Church, Accokeek, who attend the community center would show an even wider discrepancy that favors Christ Church. That's because the congregation at the community center includes nearly all the regular members of St. John's Pomonkey, a mission under the pastoral oversight of Christ Church, Accokeek that has thrown its support behind Bishop Dixon. St. John's Pomonkey, prior to the split, had an attendance each Sunday at 11:30 a.m. that usually ranged from 12 to 15 people, according to parish records. Now, nearly all those attending the Pomonkey services are at the community center every Sunday at 9 am. While an exact count of Pomonkey members is not tabulated every Sunday at the community center, one person who regularly attends the community center estimates that all the regulars from Pomonkey attend the community center most every Sunday.Some have also identified themselves as members of the Pomonkey mission to the author. If one subtracts the Pomonkey members from the averages, it would leave an average attendance closer to 38 people who can potentially be described as being either a current or former member of Christ Church. And, even this might be slightly exaggerated, as some of those who attend the services at the community center are neither current nor former members of Christ Church, nor are they members of St. John's Pomonkey. The author has identified a few people with no current or former association with either Christ Church parish or St. John's Pomonkey at each of the three services sampled. Fr. Edwards has decided to regularly report parish attendance figures to counter what some Christ Church members view as a deliberate attempt by the diocese to misrepresent actual attendance numbers. When Acting Bishop Jane Dixon held a rival service on the grounds of Christ Church on May 27, parish lay officials reported that only 22 of the estimated 70 who took communion at the rival outdoor service were current members, while about 30 to 35 were estimated to be former members. This group is believed to be the core of those who attend the community center. Haines Says Farewell Last Sunday (August 26), former Bishop Ronald Haines, whom Dixon appointed "vicar" of the congregation that meets at the community center, attended his last service. He preached and officiated, and also did one baptism, two confirmations and received one person into the Episcopal Church. He was given a money clip with an inscription by the congregation as a going-away present. He and his wife, Mary, have sold their house in Maryland and are moving to the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area later this week. Today the priest and officiant was Fr. David Ware, who said he had just taken up a position as the upper school chaplain at St. Alban's School in D.C. in the shadow of the National Cathedral. His sermon, based on the Gospel reading of a dinner held at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, was used as a vehicle to describe some of the combatants in the current conflict in Accokeek. Fr. Ware noted that the Pharisees were not a very likable people in their day. "They were so sure of their opinions. They were so sure they were right and so sure that God was on their side," a view that made them "difficult to be with." Fr. Ware suggested that those today who behave like Pharisees do so out of fear. "Have y'all had truck with the Pharisees out there?" he asked the congregation. The congregation laughed out loud at what was a thinly-disguised allusion to the parishioners and rector at Christ Church. Fr. Ware described the Pharisees of today as those who "put God's people in a box" and who are "stuck in their opinions" and oppose change. "When they are really stuck they say, 'I like the way things used to be.'" Fr. Ware, who is white, recalled his youth in Chattanooga in 1968 when "he felt like the world had been turned upside down" as a result of the civil rights movements, a big change that he said was very welcome and necessary. He spoke proudly of his sister, who was 13 at the time, when she was the victim of a wilting glare from a white woman who saw her walking with two black children as she entered her segregated Episcopal church. "I'm their nanny," his sister told the woman, Fr. Ware said. "She wasn't scared," he said proudly. Fr. Ware suggested that conquering one's fear of change and embracing it was a way of avoiding the temptations of being a Pharisee. He said all were welcome at Jesus's table, including the poor, the lame and the blind. "You're on the A list. You've got a seat the table. It's round. No one's at the head except God." "Following Jesus as a disciple," he told the congregation, "is about living, knowing that you're precious and that you're special, and that you're loved." Once that is understood, then one can make proper decisions from that view, he concluded. At the beginning of the service, George Hanssen, a leader of the group that meets at the community center, announced that he had received a letter from Bishop Haines that he was making available to the congregation. Haines, in his letter to what he calls "Christ Church-in-Exile" thanks them for giving him the opportunity to be their vicar. "You have been a joy and I know that future vicars [will be] blessed in having the opportunity to serve with you in the particular work Christ has called you to do." Haines, who had warned the congregation in July of a vast international orthodox conspiracy -- statements that have been greeted with considerable ridicule around the globe -- wrote what, at first blush, appear to be variations on that same theme. "I need not tell you that what you are experiencing is a focal point of a national effort and one that seeks to draw in other Anglican provinces." As he did in July, Haines clouds the true nature of the conflict by not specifically stating that he is a leading proponent of revisionist policies that embraces homosexual practice, while at the same time calling on the congregation to defend "historic Anglican orthodoxy." Haines writes: "Unlike most other parish situations where external circumstances are more benign and where, regretfully, it is far too easy to assume a passive role in the ministry of the Church, yours is a call to an active ministry in preserving historic Anglican orthodoxy. There can be no passive Christians a Christ Church-in-Exile." Fr. Edwards, on hearing Haines describe his agenda as orthodox said it was a deliberate attempt to "hijack the language" and confuse people into supporting something they would not support if it were accurately and fairly described. As has been the case since the split emerged in March, there was a distinct difference in the average ages of those at the community center and at Christ Church today and at each of the sampled meetings the author attended. While most of those at the community center were elderly or middle aged (with only one child present), the average age at Christ Church was at least 20 years younger, with a dozen or so children and a larger group of middle aged people in the congregation. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 01:59:40 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 1:59:40 Subject: Rwandan House of Bishops reaffirms commitment and unity Message-ID: Rwandan House of Bishops reaffirms commitment and unity Since the June 24th consecrations of four new bishops in Denver, there have been communications, usually via the internet, questioning the level of unity of the Rwandan House of Bishops. Following is a copy of the August 10, 2001 Declaration of the Rwandan House of Bishops. Declaration of the House of Bishops Meeting held on 10th August 2001. We reaffirm 1 Our commitment as a unified House of Bishops. 2 Our faith in the lord Jesus Christ as Savior as the only way to salvation. 3 The Authority of the Holy Scriptures in all matters of human conduct. 4 We regard our Province as part and parcel of the Anglican Communion. Done at Kigali on 10/08/2001 (the following signed this document) 1. The Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini, Archbishop & Bishop of Kigali Diocese. 2. The Rt. Rev. Rwaje Onesphore, Bishop of Byumba Diocese & Dean. 3. The Rt. Rev. Birindabagabo Alexis, Bishop of Gahini Diocese. 4. The Rt. Rev. Mutiganda Venuste, Bishop of Butare Diocese. 5. The Rt. Rev. John Rucyahana, Bishop of Shyira Diocese. 6. The Rt. Rev. Kalimba Jered, Bishop of Shyogwe Diocese. 7. The Rt. Rev. Myunabandi Augustin, Bishop of Kigeme Diocese. 8. The Rt. Rev. Rwubusisi Geoffrey, Bishop of Cyanugu Diocese. 9. The Rt. Rev. Sendegeya Josias, Bishop of Kibungo Diocese. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 02:00:35 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 2:00:35 Subject: How the Anglican Communion News Service Spins the News Message-ID: HOW THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE SPINS THE NEWS News Analysis By David W. Virtue Week by week the Anglican Communion News Service, the Communion's official news source, puts out one press release after another in an effort to enlighten, inform and persuade the worldwide Anglican Communion of what is going on in the four corners of the Anglican globe. Most of it centers on the activities of the Archbishop of Canterbury as he moves around the world or makes pronouncements from Lambeth Palace in London on a wide range of theological and church related issues. News from the various provinces filters into the news service depending on what Mr. Rosenthal thinks IS the news. Of late the news has been from South Africa where much opining has been going on about AIDS. The pink ribbon of gay agit-prop figures prominently on at least 13 stories on their website. The news service is strategically based in London and in the words of the Scotsman, the ACNS "will do ya nae good, but it'll do ya nae harm." Perhaps. The editor of the ACNS is Mr. James Rosenthal. His boss is canon John Peterson executive director of the Anglican Consultative Council that also puts out the magazine Anglican World. Mr. Peterson's activities in the ACC are prominently featured on the front page of Virtuosity's Website. Both men are liberal in theology and morals in an overwhelming evangelical Anglican Communion so what they say needs to be taken with large grains of salt. When Rosenthal turns his hand to local U.S. matters the news is spun to make American revisionist bishops look like the victims, or the good guys in legal battles over defecting parishes. Consider the case of PA. Bishop Charles Bennison and his legal attack on St. James the Less, the Anglo-Catholic parish in East Falls, Philadelphia that left the diocese and the Episcopal Church in 1999 over faith and morals. The ACNS headline screamed: Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania turns to legal course in dispute over church property. Action against St. James the Less in East Falls follows failed efforts to resolve differences. Let us begin here. First of all what is not said is that the ACNS story is the official news release from the diocese itself and is not identified as such. Secondly the mediation talks employing a secular Boston-based mediation service took place twice and dealt with virtually nothing concerning the big issues of faith and morals that underlie why the parish pulled out of the diocese in the first place. The story then goes on to recount in detail the history of the dispute, why the parish left the diocese and the diocese' higher claim to the property. The story is totally one-sided, that is from the diocesan point of view. Nowhere does the writer, who incidentally is unnamed, bother to talk to Fr. David Ousley for his take on matters, and the article is designed to make Bennison look like someone having to take legal action because he had no recourse. Rosenthal never sought to find out what the true facts really were. While the story appears to be objective it is little more than a public relations statement designed to make Bennison and the diocese look good. At no time does the article talk about the reasons why the parish pulled out of the diocese. Of course you might come to expect that, bearing in mind Peterson is a close personal friend of Bennison and the Diocese of PA financially supports Compass Rose. The article lays out the diocesan point of view on failed, "unresolved differences," and then invites the parish to turn over their properties voluntarily to the Diocese, in order to "keep the parish in the diocesan church family." When the parish refused, the bishop sued. It is what the press release conveniently omits that is the problem. The first is that the parish holds title to the property, and secondly, never in its 146-year history has the diocese put a penny into the parish. What the ACNS run release doesn't say is that if Bennison got his hands on the parish properties he would dispose of them as quickly as he could because nobody would turn up to hear either him or anyone he decided to put there, if indeed he plans to put anyone there at all. You see the issues are not primarily about property at all, but about the Episcopal Church's new inclusivity doctrine regarding homosexuality and sex outside of marriage that is the problem, and the orthodox parish will have nothing to do with that. They also oppose women's ordination. Furthermore Ousley and his parish have 2000 years of church history on their side and Bennison has a couple of decades supporting his new- found theology. LEGAL ACTION The diocese took action against the Church of St. James the Less in East Falls and filed a petition in the Orphan's Division of Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. This too is interesting. Bennison filed in the Orphans Court because by doing so he can declare himself sole trustee of all properties which he can then personally do with as he wishes. Now the bishop has declared that he wants to take the parish over to keep it for future generations. What generations? If he takes sole control it's the end of the parish, Bennison will be forced to shut the doors and close it down or sell it to the highest bidder. Bennison personally wants to take control of the parish and its endowment so he can use the funds as he pleases. By vesting the property in the Episcopal Church Foundation as Trustee he gets to use the money from the sale of the properties and how the endowment will be used. The release said Bennison did this so as not to "unnecessarily disrupt parish programs and services." Bennison says he is not seeking to sell the property but to preserve St. James as an Episcopal Church presence in the East Falls community, which it serves. That continuation entails worship, pastoral ministry, education and outreach that are aligned with the Episcopal Church, USA and the Diocese of Pennsylvania. This is spin. There won't be any. It's over. If Bennison should win the court case, and that is by no means certain, he will certainly close down the church and school, sell off the properties, take the endowment and use it for other purposes. And the reason is simple. If he wins, the entire parish would leave the properties, lock, stock and barrel. The congregation, vestry, rector and school will move elsewhere. The church would stand empty the school closed. Bennison would be faced with not a single parishioner the following Sunday. Bennison then claims that "disagreement over issues and theological questioning is not new to Episcopalians. Long-time members have witnessed a generation or more of change within the church at large. These changes include the updating of policies on divorce and remarriage; the ordination of women to the priesthood, and the subsequent consecration of women bishops; the revision of the Prayer Book, modernizing liturgical language and creating greater congregational participation; and most recently, a willingness to examine the hard questions regarding diversity in human sexuality." So what this says is that the church can change its teaching and every parish must fall into line or face expulsion if they don't agree. Fascists, Communists and Nazis practised that and we called it the tyranny of the majority. In time they all disappeared. The Episcopal Church USA is also now practising it. In time it also might disappear. A worse fate might to be lose your immortal soul by changing the church's received teaching and no one should have to sacrifice so deeply as to take that chance. Not St. James, not St. John's or thousands of Episcopalians who have entrusted their immortal souls to the Lord of the Church, and that lord is not Charles Bennison. We'll know more by Sept. 17. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 6 02:08:19 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 2:08:19 Subject: Lifting High the Cross - American Anglican Council Conference Report Message-ID: Lifting High the Cross - A Report From the AAC's "Sharing Mission and Ministry" Conference By Bruce Mason AKRON, OHIO -- To the triumphant chorus of "Lift High the Cross," the American Anglican Council (AAC) launched the first of a series of regional conferences designed to encourage, strengthen, support and equip Episcopal clergy, vestries and lay persons. The conference, entitled "Sharing Mission and Ministry," was held Friday and Saturday August 24-25 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Akron, Ohio. The program featured a series of hope-filled presentations by AAC bishops and clergy, "how-to" workshops on mission and ministry, energetic worship, and an informative presentation by the Rev. Charles Nalls of the Canon Law Institute on the rights of parishes and vestries under the Constitution and Canons of the Church. "God can transform the Episcopal Church." Kicking off the conference on Friday night, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan issued a bold message of hope and assured participants that "God can transform the Episcopal Church." Bishop Duncan serves as AAC Vice- President and Chairman of the AAC's Bishops Network, and is the Bishop of Pittsburgh. Duncan urged biblically orthodox Episcopalians not to despair bur rather to trust in the Lord and, like the widow in Mark 12: 41-44, "give what we have" to the struggle. He said that God would take what is given to Him, however small, and do with it that which only He can do. Duncan then offered two reasons why he believes orthodox Episcopalians should stay in the Episcopal Church. "You can't escape the judgment," he said. "In ancient Israel, the prophets didn't leave. They didn't leave to start another Israel. They had to experience the judgment like everyone else. "Duncan added that staying in the Episcopal Church is "where we can do the most good." Speaking candidly, he admitted that occasions have arisen where has wished he wasn't a bishop in the Episcopal Church. "It would be so much easier," he said. But he explained "this Church is where God placed me, and I can do more with the flock that God has given me than with the purity of disassociation. "Duncan recounted conversations he had had with foreign bishops regarding the current state of the Episcopal Church. "The foreign bishops have told me, 'if you are worried about the reform of the Episcopal Church, then grow a missionary diocese!' And so that is what I am doing." Duncan carefully outlined several evidences of hope for the orthodox in the Episcopal Church. First of all, he said he has witnessed a flood of young people being called by God into ministry in the Episcopal Church. "God is raising up mighty warriors like Gideon," he said. "So that should give you hope! God is doing it, and the field is ripe for harvest." Next, the Bishop encouraged conference attendees by reminding them that they are not alone in their struggle, but actually have many, many friends throughout the Anglican Communion. He cited in particular the statement issued by the Kanuga Primates meeting which called for sustained pastoral care (alternative episcopal oversight) for the Episcopal Church. Duncan then shared his great excitement that orthodox Episcopalians are now thinking creatively. He cited as examples the Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Jack Iker's, taking emergency pastoral care and oversight over Christ Church, Accokeek, Maryland, and also the AAC's alternative ordination process, the Ministry Development Project (MDP). "We are thinking outside the box," he remarked. "It is crucial that we don't let ourselves be restrained by the challenges before us, but rather think about what we can do," he urged the audience. Finally, Duncan reported how it now appears that the major issue at GC 2003 will likely be the new 2020 initiative that is designed to double the active membership of ECUSA by the year 2020."Here is an issue that is our issue," he said. "It is a sign of hope and something only the power of God can do." Bishop Duncan closed his remarks with a challenge to the participants. "Now it is time to ask ourselves - like the widow, are we prepared to do everything we can with what we have?" he asked. "It's time to take a stand." One of the AAC's newest board members, the Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield, Illinois, gave Saturday morning's keynote address. Beckwith, a former military chaplain, used his address to build upon the themes outlined by Bishop Duncan, particularly focusing on the role of the orthodox believers who are staying in the Episcopal Church. Bishop Beckwith expressed his grave concern over the Episcopal Church's current state of "freefall. "He blamed the mess on the simple fact that, like any church, ECUSA is a body of "sinful people being ministered to by sinful people." "The tragedy is that many people in ministry don't realize that they need to be ambassadors for Christ," he said. To illustrate the state of freefall in the Episcopal Church, Beckwith used an analogy about parachuting. "Up to a certain point you can open your chute, and you can land safely, but there comes the point when it is too late," he said. But he made it clear that he does not believe that that point has yet been reached, and said that, for that reason, orthodox Episcopalians should be encouraged. The Bishop also asserted that orthodox Episcopalians should be particularly encouraged by the mission and ministry of the AAC."I am convinced that the AAC is the best hope for the Episcopal Church," he said. Beckwith then challenged conference attendees with a call to action. "I really think it is time to stand and witness - we have to!" declared Beckwith. "By staying we become instruments of God's redemption in the whole world. What else would you want?" "The Church was never built on those who cut and ran, "he added." It was built on those who stayed and witnessed no matter the cost. God never said it would be easy. The key is not what you or I want, but what God wills." "God needs people that can change minds and history" Following on the heels of Bishop Beckwith, AAC President and CEO, the Very Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, took to the podium and boldly proclaimed that he believes this moment in history to be "the most exciting time to be alive since the Reformation." Anderson urged conference attendees to take a closer look at the story of Gideon (Judges 6 and 7). In this truly amazing story, God helps Gideon defeat the Midianites with only 300 men and no weapons. Citing the story, Canon Anderson shared his conviction that God is in a similar manner selectively raising up strong orthodox leaders to do battle in the Episcopal Church - rather than building a vast army. "God needs people that can change minds and history," he said. "If we are effective we will change the world." Canon Anderson explained that one of the major causes of the current crisis in the Episcopal Church has been a prolonged and growing failure on the part of our national church leaders to respond to the concerns of the orthodox. He said that the way in which orthodox Episcopalians respond to that lack of redress says a lot about their faithfulness in God. "It is a natural human reaction when you are hurt to pull away and break relations," Anderson said. We shouldn't condemn those who do, but there is a better way. The church is about people taking up their cross. When a person separates, it is a loss of hope. When there is a loss of hope, it is a loss of faith in God's ability to work." Anderson added, "The Episcopal Church is God's church, and it is messed up - but that is His concern. We simply need to be prepared. And we need to be willing to suffer if necessary in standing clearly for the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the authority of Holy Scripture and the full Gospel message. We shouldn't seek suffering, but we shouldn't resent it." Canon Anderson outlined three tasks on which he believes orthodox Episcopalians should focus their efforts. These include getting organized, evangelizing believers and non-believers alike, and "loving those who disagree with us. "This latter point, he said, was absolutely crucial. He stressed that orthodox Episcopalians must continue to seek out opportunities to connect face to face with those who share opposing theological convictions. While he recognized that it was unlikely that minds would be changed through such meetings, such conversations will provide a way to show a human face to each other. "It keeps us from demonizing each other," he said. Equipping the Saints On Saturday afternoon, conference participants had the option of attending two of four practical "nuts and bolts" workshops. The workshops were designed to equip conference participants with important "how-to" mission and ministry skills that they could bring back to their parishes. Participants learned how to pray for the Church, how to use practical church growth principles from Nigeria, how to develop a parish short-term missions program and how to be a more effective clergy leader. The workshops were followed by an extremely informative seminar by the Rev. Charles Nalls of the Canon Law Institute concerning the rights of parishes and vestries under the Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons. Nalls focused specifically on issues of parish property and the calling of a new rector. He set his presentation within the context of the current struggle over Christ Church, Accokeek, Maryland, since he currently serves as chief counsel for Christ Church. "The single most important thing rectors and vestries can do," Nalls said, "is to read the Constitutions and Canons of the Church. "He emphasized this point repeatedly throughout his presentation. "Be willing to make sacrifices" The conference closed with Eucharist led by the Rev. Roger Ames, Rector of St. Luke's and an AAC board member. In his sermon, Ames again encouraged participants to take a stand. "Do not shrink back, come forward and appear," he said. "Do not be preservers of the status quo. Don't hide your light any longer "join it with other lights. Be willing to make whatever sacrifices God calls us to make." Ames added, "When there is no other way but God" then that is where we want to be. That is when God takes action." END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 00:23:09 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 0:23:09 Subject: Opening Comments 9-10-2001 Message-ID: Dear Brothers and Sisters, If Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics in the Episcopal Church are feeling particularly persecuted these days by liberal and revisionist bishops they should take heart. According to the latest figures recorded in the World Christian Encyclopedia edited by David B. Barrett, an Anglican, based in Richmond, VA there are 650 million evangelical and charismatic Christians in the world today and 99.9 percent of them are not taking their marching orders from Frank Griswold or 815 Second Avenue. Nor are they listening to 70 revisionist ECUSA bishops and they don't read the rantings and Gnostic nonsense of Jack Spong. Furthermore they are not buying lesbigay behavior and they do believe that sin and salvation are still the primary issues the church should be talking about. In the coming months Virtuosity will document these worldwide trends more fully with stories of how the Church of Jesus Christ is growing in nations most of us just see as colorful blotches on a map. For example most of you might only be vaguely aware of the tremendous growth of Christianity in China, where the Anglican Church has now only one aged bishop, but where the gospel propagated through the underground church movement has infiltrated the lives of as many as a third of all Chinese. In the Philippines the enormous growth of the Charismatic movement, with one of the most powerful influences there being the Charismatic Episcopal Church. I have documented the enormous growth of Christianity in Africa over the past few years, particularly in Nigeria and Uganda that today accounts for nearly half of the entire Anglican Communion, while the Anglican Church of Wales is largely irrelevant in the whole scheme of things. So if the news about the Episcopal Church constantly strikes you as bad, with occasional stories of good things happening, please know that some of it is being recorded, so I'm told, for posterity. When a truly great mind comes along to write the history of the Episcopal Church in the 20th Century perhaps Virtuosity will be a footnote to its decline. Of course not all the news is bad. There are a number of dioceses that are experiencing growth and over the coming months I hope to document what some of those dioceses are doing. I know, for example, that wonderful things are happening in the Diocese of San Joaquin where Bishop John-David Schofield presides. And up in the Diocese of Albany Bishop Daniel Herzog has fired up the troops and is seeing real gospel growth. Ditto for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. One wishes that every diocese were seeing such growth. Sadly that is not the case. Out in the DIOCESE OF COLORADO I have just learned that a resolution is about to come before the next Diocesan Convention in October dumping the old diocesan guidelines for clergy appointments and authorizing new pansexual standards based on resolution D039 passed at the last year's General Convention in Denver. This is a modest scoop for Virtuosity. You can read that story and the one that follows by Dr. Ephraim Radner, an evangelical diocesan priest who questions the theological and sexual sanity of the resolution if passed. Bishop Jerry Winterrowd who has had his share of nightmarish situations this year would rather the convention focused on mission but wont squelch the resolution allowing unmarried persons living with someone without benefit of marriage to seek ordination vows. Another case of fence sitting. You have to wonder about some of these bishops. "Now Jerry, isn't it true that what we called sex outside of marriage was labeled fornication and sex with a person of the same gender was homosexuality? And didn't we use to call it all sin? And if not, when did God change his mind? Inquiring minds want to know." One cleric in the diocese wrote me the following regarding the actions of those proposing this resolution. This is what he said. "Knowing the players close up, I can tell you that this is a clear case of a self-justifying gospel. The Diocese of Colorado is being traumatized by the borderline personalities of a few people at either end of the current debates in the church. It is a story of egos, sin, and desire run amuck. Lithium cocktails all around should be served at the convention banquet." "This latest salvo from the liberal camp in the diocese is a pitiful attempt to fill their empty pews. But such a godless church requires no worship and a sinless parishioner needs no forgiveness. This resolution reflects a new theology that blesses sin as wholesome, elevates dysfunction to normality, and leads innocent people into a life of misguided misery. This new faith fulfills human yearning with sexual activity rather than obedience to and worship of God. But it won't work, no matter how many persons vote for it. A life lived in external pleasures will still result in an internal spiritual emptiness and despair." "The worrisome fact in Colorado is that over half the clergy have not been formed by a three-year residential seminary education, having instead gone to various diocesan night schools and weekend retreats as their preparation for sitting in the councils of the church. Many of the Colorado clergy come from other denominations with no formal Anglicanization and many others are canon 9 sacramentalists or perpetual deacons both having full voice and vote at Diocesan Convention. Thus the clergy ranks in Colorado are overwhelmed by those with shallow roots in a classic and disciplined faith but are instead fully grounded in the permissive humanism that is the religion of the culture." That's stating it. East in the DIOCESE OF NEW YORK where former Bishop Richard Grein held sway and tyrannized his clergy, the situation there just gets dirtier by the day. Apparently none of the present bishops who are as liberal theologically as Grein are ready to come to his defense. I've been told that Bishops Sisk, Roskam and company are staying well below the radar screen while Virtuosity low flies it dropping bombs in all directions. They plan to stay as far away from that incendiary situation as possible. Now to make the whole thing even more interesting I interviewed Michael Rehill this week, he's the chancellor to the Diocese of Newark, one of the most revisionist dioceses in ECUSA. He has taken up the Rev. Janet Kraft's case against Grein. He says it's the worst case of abusive power by a bishop he has ever seen in 11 years. You can read that story. It might surprise you to learn that Rehill is no randy revisionist. He is quite catholic in his theology so he tells me and he doesn't agree with Spong. We live and learn. A new book THE BIBLE AND HOMOSEXUALITY has just come out written by a Presbyterian theologian, Dr. Robert Gagnon of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. It is a well thought out, careful, biblical and hermeneutical study of the whole issue, and I have reviewed it for you today. I predict this book will be a classic in time. Every bishop in the HOB should read it. The carefully thought out Biblical exegesis alone is worth the price of the book. In the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA some 44 women priests have come out in support of Bishop Bennison in his attack on Anglo-Catholic parishes. They argue that the whole business is about women's ordination not homosexuality. Some 37 women priests abstained from signing the "open letter". The issue is really about the authority of Scripture and as Bennison does not believe in Scripture's final authority (he believes the church wrote the Bible and can therefore rewrite it) it is any wonder there is dissension in the ranks. You can read that story today as well. Interestingly enough Bennison has been invited to teach a workshop at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific on Saturday, March 2, 2002, on the following question: "Is the Episcopal Church Unraveling?" We can hardly wait. Now there seems to be mixed news about the state of Christianity in England. "Christianity is near dead," says a Roman Catholic cardinal. It's all but vanquished. Not so says Anglican ARCHBSIHOP GEORGE CAREY. Certainly England is a "missionary" situation, but he is decidedly more upbeat than the Cardinal. You can also read about the new role Carey will be playing in the future in the worldwide Anglican Communion. On another international note, Primates Kolini (Rwanda) and Yong (South-East Asia) have written a letter to George Carey in response to his earlier letter asking them to drawn back and not perform the Denver AMIA consecrations. They refused of course and their letter telling Carey why is posted here today. Texas flatfoot Jack Taylor is at it again. This time he has turned his sleuthing nose on the Rt. Rev. Jack Lee Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth. Taylor says his services "have been retained to investigate" the good bishop, but he wouldn't say WHO is paying his bill. A source in Dallas said it was the Episcopal Women's Caucus, but regardless, Taylor is relentless in pursuing anybody who disagrees with the lesbigay agenda of ECUSA. He's written a "To Whom it May concern" letter to anyone with dirt on the bishop. Specifically he wants information to lay an ecclesiastical presentment on Iker and possibly secular court action for "violation of fiduciary duties as Bishop of Ft. Worth." Taylor is wasting his time. He should pick a liberal or revisionist bishop, he'd have a much better chance digging for dirt. I'd be glad to supply him with names. CORRECTION: In a recent VIRTUOSITY Digest I stated that Bishop Salmon was suing All Saints for their property. Apparently this is not correct. I was told that court documents state that All Saints, Waccamaw brought the lawsuit against the Diocese of South Carolina. The diocese counterclaimed after they were sued. The Diocese of South Carolina is the defendant in this case, not the plaintiff. Be that as it may Robert Munday a local reporter with the Post and Courier Staff writes about a new twist in the case, which has delayed a property-dispute trial between All Saints Church of Pawleys Island and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. The trial was delayed after a claim that neither the diocese nor church owns the property. A motion for summary judgment asked Circuit Judge John Breeden Jr. to declare that the property is actually owned by heirs of the men who donated it for use as a parish in 1745. Syndicated columnists Mike McManus and Terry Mattingly are up today and I close as usual with a devotional. A warm welcome today to all new VIRTUOSITY subscribers. If you would like to look at past digests you may do so by going to http://orthodoxanglican.org/virtuosity. Hit the ARCHIVES link and scroll through the stories. If you would like to support this ministry that depends entirely on donations from its readers you may do so by sending your check to Media-Link, 1236 Waterford Road, West Chester, PA 19380. For your gift I will send you a copy of THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS a series of essays edited by Donald Armstrong. I also have a few copies left of J. Budziszewski's book THE REVENGE OF CONSCIENCE if you would prefer that. Thank you for your support. All blessings, David W. Virtue From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 00:36:15 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 0:36:15 Subject: Colorado Diocesan Resolution could formalize clergyy candidates living in sin Message-ID: DIOCESE OF COLORADO RESOLUTION COULD FORMALIZE CANDIDATES FOR PRIESTHOOD WHO LIVE IN SEXUAL SIN Special Report By David W. Virtue A proposed resolution authorizing the Diocese of Colorado to accept men and women as priests who are living together without benefit of marriage, could become ecclesiastical law at the 114th Diocese of Colorado Convention to be held October 5 and 6 in Denver. The resolution signed by more than 350 diocesan clergy and laity wants the present clergy deployment guidelines scrapped and General Convention Resolution D039, passed at General Convention Denver last year used as the standard for sexual relationships and priesting in the diocese. The proposers are, The Rev. Frederick P. Boswell, Jr., St. Paul's, Lakewood; L. Zoe Cole, St. Luke's, Denver; The Rev. Larry J. Donoghue, St. Andrew's, Denver; Jack D. Finlaw, Jr., St. John's Cathedral, Denver; The Rev. Albert N. Halverstadt, Jr., Canonically Resident in Colorado; Patricia G. Wood, St. Stephen's, Aurora. Although The Rt. Rev. Jerry Winterrowd, Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado, has discounted any thought that this resolution could pass, he has passively supported it by asking diocesan conservatives to focus on mission instead of sex in any resolutions they present at convention, while at the same time not insisting that liberals withdraw this particular resolution that could bring canonical chaos to his own episcopacy. The resolution reads thus: "Being cognizant of the current mind of the Episcopal Church on matters relating to physical sexual expression within the context of holy relationships as expressed in General Convention Resolution D039, acknowledges and affirms that unmarried persons living in relationships "characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God" are full members of the Body of Christ and that such persons are entitled to fulfill their vocations and to participate equally with married and single persons in lay and ordained ministries in the Diocese of Colorado." The proposers of the resolutions say that for many years it has been the policy of the Diocese of Colorado that candidates seeking ordination as deacons or priests must be "married and faithful or single and celibate." This policy has had the practical effect of discouraging unmarried persons living in the types of holy relationships described by General Convention Resolution D039 from entering a discernment process or from otherwise following a call to ordained ministry in the Diocese of Colorado. "This policy has denied to such laypersons their full membership in the Body of Christ granted to them in Baptism. Some have left their Colorado homes and pursued ordination in other dioceses of the Episcopal Church, some have given up their ordained vocations but have continued to play active roles in diocesan affairs and congregational life through lay ministry, and some have left the Episcopal Church altogether. A few have submitted to the diocese's unofficial "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has permitted them to proceed through the ordination process while hiding their true selves and their holy relationships from diocesan authorities." The resolution, if passed, would open the door to lesbian and gay persons, and, in time, transgendered persons entering the process for the priesthood without consideration of their sexual behavior. In contrast to these diocesan policies relating to ordination, congregations in the Diocese of Colorado have a long history of inviting unmarried persons in holy relationships to live out their vocations of service and ministry among us as our rectors, vicars and associate clergy. In late winter 2001, the Diocese of Colorado for the first time in its history promulgated clergy deployment guidelines. The guidelines were published in the clergy newsletter and they also were delivered to some, but not all, active parish search committees. The new guidelines set forth the expectation that clergy who wish to minister in Colorado will adhere to the guidelines' norms. The document informs clergy that only if they are able "to live and work within the constraints of these expectations" should they apply for ordained ministry positions in the Diocese of Colorado. In bold type, the guidelines request that candidates not contact congregational search committees directly but instead request that candidates seek employment through the diocesan office and the Regional Missioners. Application of the Diocese of Colorado's new extra-doctrinal clergy deployment standards was in direct conflict with several provisions of the Canons of the Episcopal Church say the proposers, including Resolution D039 passed last summer at GC2000. Furthermore a priest from another diocese desiring to accept a call to ministry in the diocese had to obtain letters dimissory from his or her current ecclesiastical authority and present them to the ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese of Colorado. The diocese's new clergy deployment guidelines, it is said, usurps the rightful primacy of a parish in making calls to priests, whether they be canonically resident in the Diocese of Colorado or elsewhere. The diocese's new clergy deployment guidelines are now "not faithful to or consistent with General Convention Resolution D039," and sets the Diocese of Colorado apart from other dioceses in the Episcopal Church, say the proposers. "This will have the unfortunate practical consequence of discouraging gifted and talented deacons and priests from other regions of the country from accepting calls to ministry in the Diocese of Colorado. The proposers of these resolutions acknowledge that an overwhelming majority of priests and deacons in the Episcopal Church are "married and faithful or single and celibate," but the proposers also believe that an overwhelming majority of priests and deacons in the Episcopal Church do not want to serve in a diocese that officially discriminates against some members of the Body of Christ. Bishop Winterrowd and six of our diocese's eight Deputies to General Convention voted for D039. The diocese's new clergy deployment guidelines inform those who hold non-traditional views about holy relationships outside of marriage that they in fact do not have a place in the Episcopal Church, or at least not in its Colorado branch. The passing of this resolution would level the playing field. The proposers believe that the adoption of these resolutions would have a positive fiscal impact on the diocesan budget. "Adoption of these resolutions will enable those more mainstream parishes and missions that already provide the bulk of the financial support of the diocese to grow and thrive as they preach the Gospel of Christ unfettered by diocesan policies that are not consistent with or faithful to the Baptismal Covenant and the life, ministry and teaching of Jesus Christ," they say. END The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, the evangelical rector of Church of the Ascension, Pueblo offers a critical response to this proposed diocesan resolution. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 00:42:46 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 0:42:46 Subject: Ephraim Radner responds to Diocese of Colorado Resolution Message-ID: A CRITICAL RESPONSE TO THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION ON CLERGY DEPLOYMENT SET BEFORE OUR 114TH DIOCESAN CONVENTION By the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner Church of the Ascension, Pueblo Overview The proposed resolution is an attempt to have our diocese recognize and accept gay partnerships that exist among our clergy and people. This is an understandable goal for those clergy and members of the diocese who live in such partnerships, and for those who support them. However, in this resolution, the goal is pursued in way that is dissonant with our common identity as members of this church, and in three ways. First, the resolution proposes that we ignore the long and careful process of debate, consultation, and canonical change within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, that could only, according to our own canons and polity, justify the adoption of the goal itself. Second, in ignoring this necessary process, the resolution asks our diocesan convention to overturn national canons and thereby illegally to strip the bishop and standing committee of discretionary powers for a range of matters that are in fact granted them by our polity. Third, in making this radical proposition to the diocese, the resolution's content and rationale openly repudiate the common life of trust and respect that we have tried to rebuild in this diocese, while also dismissing outright the value of traditional congregations to this common life and deliberately accepting the withdrawal of their participation from the diocese. The resolution is thus inaccurate in its factual claims, pernicious in its canonical and legal implications, and painfully dismissive of the ecclesial realities of this diocese and of our life together. I would add a further danger that this resolution poses, one that touches on a more purely legal concern: in explicitly taking away the bishop's and standing committee's discretionary powers in matters of employment, passage of this resolution may open the way for a range of employment lawsuits against the diocese and vestries, including many that have nothing to do with Christian views of sexual activity. In view of recent history around the church, this is not a matter to be taken lightly. The most gracious way of dealing with this unfortunate proposal would have been for the proposers themselves, otherwise respected and valued in this diocese, willingly to have withdrawn it, as the bishop and others asked them to do. (People should know, furthermore, that a strongly-worded resolution sponsored by some conservative members of the diocese, was in fact willingly withdrawn, and deliberately so, for the sake of refraining from potentially divisive gestures in the diocese.) Since the proposers of the present resolution chose not to withdraw it, but have insisted on bringing to the floor a resolution designed to change our polity unilaterally and likely to divide the diocese further, I would urge the convention to table the resolution quickly and without a debate whose provocative acrimony the resolution seems bound to elicit. If this cannot be done, then, for the sake of this diocese's continued health and integrity, the resolution must be defeated, whole and in every point. I need to add a further important comment to this summary. Because I am identified by many with "conservative" Christian convictions, it may seem that my response here is motivated primarily by my objection to gay partnerships. This is not, however, the case; and my own sympathies (as is the case for many so-called "conservatives") are far more complex, and at least in this matter, more ambiguous than some may think. It is rather because all of us require appropriate and peaceable space in which to sort out these complexities and ambiguities in a way congruent with our responsibilities to the larger church and its authorities, on this as on many topics, that the kind of preemption of "life together" in the church at large that this resolution embodies, is so counter-productive and alienating. Further, the material and canonical issues at stake in this particular resolution are profoundly important to the very existence of our common life, and therefore demand the utmost pointedness in rebuttal here. For the passage of this resolution would be, in my judgment, an illegal act by our diocesan convention. Those who sympathize in some fashion with the aspirations of gay couples must not be under any illusions here. And if this convention were to take such an illegal step, the legitimacy of the convention itself would be thrown into question. Although I cannot say what the consequences of this would be, I believe they would probably be very serious. Destroying the structures and unity of an institution as a strategic means of advancing a particular agenda may have a place in some radical secular politics; but it lies beyond the pale of the Christian Church's own identity and purpose. It apparently needs to be said again and again: unless this particular church finds a way to deal with profoundly contentious theological, moral, and cultural questions, that can bypass the political method of antagonistic legislative processes, we shall destroy our common life beyond denominational repair, and distance the Gospel from the hearts of many thirsting to receive it. Commentary on the Rationale Let me begin my response with a careful survey of the resolution's "Rationale", which will clarify the status of the resolution itself. "Historical Background" The rationale tells us that although there has long been a "policy" for ordinands that relates to marriage and celibacy, it is only this past winter that "new guidelines" for deployment were "published". The "policy" in question, however, has also long been "published" openly, in the diocese's Handbook on Ministry (p. 33), the current edition of which has passed through and been approved by many representative bodies of the diocese, most notably the Commission on Ministry and Standing Committee. In fact, the deployment guidelines objected to are taken as a whole and almost verbatim from this approved Handbook. That deployment "guidelines" were recently articulated by the diocesan office that would take these already published diocesan standards for ordination and abridge them for deployment information does not, therefore, constitute the imposition of some "new" standard . It simply underlines the fact that we do not have two standards for our clergy, one for those ordained within the diocese, and one for those ordained elsewhere. It is interesting that the rationale itself later calls these standards "traditional" (and its own proposal "untraditional"), since this would imply, by definition, that the articulation of the guidelines does not represent anything "new" at all. And in this, of course, the proposers are correct: the guidelines in question represent the traditional standards for sexual activity, as much as anything, expected of the church's clergy. The fact that these guidelines, long-published and held, have, in the cases of particular clergy in the diocese, been contradicted, and the fact that this contradiction has been either tolerated or ignored by diocesan authorities, is probably less interesting than some might think. Pastoral discretion, in all kinds of matters, is at the root of pastoral direction, and is precisely the kind of power that episcopal and priestly wisdom seeks to use prudently. And since such discretion fundamentally informs ecclesial charity and humility, it is odd that the resolution should seek to attack this aspect of our church's life. The rationale also objects specifically to the guidelines' request that prospective candidates contact the diocese first, before contacting individual congregations. This procedure is, to be sure, new to Colorado. But it is one long in use among many other dioceses in ECUSA, as any glance at a national Clergy Deployment Newsletter will attest, and its purpose in rationalizing the search process is both clearly explained in the guidelines themselves, and one adopted in many places - not necessarily "traditionalist" - around the country. Furthermore, the procedure in no way limits the eventual contact of candidate and congregation, and fears to that effect are groundless. This being the case, the bishop's office is well within its rights to shape this process as it has, for the outcome of which it bears, after all, great pastoral and legal responsibility. Finally, people should know that the actual wording of the published deployment "guidelines" to which this resolution objects, were in fact withdrawn some months ago, and submitted to a process of revision that actually responded to some of the complaints the proposers themselves had earlier leveled at its purportedly offensive language. This revision is not yet complete (although the Handbook for Ministry continues to provide, as always, diocesan standards for ordination in general). But in the meantime it is puzzling that the present resolution should bring to the floor of convention a proposal that a document that no longer exists should be "dropped". In short, while the content of the guidelines and their basis may be irksome to the resolution's proposers, they are not a novelty, nor are they foreign to the common practice of the Episcopal Church and finally, nor has their promulgation been insensitive to the concerns of the proposers, and any implication to the contrary is false. "The Clergy Deployment Guidelines Conflict with Canon Law" The rationale argues, on the basis of III.16.1 of our national canons, that, absent any "proper ground of canonical inquiry and presentment", a priest called by a congregation from another diocese must have his or her "letters dimissory" accepted by the local bishop (that is, have their "call" accepted). It then claims that clergy guidelines, like our own, which refer to "appropriate sexual expression" in the traditional manner, do not speak to such "proper grounds". This is false. It is false precisely because of the range of latitude given by our national canons to bishops and standing committees to evaluate the character, life-style, and teaching of potential candidates for clerical employment. The "proper grounds" for canonical inquiry or presentment (IV.1.1), are listed as including "crime, immorality, holding and teaching publicly or privately, and advisedly, any doctrine contrary to that held by this Church, violation of Rubrics of the BCP, violation of [national or diocesan] Constitution or Canons, violation of Ordination vows", etc.. None of these categories, we should note, are carefully defined (any more than is the notion of a "suitable manner of life for the exercise of [the] ministry" in the BCP Ordination rite [p. 526], and any number of other "standards"; see also the "definition of terms" for the disciplinary canons in IV.1.15 ). This loosely-defined range of discretion granted to bishops parallels that involved in the ordination process (cf. III.7.9, which, as in other places, speaks generally, and without definition, of "medical, psychological, moral, doctrinal, or spiritual" criteria that must be satisfied). In both cases - for ordinands and for clergy calls - this permitted range of discretion represents a long-standing and deliberate canonical choice, provided for the purpose of allowing bishops (and their standing committees) properly to exercise their evangelical pastoral direction of the diocese, which includes protecting their people from priests who may be destructive to the common life of the flock in ways that cannot be exhaustively defined ahead of time; e.g. from individuals who may be alcoholic, mentally unstable, heretical, antagonistic, incompetent to sustain canonically required responsibilities, and so on. Lest these discretionary powers be judged tyrannical, there are also canonical means for challenging a bishop's decision, means that themselves involve the appeal to the canons of presentment. Quite apart from the issue of sexual expression, the maintenance of these powers for bishops and standing committees is critically important. Were they to be removed, dioceses would have severely weakened defenses against the employment of ill-suited priests. But, in fact, these powers of broad discretion cannot be removed from bishops and standing committees by this convention, since they are embedded in the national canons of our church. We need to point out further, that the rationale (and resolution) do not distinguish "parishes" from "mission congregations", a distinction implied in the national canons (though left ill-defined), and made explicit in our diocesan canons (Canon 13). Since mission congregations are directly under the authority of the diocesan bishop, so is the sole right to "appoint" vicars vested in the episcopal authority at his or her discretion (sec. 3). It is the proposers' view, of course, that standards regarding sexual activity cannot be included within the purview of this canonical discretion, whether for parishes or for missions. Having granted that these standards, however, are "traditional", they must demonstrate why a bishop cannot apply the "traditional" standards. Their argument seems to depend on two claims: first, that the decision in the case of Bishop Righter, in the mid-1990's, makes sexual activity immaterial to clerical deployment altogether, and second, that General Convention Resolution D039 renders the application of such pastoral discretion by the bishop "discriminatory" and somehow illegal in the Episcopal Church as a whole. Both arguments are false. Let me deal with the pertinence of the Righter Decision here, and address D039 below. The Righter decision involved the refusal by an ecclesiastical court to try a bishop for heresy based on his ordination of a gay ordinand who lived in partnership with another man. The Episcopal court ruled that the bishop's action did not violate the "core doctrine" of the church. This decision, however, is irrelevant to the present issues addressed by the proposed resolution, for at least three reasons. First, the decision involved the determination of a particular individual's presentment, and is valid only for that individual case. Such ecclesiastical trial decisions have no determinative value for other cases, do not set precedents, and certainly cannot be used to define doctrine or discipline for the larger church. Legally speaking, the decision has nothing to say outside of its own context. Second, the Righter decision does not even speak to the question of limiting a bishop's use of his or her discretionary powers in accepting ordinands and clergy; if anything, it seems to grant to those discretionary powers greater range than would traditionally have been suspected. Third, all bishops are required to evaluate their duties and decisions in light, finally, of the standards of the "apostolic heritage" (cf. BCP p. 517), the depth and breadth of whose legacy is precisely what undergirds the discretionary vocation of episcopal oversight in the first place. These standards are not ones that can be constrained by particular decisions of ecclesiastical courts, according to the framework of the canons themselves. The court's stated opinion that they could not see how "sexual morals" in general (and not just the question of enacted sexual orientation) had any connection with the kind of basic apostolic heritage that is part of the episcopal trust, in fact brought upon the entire proceedings widespread ridicule from most outside theological and canonical observers, in this and in other denominations. The Righter opinion itself, whatever one's views on the presenting issue, was not one of our church's better productions, and the desire to turn to it for direction, let alone to grant it defining powers it simply does not have, seems very ill-advised. Despite the fact that bishops and standing committees do in fact have broad discretionary powers to reject a call, and that current national canons, not to mention the practice of the church over the centuries, support these powers, the rationale offers a final line of reasoning. It insists that parishes have a "rightful primacy" in calling priests, by noting that, if a vestry ignores the bishop's concerns or objections to a candidate, "there is nothing that the bishop can do". This would be an odd argument, to say the least, for a Christian community to embrace; for its implication is that, if one is powerless to overcome intransigence or conflict, therefore such intransigence or conflict is legitimate. Or, to put it differently, that "might makes right". But where did this notion of "primacy" come from? It is not expressed in the canons or in the Prayer Book (not to mention the Scriptures). And the fact that bishops are granted broad discretionary powers in a clergy call in no way indicates that they are assuming a "primary" role in its accomplishment. In all respects, congregation and bishop are to work together, each fulfilling their proper roles of humble service. Rather, the rationale imports the principle of "primacy" from some model other than the church's Christ-given life. And, of course, bishops do not have such "primacy" (nor do congregations). It is particularly true that bishops, short of violence, cannot physically prevent priests from taking charge of congregations, leading worship, and preaching. Simply refusing to "license" them to work in the diocese, does not constitute such a prevention. The recourse to a presentment, of course, is the next step. But the current fiasco in Christ Church, Accokeek (Maryland), wherein a vestry and a bishop are locked in irresolvable conflict over just such an impasse, with reciprocal calls for presentment of priest and bishop alike being thrown about, to the point that both sides are appealing to the civil courts, is testimony to the fact that adherence to canon law and order is a matter of faith and good faith at once, which together breed a spirit of cooperation and mutual support between bishop and congregation ; it is not a matter of who "holds primacy". The very principle of "primacy" and power invoked here is a contradiction to the character of the Christian Church; and its ironically congregationalist application in the rationale here betokens the conflictual model of ecclesial life that informs the resolution as a whole. The recourse to civil lawsuits in employment matters, already pursued in the church, is a natural outgrowth of this model, and is clearly contrary to Scripture (1 Cor. 6:1 ff.). In short, our national canons support the present deployment system of the diocese and for good reasons, and any attempt by this convention to overturn them would be a unilateral action in contravention of our status as a member diocese of ECUSA. "The Clergy Deployment Guidelines Conflict with General Convention Resolution D039" This part of the rationale is perhaps the least pertinent. For it lifts up, as having some kind of sanction determinative of policy, a resolution from the last General Convention whose main point was to "acknowledge" that the Episcopal Church has many members who are in conflict over the matter of human sexuality. Beyond that, D039 stresses the "unresolved" character of the topic for many, and it notes that some Episcopalians will, in "good conscience", disagree with and act contrary to the "traditional" teaching on sexuality. Having "acknowledged" all this, D039 offers no prescriptions, no doctrinal or disciplinary guidance or guidelines, apart from an appeal that all members of the church, including those couples living outside of marriage, be given pastoral care, and be held accountable to the most basic of moral demands that touch upon relational life. There is absolutely nothing in D039 that limits or directs bishops or standing committees in the fulfillment of their pastoral discretionary duties with regard to the ordination and calling of priests, and that defines or limits the canons that determine these duties.. Indeed, the fact that the D039 even "acknowledges" the "traditional" view of marriage and sexual practice as valid (because, after all, there are "some" who may disagree with it), would indicate that its application by a bishop or standing committee is, at the least, an acceptable part of the Episcopal Church's life. The use of D039 by the proposers of the present resolution to define away "traditionalist" doctrine and discipline is a clear contradiction of the General Convention's own muddled purpose. Telling in this regard is the fact that one of the proposers to the present resolution has also proposed another resolution urging the diocese to study D039, precisely because it points to the irresolution of the matter of sexuality in the mind of many in the Church (oddly enough, appealing to Lambeth, which, of course, clearly upholds the "traditional" view of sexual expression). Yet here, in the present resolution, D039 is used as a clear statement of the "mind of the church" on the matter of sexuality. None of this is coherent. It should be noted, finally, that non-canonical resolutions like D039 have, in any case, no legislative force. A bishop, a priest, or a layperson can ignore them if he or she so chooses, without threat of presentment. In this sense, the question isn't at all whether D039 has "superseded" previous resolutions on marriage, as if those resolutions constituted the doctrinal and disciplinary identity of the church. No convention resolution - even those respecting canons -- properly represents the doctrine of the church in any determinative way, but only offers a suggestion for reading such doctrine, doctrine which itself is properly contained in the Scriptures, the Creeds, and the BCP and Catechism, as guarded by the apostolic tradition embodied in the larger Anglican Communion (cf. IV.15; the Constitution's Preamble; the Preface to the BCP, etc.). The reason why previous resolutions on marriage carry weight is not because they were "resolved" at a General Convention, but because they so obviously conform to that larger tradition. In sum, authoritative appeals to resolutions like D039 are canonically and ecclesiastically beside the point. "The Clergy Guidelines Isolate the Diocese of Colorado from Mainstream Episcopalians" Given that D039 acknowledges the prominent, if not exhaustive, role that "traditional" views on sexuality play within the Episcopal Church, it is hard to imagine how the use of guidelines that refer to these traditional views could place one outside of the "mainstream" of the Episcopal Church. But the suggestion that it could is one example of several within the rationale and resolution whereby a commonly understood terminology has been bound and deformed by a limited ideological purpose, or where a theological phrase (e.g. use of the word "holy"), has been manipulated in such a way that its application attempts to side-step the very matters that are "unresolved". We are told here that somehow the Diocese of Colorado should fear its marginalization from the rest of the Episcopal Church, because we have veered off into bigotry, perverted the canons of the church, ignored clear directives adopted by the entire General Convention and so on. But, as I have tried to show, all these arguments are false. We have done nothing "new"; we are adhering to the canons of the church, even while the present resolution attempts to undermine and ignore them; and the General Convention itself appears to believe there is no "mind of the church" on the matter of sexuality sufficient clearly to displace "traditional" thinking by and large (although it urges us to take a "pastoral" approach with those who disagree with that "traditional" thinking). A less distorted use of the term "mainstream" than the present resolution's, would take into account the general perspectives of Anglicans and Christians from around the world and across the centuries. In any case, whatever the "mainstream" of the Episcopal Church may be, the attempt to use the scare tactic of convincing people that our diocese is somehow "out of step" with the rest of the church is a rhetorical move designed to mask the resolution's own extreme and illegal proposals. The Diocese of Colorado continues to function properly and appropriately as a member of ECUSA and the Anglican Communion, and that continued functioning deserves our efforts at preservation, not at subversion. "Fiscal Impact" Basically, the rationale here states that adopting the proposed resolution will engender increased giving by congregations supportive of the resolution's goals. Further, it notes that the probable alienation of more traditional members of the diocese that will result from the resolution's adoption should not be much of a concern, because they already don't give much (this, by the way, is patently false, as any perusal of diocesan giving statistics will demonstrate). Here, the rationale moves in a direction that appears deliberately hostile to some congregations in the diocese, and astonishingly accepting of standards of common life that the Church universally deplores. The notion, embraced here, that giving to the diocese should be construed as an arm of interest politics contradicts the meaning of stewardship that the Church, and the Episcopal Church in particular, has long taught. That those who support the goals of this resolution currently see their giving as tied to the success of their agenda is certainly sad. But that the proposers should find it perfectly acceptable, and perhaps even helpful, that "losers" in the agenda fight will withdraw from their participation in the diocese is more than sad; it is a disturbing commentary on the actual and hostile relationship that Christian members of this diocese seem willing to sustain among ourselves. To use this kind of argument as part of a "rationale" for the proposed resolution is shocking. Evaluation of the Resolution Given the above commentary on its "rationale", the status of the actual resolution in its four points should be clear: it is, at once, illegal, beside the point, dangerous, and deliberately divisive. 1. "... urges withdrawal of clergy deployment standards...": A resolution, of course, can "urge" whatever it wants. But it cannot take away the discretionary powers of bishops and standing committees to evaluate the fitness of ordinands and clergy candidates. The issuing of guidelines is well within the rights of a diocesan office. The application of these guidelines in individual cases can be challenged, of course, but the guidelines themselves, assuming they are canonically permitted, are not within the purview of convention's powers. It should be noted, furthermore, that the actual formulation of the guidelines that the resolution wishes withdrawn, has not been in use for several months. To this degree, this point of the resolution is simply moot. 2. "... the standards and requirement relating to the ordination of priests... set forth in the Book of Common Prayer are fully sufficient and the only standards... in the Diocese of Colorado...": The canons and polity of the Episcopal Church are clear that this cannot be the case. As we have pointed out above, the discretionary powers granted a bishop and standing committee involve the evaluation of a broad range of characteristics not defined in the Prayer Book -- e.g. "medical, psychological, moral, or spiritual" - in addition to a discretionary interpretation of Prayer Book criteria in the categories of "doctrine", "discipline" and so on, which themselves, according to the Prayer Book itself, engage an interpretation of Holy Scripture and the apostolic tradition. This portion of the resolution contravenes the canons of the church, and if adopted, would simply be illegal. 3. "... a congregation... has the primary right and responsibility to call a rector": The language and principle of "primacy" is alien to the reality of ministry within the church. And if this be construed as limiting the canonical powers of the bishop and standing committee, as the rationale makes clear it intends to construe it, it is an illegitimate affirmation, whose outcome will be to set congregation against bishop in a way that is contrary to the intention of our polity and threatening of the church's unity. 4."...being cognizant of the current mind of the Episcopal Church... as expressed in General Convention Resolution D039... affirms that unmarried persons living in relationships characterized by fidelity...are entitled to fulfill their vocations... in lay and ordained ministries...": D039 offers no canonical basis for this, or any other, diocese to affirm a policy that would limit the canonical powers of bishop and standing committee, powers that, for better or worse, are still acknowledged as permitting discretionary judgments based on the "traditional" teaching of the church regarding sexual activity. Whether bishops or standing committees choose to exercise these powers or not, remains a prerogative that this convention cannot remove (although particular decisions can be challenged), and attempting to do so transgresses the legal bounds of the convention's authority, with the resultant effects of division noted elsewhere in this response. To conclude: As a whole, and in its parts, this proposed resolution is utterly unacceptable to the ordered life of this diocese, and legitimately requires its own rejection. Note: This response represents my own views as an individual priest and member of this diocese; it does not necessarily reflect the views of my congregation or region. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 00:55:14 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 0:55:14 Subject: THE REHILL STORY. Newark Chancellor to Defend Rev. Janet Kraft Message-ID: "It appears to be one of the worst cases of abuse of Episcopal power by a bishop that I have ever encountered." - Michael Rehill THE REHILL STORY Newark Chancellor Takes on Evangelical Woman Vicar's Case Against Bishop Richard Grein By David W. Virtue Michael Rehill, 55, canon lawyer and Chancellor of the Diocese of Newark is not necessarily the first person you would think of turning too, if you were an evangelical woman vicar who had just been fired and found yourself out of a job, with little financial fall back. But that's what happened when the Rev. Janet Kraft, 45, vicar of Grace Church in the village of New York did when faced with clerical and personal eviction, and it was Michael Rehill that she turned to for help. Rehill is best remembered for his defense of Bishop Walter Righter in the now famous Righter Trial wherein it was determined the Episcopal Church had no core doctrine regarding homosexuality and that what Righter did in ordaining a non-celibate homosexual person to the priesthood was acceptable. His actions resulted in a steady stream of lesbigay ordinations without General Convention ever approving by resolution such an arrangement. It was Rehill's 15 minutes of fame. But he is hardly an anonymous figure. "I am consulted by many priests and bishops around the country from all theological backgrounds," he told Virtuosity from his home in Westwood, NJ. And why did he take on the Rev. Janet Kraft? "I saw a rector in trouble. This was not a theological dispute. It had nothing to do with any theological positions. Janet came to me as a canon lawyer initially while being represented by another lawyer, to review a the materials presented to her by Grace Church as the basis of her termination. After reviewing the materials I saw that there was no justification, but I thought the other lawyers would handle the case." But I saw that it was much more than simply a breach of contract. She came to me with her husband to discuss the damages she had incurred, and at that meeting, they asked me to handle the case on her behalf. After reviewing evidence, I said that I would." Rehill said he believed there was substantial merit to her case against Grace Church, NY, Bishop Richard Grein, Rev David Rider the priest-in- charge, and Rev. Anne Richards who was given Janet's job just four days before Grein retired/resigned as Bishop of New York. "Bishop Grein had the power to accomplish what he set out to do. When it became clear that what Grein had accomplished was begun long before, and that the real reason for her termination was to replace Kraft with Richards, I was in disbelief and shock. When I saw what had occurred I felt that I needed to take on the case." Rehill has had a lot of experience in representing clergy in church matters. "I developed a niche for clergy rights and canonical discipline and, she initially came to me because Grein had threatened her with canonical discipline and tried to intimidate her. The truth is he had no basis for his actions and he contravened her rights as a priest of our church for no legitimate reason for his actions. The fact is, despite his threats he did not follow through with any disciplinary action at all. He got what he wanted by getting Janet out of Grace Church." Rehill said it was not material where Janet was coming from theologically. "I'm a lawyer, I evaluate the facts and the law. That's what I do. I believe the conduct of former of Bishop of NY mandated doing this." "The one difference between myself and a purely secular lawyer is that I would not have filed suit unless I was absolutely convinced of the validity of the case," said Rehill. "I really investigated the case. At times, I felt like a Washington Post reporter who always needs at least two sources for every allegation. I got them." "All these events did not occur in the same place, but put in a time chronology it flies off the page. It is most unfortunate. I advise bishops all over the country and I give advice." Rehill is known as "the bishops lawyer" but he has spent more time defending priests against bishops in canonical disciplinary cases. As Chancellor to the Bishop and Diocese of Newark, Rehill said he would never be involved with priests in the diocese because "I am the Chancellor of the diocese." When asked how he would characterize Bishop Grein, Rehill said: "It appears to be one of the worst cases of abuse of Episcopal power that I have encountered. It is not unusual for bishops to have to be strong in dealing with their clergy, but they have an obligation to be pastor s to them as well. Sometimes they forgetthat." "I believe this case is unique. I have never before seen a situation like this. All the evidence shows that Bishop Grein used his power as a bishop to have a distinguished and talented priest of his diocese removed from her position to be replaced by a friend of the bishop." "She was fired on trumped up charges. The motive was obvious. Other people can deal with the depth of the motive. From my standpoint I had to make sure that Janet's rights had to be protected. Even the bishop said she was a good person, "one of the bright lights of the women clergy in our church." "It is my belief that Rider [the priest-in-charge] was given that position in order to hire Anne Richards. Janet was a quality preacher and drew people to the church. She is a first class priest." Rehill has been Chancellor of the diocese for 11 years and describes himself as a "very traditional catholic Episcopalian. He attends Grace Church in Westwood, NJ. Despite his support of gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church, he describes himself as "very traditional in my understanding of scripture. He did not agree with Spong theologically when he was Bishop of Newark, but said Spong "challenged me to think." On the gay issue, Rehill says he believes "God made each of us with strengths and weaknesses, we are all weak and we all sinners. I accept the premise that God all of us the way we are and that God made gay and lesbian people the way they are. We are all of us children of God and each of us can and are instruments of God, regardless of our sexuality. Who am I to say that God was wrong or that homosexuality is a sin? Or that any of us is without sin?" Rehill said he hopes the Kraft matter will be resolved quickly with not too much damage to the church. "Litigation damages the church, and the damages in this case could be gigantic." Asked how he came up with a figure of $5 million, Rehill said he did an analysis based on her potential salary and benefits she was receiving. "The figure is still on the low side." "I am suing Grace Church for breach of contract and wrongful discharge and defamation and the three individuals for tortuous interference with her contract and defamation. My hope, however, is that church leaders who are not directly involved will intervene and try to get the parties to resolve the matter quickly." END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 00:57:48 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 0:57:48 Subject: THE BIBLE AND HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE by Robert A. J. Gagnon Message-ID: THE BIBLE AND HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE Texts and Hermeneutics by Robert A. J. Gagnon (Abingdon Press) Nashville 2001 520pp. Reviewed by David W. Virtue The ongoing moral struggle in mainline Protestant denominations over homosexual behavior is reaching new heights of simultaneous public hysteria and private serious theological inquiry. Homosexualists in most major denominations, but particularly the Episcopal Church, are pushing the boundaries theologically and in acts of civil disobedience (GC2000) to make the point that their lifestyles will and must be accepted against all known biblical evidence, historical tradition and medical consequences. This latest offering comes from the pen of Presbyterian theologian Dr. Robert A.J. Gagnon, assistant professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Dr. Gagnon's 500-page book seeks to demonstrate two main points. First, that there is clear, strong and credible evidence that the Bible unequivocally defines same-sex intercourse as sin. And second, there exists no valid hermeneutical arguments, derived from either general principles of biblical interpretation or contemporary scientific knowledge and experience, for overriding the Bible's authority on this matter. He writes: "The bible presents the anatomical, sexual, and procreative complementarity of male and female as clear and convincing proof of God's will for sexual unions." "Even those who do not accept the revelatory authority of Scripture should be able to perceive the divine will through the visible testimony of the structure of creation. Same-sex intercourse constitutes an inexcusable rebellion against the intentional design of the created order. It degrades the participants when they disregard nature's obvious clues, and results in destructive consequences for them as well as for society as a whole. These consequences include matters of health (catastrophic rates of disease and shortened life expectancy) and morals (unstable and destabilizing patterns of sexual behavior where short-term and non-monogamous relationships constitute the rule rather than the exception)." Gagnon takes us through the Old Testament witness; same-sex intercourse as "contrary to nature" in early Judaism, the Mishnah, Talmud and Related literature, the witness of Jesus, the witness of Paul and Deutero-Paul, the hermeneutical Relevance of the Biblical witness, and a comprehensive index including modern authors and ancient sources. Gagnon, recognizing that his book will be viewed by homosexualists as promoting an outdated and intolerant worldview, says that it is important to be clear about the definition of tolerance and its place among Christian virtues. "While tolerance may be a virtue in many instances, love holds a superior place in a Christian worldview (1 Cor. 13:13). Love and tolerance overlap but are not identical concepts. The Bible describes a God who loves the entire world but does not tolerate sin. In fact, in the few instances when words that could be translated as tolerance or intolerance occur in the biblical text, they generally appear in contexts that condemn tolerance of wickedness and immorality in the midst of God's people. Toleration of immoral sexual practices was a vice, not a virtue." Rather than elevate tolerance to the highest position, one might do better to lift up one of the Christian virtues that Paul cites as fruits of the Spirit. Gagnon observes (and he might well have been an Episcopalian at this point) that critics of homosexual behavior risk being labeled exclusive and resistant to diversity. This, he says, obscures the real conflict; namely, whether one determines that the behavior in question is sinful/harmful or not. "No one on either side of the homosexuality debate wants to be inclusive of harmful behavior or widen diversity to include sin," he writes. Biblical scholars and theologians also risk being labeled uncritical. However, critical scholarship by no means leads in a straight line to the conclusion that the biblical texts condemning same-sex intercourse ought to be dismissed. "If a clear, unequivocal, and pervasive stance in the Bible can be shown to exist-across the Testaments and accepted for nearly two millennia of the church's existence-then the burden of proof lies with those in the church who take a radically different approach to the issue." Others may accuse scholars who publicly question the morality of homosexual behavior of holding on to outmoded moral standards or primitive understandings of sexuality. "Such labels beg the question of how one knows what is outmoded. Is something outmoded simply because it has a long pedigree? To the contrary, the antiquity and durability of a given prohibition against immoral conduct often indicates its workability, effectiveness and elasticity as a cultural model rather than its contemporary irrelevance." Speaking to the issue of violence against homosexuals that a book such as his might promote, Gagnon argues that while antihomosexual violence deserves to be vigorously denounced, it does nobody any good to ignore the dangerous way in which isolated and relatively rare incidents of violence against homosexuals have been exploited to stifle freedom of speech and coerce societal endorsement of homosexual practice. Gagnon has four proposals. First, if proponents of same-sex intercourse really have a paramount interest in curtailing acts of violence against homosexuals, the best thing for them to do is to hold up models of civil discourse among people who oppose same-sex intercourse. Secondly, Jesus' reaction to the woman caught in adultery (ironically a favorite proof text for advocates of homosexual behavior) is to condemn her behavior and commanding her to change her ways. An adulterous woman in Israel faced the prospect of mob violence. His solution was not to tolerate adultery but to make a distinction between the community's assessment of the act as immoral and the application of the death penalty. Third, there is no end to the kinds of moral discourse that can be squelched when the distinction between polite but critical rhetoric on the one hand and violent extremists on the other is ignored. By that same logic, the US in the 19th century should have endorsed the practice of polygamy in order to avoid violence against polygamists. Fourth, statistically more significant than hate crimes against homosexuals are the harmful effects of various forms of homosexual behavior on homosexual themselves: serious health risks (such as AIDS) associated with anal intercourse and rampant promiscuity; "pick-up murders," in which a gay man kills an anonymous sex partner; and high rates of domestic violence and sadomasochism among homosexual couples. Societal tolerance of homosexual practice results in a higher incidence of experimentation with bisexual and homosexual practice among youth, with all its attendant negative side effects. None of this even touches the negative effects that homosexual behavior can have on a person's relationship with God." While space does not permit a detailed analysis of his book, Gagnon's "Witness of Jesus" chapter is worth pondering because the "silence" of Jesus on same-sex intercourse is one of the major arguments used by homosexuals to justify their behavior. Jesus made no direct or explicit comments on same-sex intercourse, just as he made no direct comments about many other important subjects. But, writes, Gagnon, "in a larger sense, Jesus was not silent about same-sex intercourse inasmuch as the inferential data speaks loud and clear about Jesus' perspective." Four points confirm this claim. First, understood in the context of first-century Judaism, it is very unlikely that Jesus would have adopted a fundamentally different stance towards same-sex intercourse, particularly given Jesus' general approach to the Mosaic Law. Nothing in the authentic Jesus tradition suggests that Jesus abrogated the Torah during his earthly ministry. On the contrary, Jesus prioritized the law's core values and even amended the law by closing loopholes and expanding its demands. This is clear from the six antitheses that follow Matt. 5:21-48. Jesus did not demand the death penalty for certain sexual sins such as adultery and prostitution, although he clearly maintained his opposition to such behavior. Although Jesus does not explicitly refer to same-sex intercourse in extant Jesus tradition, implicit references exist. In Mark 7: 21-23. Jesus interprets his saying about what defiles a person as follows: "for it is from...the human heart that evil intentions come: sexual immoralities (porneiai)...adulteries...licentiousness...All thee vile things come from within and defile a person." Gagnon writes that "no first century Jew could have spoken of porneiai (plural) without having in mind the list of forbidden sexual offenses in Leviticus 18 and 20 (incest, same-sex intercourse, bestiality). It underscores that sexual behavior does matter. Another instance of an implicit reference to same-sex intercourse occurs in Jesus' response to the rich man who inquired about the requirements for eternal life (Mk. 10:17-22). Jesus began by reciting portions of the Decalogue, including the prohibition of adultery as a rubric embracing the "special laws" against incest, pederasty, bestiality, prostitution, and other matters pertaining to sexual intercourse. It is probable that implicit in Jesus' embrace of the seventh commandment against adultery was a rejection of all same-sex intercourse. Second, Jesus' appeal to Gen 1:27 and 2:24 in his discussion of divorce (mark 10:1-12) confirms his embrace of an exclusively heterosexual model of monogamy. Jesus understood that marriage was ordained by God "from the beginning of creation". He shows no awareness much less acceptance of any other pattern-even though no Jew in antiquity could have been oblivious to homosexual relationships among many Gentiles. There was no need for him to comment on whether homosexual unions should be permitted and, if so, whether his stance on divorce and remarriage should apply to them too. The creation texts authorized only one type of sexual union. It would have been a forgone conclusion for him that homoerotic relationships and human-animal unions, both proscribed in Leviticus were unacceptable. The whole point of Jesus' stance in Mark 10:1-12 is not to broaden the Torah's openness to alternative forms of sexuality but rather to narrow or constrain the Torah's sexual ethic to disallow any sexual union other than a monogamous, lifelong marriage to a person of the opposite sex. In short, writes Gagnon, there simply was no place in the Genesis account to accommodate an etiology for same-sex unions, non- exploitative or otherwise. Jesus accepted the authority of Genesis 1-2 and its sanction of one particular model of marriage: heterosexual monogamous unions. Third, Jesus' positions on other matters having to do with sexual ethics were generally more-not less-rigorous than those of his surrounding culture. In deconstructing the myth of a sexually tolerant Jesus, Gagnon notes that Jesus often adopted stricter, not more lenient, demands than most other Jews of his time. In other words, his expectations regarding sexual purity, in some respects at least exceeded the expectations both of the Torah and of traditions prevailing in Jesus' day. Even allowing the possibility of a Q source, Jesus raised not lowered sexual standards. Jesus raised the standards on the Mosaic prohibition on divorce not lowered them. Jesus' opposition to divorce is consistent with other authentic teachings of Jesus regarding anger and the necessity of forgiveness, the intensified definition of adultery (even lust ion one's heart), fidelity to marriage vows, not returning evil for evil. Such a conclusion shatters the stereotype of a figure who was completing accepting and tolerant of the behavior of others, especially the sexual behavior of others. Those, writes Gagnon, who find in the gospels a Jesus who is a prophet of intolerance, who forgives and accepts (except, perhaps, the intolerant), regardless of behavioral change have distorted the historical reality. Fourth, the ways in which Jesus integrated demands for mercy and righteous conduct in his teaching and ministry do not lend support for the view that Jesus might have taken a positive or neutral approach to same-sex intercourse. What was distinctive about Jesus' ministry was not that he refused to make judgments about the conduct of others, or even that he lowered his moral standards. What was distinctive was his incredibly generous spirit even toward those who had lived in gross disobedience to God for years. Their mere humble "yes" to Jesus was enough to put their past behind them. Gagnon concludes the witness of Jesus by saying that with the regard to the church's response to practicing homosexuals, there must be a willingness to fraternize with them in a spirit of humility and to offer God's forgiveness. Such a posture toward practicing homosexuals has nothing to do with changing the church's assessment of homosexual practice as a perversion of the created order. Indeed, it demands such an assessment as a necessary precondition to finding and healing the homosexual. Jesus did not confuse love with toleration of all behaviors and neither should the church. Finally, writes Gagnon, the portrayal of Jesus as a first-century Palestinian Jew who was open to homosexual practice is simply ahistorical. All the evidence leads in the opposite direction. Why, then, did Jesus not make an explicit statement against homosexual conduct? The obvious answer is that Jesus did not encounter any openly homosexual people in his ministry and therefore had no need to call anyone to repentance for homosexual conduct. He also did not address other sexual issues such as incest and bestiality, but that hardly indicates a neutral or positive stance on such matters. What is clear from the evidence that the texts do offer is that the historical Jesus is no defender of homosexual behavior. To the contrary, Jesus, both in what he says and what he fails to say, remains squarely on the side of those who reject homosexual practice. The church can and should recapture Jesus' zeal for all the "lost" and "sick" of society, including those engaged in homosexual practice. Concretely, this means visiting their homes, eating with them, speaking and acting out of love rather than hate, communicating the good news about God's rule, throwing a party when they repent and return home, and then reintegrating them fully into communities of faith. END Gagnon's book is available for discount from the following places. (20% at Cokesbury Bookstores for clergy and students; 26% plus shipping at Christian Book Distributors [www.christianbook.com]; 30% plus shipping at Amazon.Com, (this can be purchased from Virtuosity's Website http://orthodoxanglican.org/virtuosity). The best deal by mail is the 35% discount plus shipping (total: $38) being offered by the Cokesbury Bookstore of Pittsburgh, which is effective through Oct. 31, 2001 (thereafter 30% discount); write or call: Cokesbury Bookstore, 616 N. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206-2596, phone: 1-412-362-1691; e- mail: JEversmeyer at pts.edu. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 01:02:43 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 1:02:43 Subject: Forty-four Women Clergy sign letter supporting Bennison in parish departures Message-ID: FORTY-FOUR WOMEN CLERGY SIGN OPEN LETTER SUPPORTING PA BISHOP CHARLES BENNISON IN PARISH DEPARTURES. THIRTY-SEVEN ABSTAIN News Analysis By David W. Virtue Forty-four women priests in the Diocese of Pennsylvania have written an open letter supporting Bishop Charles E. Bennison in his dispute over fleeing ECUSA parishes, arguing that women's ordination is the central issue. Thirty-seven women priests did not sign. There are 81 women clergy canonically resident in the diocese. The 44 women clergy say that diocesan attempts to "reconcile differences" with St. James the Less and St. John's, Huntingdon Valley, as well as with Good Shepherd, Rosemont and All Saints', Wynnewood ignore the "underlying theological issues" over women's ordination. They say that reports on the break-up in relations in both the public and church media and in clergy mailings have focused primarily on issues of church property ownership and inhibitions placed on the priests who, by their actions, have "abandoned the communion of the church." The underlying theological issues that ignited the drastic steps taken by St. James the Less and St. John's Church and their priests (and of special concern to Good Shepherd Church in Rosemont and All Saints Church in Wynnewood) have not been addressed, the women clergy say. "Although the issue of the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians has received significant attention from the press, the rejection of the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate remains a major issue at work in the break-up of relations between these parishes and the Episcopal Church. They base their rejection on the claim that their theological perspective of ordination does not allow them to recognize the validity of women in Holy Orders." "It is well past the time that the excuse of a different theological perspective be used to disguise prejudice and discrimination against women." "It is now 27 years since the ordinations of the first women to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church took place in Philadelphia at the Church of the Advocate. Though deemed "irregular," the ordinations were by no means illegal. Two years later, on September 16, 1976, the General Convention in Minneapolis approved the decision to ordain women to the priesthood and episcopate. Since then nearly 2000 women have been ordained to the priesthood, accounting for 23% of all Episcopal clergy in the U.S. Nine women have been ordained as bishop. There are more than 80 women clergy presently serving in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. About half of all seminary graduates are women. Women deacons, priests and bishops are here to stay." "We regret that the four "traditional parishes" have refused compliance with the ordination canons (Title III. Canon 8. Sec. 1) but the time has come to move ahead. Already too much time and energy have been spent on trying to resolve internal disputes. The world needs all the strength, energy and talent that we have in the Episcopal Church to heal the wounds of poverty, violence and injustice that surround us as we move closer to realizing the reign of Christ on earth." Now what the forty-four women clergy conveniently ignored is the Task Force on women's ordination headed by Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia in which Lee stated that opposition to the ordination of women to the priesthood is still "a theologically recognized position" in the Episcopal Church. Furthermore the Eames Commission report clearly noted that the "reception" of women priests is expected to be "a gradual process" in the Church that may take as long as two or three centuries. So is it a theological position or is it a theological excuse? What has happened in the Episcopal Church is nothing less than ecclesiastical Fascism -the absolute imposition of women's ordination - the fact that the Eames Commission has not mandated and the vast majority of the Anglican Communion has not, and does not accept, namely the ordination of women to the priesthood. In the case of the Church of England, flying bishops have been allowed to come into those parishes where the conscience of a vicar prohibits ordained women. The British have found a way round the problem that American Episcopalians have not and apparently will not endorse even though Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold promised the Primates at Kanuga that pastoral protection would be afforded those dioceses who do not, for reasons of conscience, ordain women. The Episcopal Women's Caucus made up of "jack boot women" whose desire it is to place "thick-skinned angels" into those three remaining dioceses who won't ordain women, an in-your-face act designed to inflame tensions. Bishop Catherine Roskam has been spear-heading the task force to the three dioceses is also from the very same diocese that gave the Episcopal Church and the world, Bishop Richard Grein whose penchant for women is only exceeded by Hugh Hefner. "You can ordain them Dick but you can't bed them." The notion of individual or personal conscience on women's ordination now proscribed by liberals and revisionists in The Episcopal Church will, in time, become the norm for homosexual practice as well. Leading Episcopal homosexualists are already planning ways to present resolutions at the next General Convention mandating homosexual fornication be declared normative behavior for lesbigay clergy, and rites for same-sex marriages be included in the Occasional Book of Services in the Book of Common Prayer. "Dost thou Rodney take Miguel to be thy (l)awfully wedded whatever..." a cross-cultural, gay wedding no less. Oh what joy. Bishop Bennison will nuptualize the occasion. Even though strong biblical arguments favoring women's ordination are being made by evangelical scholars including Episcopal evangelical theologian and TESM president Dr. Peter Moore, they and he would never, for a moment, force their case down the throats of those who would genuinely disagree with them and mandate those bishops who disagree with them that they must ordain women. Evangelicals are far more tolerant than liberals and revisionists on this issue. One Pennsylvania woman priest who did not sign, and who asked for her name not to be used as she feared reprisals, said the "open letter" was "unnecessary, unduly provocative and egregious." Another woman priest who was prepared to go on the record, the Rev. Dorothy Jessup, deacon at Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA who didn't sign, said she didn't agree with the letter. "It's not the way to bring reconciliation and unity. Taking a stand that forces people to work against their consciences and what their faith dictates to them is not the way to go. Whether or not women are accepted for ordination is not a question of salvation and we blow it up out of all proportion. I have always loved the Episcopal Church because it tolerates differences and what holds us together is the creed." The Rev. David Moyer, rector, Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, wrote in response to the Open Letter by the women clergy thanking the 37 women who did not sign it. "The signers are absolutely correct that the 'underlying theological issues' that cause problems with Bishop Bennison (and the Diocese) and the parishes named 'have not been addressed.' The Church of the Good Shepherd and I welcome the opportunity to do this which is one of the reasons why we have agreed to work with the Public Conversations Project of Boston - a process suggested by Bishop Bennison, encouraged by the Presiding Bishop, and supported by a man for whom I hold deep respect, the Most Rev'd Maurice Sinclair, Primate of the Southern Cone." "It should be known that there simply wasn't serious theological study by the Episcopal Church prior to the 1974 'ordination' in Philadelphia, and the subsequent action of the 1976 General Convention of ECUSA that approved the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate." "I seriously doubt that the Episcopal Church will change its mind on that decision in my lifetime. I do believe that if the church is open to serious theological study in the years ahead there will be a realization that women' s ordination is a novelty primarily fueled by the passions of feminist and revisionist Zeitgeist. In other words, the church will humbly admit that it erred." "Even though I hold a minority position in ECUSA (but a majority position with the Church Catholic supported by the 1998 Lambeth Conference), I do resent the signers' statement that such a position is "used to disguise prejudice and discrimination against women." I invite the signers to visit Good Shepherd and inquire of the women here if they regard themselves as victims of prejudice and discrimination. The women here are intelligent, spiritually mature, and emotionally secure. Praise God, I feel their love and support, and praise Him for their gifts!" Moyer said that the signers state that "the time has come to move ahead". What does that mean? I would hope this means that humility before God could be maintained. If I and the majority of Christians are wrong, I would respectfully ask that those who believe that pray for my enlightenment, and be secure enough in their convictions to be patient and yet open. As a student of church history, I remind myself that church controversies are not settled in accordance with our time- table." "I conclude with saying that my ultimate concern is obedience to the Word of God Incarnate and Written as the Church Catholic and Apostolic understands and upholds such obedience. This concern raises the questions of how and why ECUSA and the diocese of PA are cultural captives, so driven in demanding allegiance and conformity to what in time could dissolve like a mist, and simply be a very interesting chapter in Church history." The Rev. Philip Lyman, formerly rector of St. John's, Huntingdon Valley and currently Rector of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in the same area said, "We are few in number in the Diocese of PA although we represent a majority position in the Anglican Communion, and two of the parishes St. James and St. John's have left the diocese and denomination, the women who signed this letter still seem to be threatened by our position and our very existence. Why? Could it be that they suspect we might be right? Do they suspect that Scripture and the tradition of the church are just as clear as they seem to be?" "It is a matter of public record that St. John's never refused an episcopal visitation on the basis of women's ordination. To say otherwise is to ignore the evidence and our own statement that the real issue presenting issue is the authority of Holy Scripture." The Anglican Mission in America to which St. John's is now affiliated has placed a two-year moratorium on any further ordinations of women and is doing a complete theological study of the issue. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 01:06:51 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 1:06:51 Subject: Two Primates Write to George Carey over Denver Consecrations Message-ID: The following is a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey from Archbishops Kolini (Rwanda) and Yong (South-East Asia) PROVINCE OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF RWANDA The Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini The Most Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung Province of the Anglican Church in Southeast Asia BP 61 Kigali, Rwanda P.O. Box No. 10811 88809 Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia The Most Reverend and Right Honorable George Carey Archbishop of Canterbury Lambeth Palace London SE1 7JU United Kingdom August 1, 2001 Dear Archbishop Carey: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We especially regret being so late in responding to your letter of 19 June. As you, of course know, we have both been traveling and away from our offices. Besides, we do not want to react to your letter of such weighty matter in the heat of the moment. Because we had written to you privately earlier, we were dismayed that we received your letter only after it had been released publicly. We are sending this letter to you prior to its release in private because we want to continue our respectful dialogue and communication with you without the influence of the media. Deep in our hearts we continue to uphold you in our prayers. We appreciate the tremendous responsibility you carry as the spiritual leader of our Communion. Despite our differences at the moment, we want to continue to believe that you are called and anointed by God to lead our Communion out of the sin of apostasy and unfaithfulness to the faith that was delivered to us. We are thankful to read of your concern that the bishops of the Anglican Communion adhere to all of the Lambeth resolutions. We share that concern and are determined to do everything in our power to strengthen our communion with one another. Since we believe that it is the Apostolic Faith that is the central bond of our unity in Christ, we believe that, in supporting the Anglican Mission in America [AMiA] and challenging the ongoing disobedience of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America [ECUSA] to the resolutions of Lambeth dealing with the essentials of the Faith regarding the Authority of Scripture, mission and even human sexuality, we are acting to strengthen our communion with one another. This, of course, reveals one of our primary differences with your stated position at the SEAD Conference, Charleston, South Carolina in April, 1999, that we must "determine to stay together until unity emerges. Our fierce commitment to truth, and our stand upon it, must be moderated within the believing fellowship." We believe we must moderate our concern for institutional unity for the sake of truth. Moderating a concern for unity for the sake of truth was, of course, what the Reformation was all about, and that commitment and costly sacrifice produced our beloved Anglican Communion. We have noted with particular concern and pain your statement "I simply cannot believe this is in conformity with the way Christ would want us to behave." Our actions in each case have been guided by the clear teachings of Jesus Christ that: God is not willing for any of His little ones to be lost. Today there is conflict in reaching out to the lost because there are leaders in our Church [Archbishop Richard Holloway] who do not believe that Jesus is the unique Son of God and that only through Him can we be brought to the Father. Jesus taught about this conflict in Matthew 10:32-39, saying that He did not come to bring peace but division between those who stand for Him and His teaching, and those who do not. "How, then, should we think about "schism"? The word goes back to Paul (1 Cor 1:10, 11, 18). The sin of schism, historically, is defined by Irenaeus (2nd century) as a separation "for trifling reasons". It is unnecessary separation. The classic definition is in Augustine (4th century): "schism applies to those who have the same doctrines. and choose to meet separately". Of course, such separation (or schism) is wrong as Paul makes clear." [The Reform Tabloid by the Rev. David Holloway]. The division of our day is clearly over primary, fundamental issues of faith. Surely you understand this. The New Testament teaches us that the law came through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [John 1:14]. While our Lord prayed for unity, h clearly promised that commitment to Him, His Truth, and His Gospel would bring division. Therefore, we believe that our actions are clearly in conformity with the way Christ would want us to behave. Your letter states "it is not right to trespass upon the ministry our Lord, the chief shepherd, has committed to others." You, of course, know that in 1968, Lambeth provided for the creation of non-geographic episcopacies stating: [Sec. III] "The demands of a new age suggest the wisdom of also consecrating bishops without territorial jurisdiction but with pastoral responsibility, directly or indirectly, for . areas of concern within the mission of the Church." A multitude of non- geographical and overlapping jurisdictions presently exist, including the Church of South India in the USA and Canada, the Anglican Church in Europe and the work of the Diocese of Sydney. We believe the creation of the AMiA is simply an extension of this recognized Anglican practice, and provides a way forward with mission and pastoral oversight while the Primates deal with the larger issues of Faith that are involved in this difficult period. It is simply incorrect to state that overlapping jurisdictions somehow "trespass upon the ministry of others", or take us "perilously close to creating a new group of churches at odds with the See of Canterbury and the rest of the Communion". We are puzzled by your statement that "even as primus interpares of the Anglican Communion, I would not regard myself as having power to intervene in Provinces in which I have no authority" when in fact you are now attempting to intervene in the affairs and decisions of both of our Provinces with regard to this new Anglican Mission in America. We are aware that there are many questions, misunderstandings and false accusations circulating about the AMiA. We believe that this situation is only exacerbated by you and Bishop Griswold's refusal to sit and discuss this matter. Perhaps the time has finally come for you to agree to such a meeting. After much prayer and review of the situation in the United States leading up to, during, and following our time together at Kanuga, it became very clear that no alternative to the AMiA was agreed upon, accepted, or made available. Therefore we felt led of God to continue our support and oversight of this vitally important Anglican Mission in America. Because of its growth and development, we have found it necessary to create adequate episcopal leadership for AMiA as it continues its work. In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini The Most Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 01:59:51 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 1:59:51 Subject: Motion Delays Trial for Church Property by Dave Munday Message-ID: Motion delays trial for church property BY DAVE MUNDAY Of The Post and Courier Staff A new twist has delayed a property-dispute trial between All Saints Church of Pawleys Island and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. A trial to decide who has ultimate control of the historic property was scheduled Tuesday. The question could become important if the church decides to leave the denomination; All Saints is headquarters for the Anglican Mission in America, a network of churches that's challenging the Episcopal Church USA for the right to represent the Anglican Communion in America. The trial was delayed after a claim that neither the diocese nor church owns the property. A motion for summary judgment asked Circuit Judge John Breeden Jr. to declare that the property is actually owned by heirs of the men who donated it for use as a parish in 1745. The motion was filed June 27 on behalf of "John Doe and Jane Doe as the unknown descendants of George Pawley and William Poole." Purvicel Pawley and wife Anna deeded the property to his brother and Poole to hold in trust for worship services of the Church of England. All Saints is represented by the McNair Law Firm of Myrtle Beach. The diocese is represented by Buist, Moore, Smythe and McGee of Charleston. Breeden told the lawyers to come back later with arguments on how he should rule on this latest motion, said attorney E.N. Zeigler of Florence, chancellor for the diocese. "We won't know anything for at least a month or two," he said. The dispute started last September, when the diocese filed in Georgetown County Court a public notice that All Saints is subject to the property laws of the diocese. All Saints responded by asking a judge to order the document removed from public records. The diocese filed a counterclaim asking the court to dismiss All Saints' complaint and issue a declaratory order that All Saints is subject to the diocese's property laws. A Sept. 4 trial date was set. The trial was canceled after the latest motion was filed. The motion argues, among other things, that no deed transferring ownership of the land has ever been found, so it still belongs to the heirs. The diocese counters that it's a little late for heirs to come forward after 250 years of dormancy and that All Saints has always claimed it owned the property when the church borrowed money. In its original motion, All Saints argued that the church is older than the diocese and is not subject to the diocese's property laws. The diocese responded that All Saints operates under a 1902 charter that states its subjection to the rules of the Episcopal Church. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 02:00:00 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 2:00:00 Subject: Anglican Leader may come from outside England Message-ID: ANGLICAN LEADER MAY COME FROM OUTSIDE ENGLAND Review recognises that the Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer 'spiritual director' of the English people By Chris Gray The INDEPENDENT The growth of Anglican churches around the world could one day lead to the Archbishop of Canterbury coming from outside England. A long-awaited report on the role of the Archbishop as leader of the Church of England accepts that most of the "growth and vitality" of Anglicanism has taken place outside Europe and that the Archbishop is no longer the "spiritual director" of the English people. The admission came as research for the British Society for Population Studies revealed that Anglicans had become a minority of the English population for the first time since the Church of England was founded in 1534. A Sheffield University academic, David Voas, said the number of baptised Anglicans had this year slipped to 23.94 million, below half the 48 million British nationals living in England. He said numbers would continue to drop at a rate of 200,000 a year. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, admitted that Christianity was in a "missionary situation" in Europe and the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O'Connor, said that Christian churches were almost "vanquished" in England. Speaking at the launch of a review of the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury by the Church of England yesterday, Lord Hurd of Westwell said the decline of the church in its native country might mean a radical rethink of its structures. Demands for an archbishop to be appointed from outside England were growing, particularly in former colonies, he said. "Some people speculate that one day the Archbishop of Canterbury might not be British. We have not heard the last of these ideas. Over our time-scale [10 years] the Archbishop of Canterbury will be British but it may not be so for ever; we never say never," Lord Hurd, the chairman of the review team, said. The review was ordered by Dr Carey 18 months ago to look at his job's "vast" responsibilities and was expected to recommend ways to relieve him of routine duties so he could concentrate on an international role. With 25 million Anglicans in 164 countries across the world, the Church now has more members abroad than in its birthplace. Dr Carey, who completed 10 years as Archbishop last April and is expected to retire on his 67th birthday late next year, said he asked for the review not because he was "exhausted or appealing for help" but because no one had scrutinised the job for three decades. Lord Hurd said demands on the Archbishop were "overflowing" because of the need for leadership and guidance at home but "above all" because of the thriving Anglican provinces outside England. Their demand for visits from the leader of the Church had led to costs of the Archbishop's overseas travel tripling between 1990 and 2000. The report said the Archbishop needed to lighten his workload but that could not be done at the expense of overseas congregations. "There can be no doubt that [the Archbishop's] first responsibility lies at home where his immediate jurisdiction lies. The clearer the Archbishop's leadership at home, the more effective will be his leadership of the whole communion. Yet the reverse is also true. Much of the growth and vitality of Anglicanism at present is happening in the younger churches. This needs encouragement; the interest, counsel and the personal presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury." Lord Hurd said none of the Archbishop's roles could be abandoned so a large increase in delegation was the way to lessen his workload. The report calls for that to be done by appointing a new chief of staff, who was unlikely to be a member of the clergy, at the Archbishop's headquarters at Lambeth Palace in London. If the move is approved, Lambeth Palace would headhunt a senior executive from private industry or the public sector. Lord Hurd would not be drawn on salary but said the chosen applicant would need "adequate compensation". The chief of staff would be responsible for co-ordinating policy across the Church of England, managing the Archbishop's diary, chairing weekly staff meetings and ensuring clear long-term planning. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 02:00:05 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 2:00:05 Subject: Christianity Almost Vanquished says UK Catholic Cardinal Message-ID: CHRISTIANITY ALMOST VANQUISHED SAYS UK CARDINAL (UK News Sources) CHRISTIANITY has been almost totally vanquished, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, has told his clergy - at least as a background to people's lives and to the government of Britain. That much has been clear for some time. God does not figure largely in the structure of society. We have grown used to the virtual extinction of religious observance as a thing done naturally because everyone does it. In this sense, the cardinal's opinion accords with that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, who recently remarked that, in Britain, "tacit atheism prevails". Are the reasons for this deChristianisation those that the cardinal suggests? In his eyes, people embrace consumerism, alcohol, drugs and casual sex, not to mention New Age practices, in preference to Christianity. It may be true that these pastimes fill hours once devoted to religion, but behind the change there is also an idea of what freedom means. Many British people feel that freedom allows them to pursue material goods to bring happiness. In America, by contrast, Christianity itself is often associated with the free choice people make to follow their own way. While churchgoing has dwindled in Britain, it has thrived in America, with more than half the population worshipping regularly. But if Christianity in Britain is "almost vanquished", the cardinal was careful to include the "almost". No Christian can believe that the religion founded by Christ will ultimately fail; every Christian expects betrayal, martyrdom and apparent defeat. Although the social neglect of Christianity may not be exactly welcome, it does present Christians in Britain with an opportunity to get themselves started again without the props of society. The motive power of a Christian revival depends more on the people than on the clergy. It must come as no surprise that they lack the understanding of the people among whom they live. That, as anyone can see from the Acts of the Apostles, was the common experience of early Christians. If present-day "tacit atheists" cannot understand the faith of Christianity, they might sympathise with that faith put into practice. If people are happy in vague theory to leave their children's education to the state, they find in fact that Church schools are sought after, for the underpinning of discipline and ethics they offer. Few people with a terminal illness would choose to end up in an NHS hospital if they could go to a hospice inspired by Christian respect for individual dignity. Christians doing good works are not seen as humbugs; their behaviour is part and parcel of their beliefs. In future, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor sees little place for the parish system without the support of the so-called "new movements", vigorous associations of lay people. Such support is indeed more important than ever, but it would be a disaster if the parish system failed. Like the bobby on the beat, the parish gives a background of stability; you do not appreciate the presence of one until you suffer from the absence. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 02:00:12 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 2:00:12 Subject: Christianity has nothing to worry about, says Carey Message-ID: Christianity has nothing to worry about, says Carey By Thomas Harding The Telegraph DR GEORGE CAREY, the Archbishop of Canterbury, gave an upbeat assessment of the challenges facing Christianity yesterday, in contrast to his Catholic counterpart's view that religion was close to being "vanquished". Asked about the speech made by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Dr Carey said there was "nothing to frighten us or worry us". He added: "It's an exhilarating time to be alive and to be a Christian. There are many opportunities and many doors that are opening up. The challenges and opportunities are equally new." But the Archbishop, who declared last year that "tacit atheism" prevailed in Britain, believed the Cardinal's views were worthy of serious study, and echoed some of his own concerns. The Catholic church, like the Anglicans, is experiencing a drop in the number of priests and congregation. Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor told priests on Wednesday: "Christianity as a background to people's lives and moral decisions, and to the Government and to the social life of Britain, has almost been vanquished." But the mosques and temples of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs are thriving in comparison. There has been a dramatic growth of Islam in the past 40 years, with the number of mosques rising from 10 to 1,600, and the Muslim population increasing to 2.5 million. Sher Azam, 60, president of the Council of Mosques, said: "Every Friday most mosques are full and they are full of young adult people." Islam appealed to more people because, despite being "very close" to Judaism and Christianity, it is the more modern religion, he said. "Our numbers are rising but we are not pushing people to accept Islam. When you see there is a generally apathy about something you do get concerned. I think that the modern Western world needs spiritual guidance and Islam can provide that." Hindu leaders said warning young people of the effects of drink, tobacco and drugs had left the close-knit community of 600,000 in good health. Hindus have more than 140 temples, mainly in the Midlands and London, and there is no sign of a decline in attendance, according to Dullabhbhai Patel, vice-president of the National Council of Hindu Temples. "I think Christianity has experienced too much freedom in the past century and especially the last 50 years. Their situaion is going in the wrong direction," he said. "If people are not right-thinking, through drink and drugs, then how can they go to church to worship. We teach our youngsters that drink and drugs are not the right thing and they understand this." Indarjit Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, sympathised with the Cardinal's comments. He said: "Some of the things he said are true about the community in general. People do think they can get a short cut to happiness through drink and drugs. "Sikhs have had their difficulties. The older generation had their hands full with looking for jobs, houses and educating their children, and did not pay as much attention to the religious needs of their children. "Christianity has been experiencing major difficulties, with people moving away from it, as has happened to some extent with other religions. But these things are a challenge for all of us to look at the role religion can play in society." ++++ Britain now 'a society of atheists' By Victoria Combe, Religion Correspondent THE Archbishop of Canterbury declared last night that Britain had become an atheist society in which people looked to medicine to provide them with eternal life rather than religion. In his gloomiest spiritual portrait of the country since taking office, Dr George Carey said: "A tacit atheism prevails. Death is assumed to be the end of life, bleak though that thought is. "If we need hope to clutch to our breast at all it will be in such greatly scaled down forms, such as our longings for family happiness, the next holiday or personal fulfilment. Our concentration on the here and now renders thoughts of eternity irrelevant." He said "modern assumptions" had abandoned the Christian teaching that "death is not the end but the door through which life in all its fullness comes to us". Addressing a congregation at St German's Cathedral on the Isle of Man, Dr Carey said that most people no longer believed in eternal life and desperately sought to postpone death by medical means. "Once people who felt fed up or mildly depressed, as we all do at times, talked to their neighbours, to their older relatives or to their parish priest. Today they go to their GP. Many GPs are bombarded with demands upon their time and the desire for pills for every ill. All life's problems at the personal level have apparently become medical ills to be treated by medical means. "Many people are acting as if doctors can cure all ills and even postpone death forever. But of course doctors know they can do no such thing. Only a society that has lost real hope could imagine that they could." Dr Carey's lecture on challenges facing the Church in the new millennium was based on a line from the hymn Abide With Me: "Change and decay in all around I see." Since taking office in 1991, he has often warned of the loss of a common morality in society but has never described it as atheist. Last night's attack on what he sees as an increasingly secular society reflected Dr Carey's recent more aggressive style of preaching. More determined than ever to get his message across at a time when attendance at Church of England Sunday services has dropped below one million for the first time, he does not wish to be remembered as the Archbishop who nursed a dying Church. In his address, he said that, despite "massive changes", religion had survived and there was growth in churches in Africa, the Far East and "signs of real life" in Europe. Setting out a "battle plan" for the Church, he ordered Anglicans to be present "seven days a week in our communities" and reach out to the faithless. He said the situation was so serious that it demanded "the mobilisation of the whole Church of God for service". Lay people, as well as clergy, had to fight to restore "authentic Christianity". Quoting Prof Jurgen Moltmann, the eminent German Reformed theologian and author, Dr Carey said: "A church that cannot change becomes a fossil church. It becomes an unimportant sect on the edge of a rapidly changing and progressive society. Men and women run away from such a church. Only the old, the tired and the resigned retain their membership." He said it was wrong for Christians eagerly to maintain "what we have cherished in our past" and added that the Church needed to find new opportunities. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 02:00:23 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 2:00:23 Subject: My Generation: Hooking Up - Part II by Terry Mattingly Message-ID: My generation: Hooking Up -- Part II By Terry Mattingly Things can get pretty tense when parents and teen-agers talk about premarital sex. No matter how bad it gets, some questions must be asked. But these days it isn't enough for adults to grill children. Something a bit more risky and unnerving needs to happen first, according to philosopher J. Budziszewski. Children may need to ask their parents some questions. Here's one: "Mom, did you shack up with dad or anybody else before you got married?" Or how about this one: "Dad, how many girls did you 'hook up' with before you met mom?" Parents who joined the sexual revolution often have some explaining to do. Absolute candor may not be the answer, but neither is silence. This is especially true for parents, educators and clergy who say that they want to defend centuries of Judeo-Christian teachings that sex outside of marriage is sin and a threat to spiritual and emotional wholeness. These adults may, literally, need to confess their sins and seek forgiveness. "It's always tough to repent. I think a lot of adults are silent because they know they made their own mistakes in the past," said Budziszewski, who teaches at the University of Texas. He also writes about moral dilemmas in modern college life for www.Boundless.org, under the byline of "Prof. M.E. Theophilus." "So parents are out there saying, 'How can I tell my child to abstain from sex before marriage when I know that I didn't? How do I answer their questions?' " Some adults lie. Others choose silence. Budziszewski believes it would be more compassionate for them to say: "Look, I made mistakes and I have suffered the consequences. I know what I am talking about. Please, don't follow me there." When adults are silent, children draw their own conclusions. It's hard for young people to figure out the rules when their parents and mentors have lots of motivation not to get too specific in discussions of sexual ethics. It's easy for the big picture to get blurred. For example, a recent survey of college women commission by the Independent Women's Forum found that 83 percent said, "Being married is very important to me" and 63 percent expected to meet their mate during their years on campus. Yet 90 percent of those interviewed said that a sexual trend called "hooking up" was common at their schools and 40 percent said they had experienced it. Most defined "hooking up" as when a "girl and guy get together for a sexual encounter and don't necessarily expect anything further." The ends and the means simply don't add up, said Budziszewski. Millions of young people say they want to find partners for traditional, faithful, committed marriages. Yet they appear to be making sexual choices shaped by hormones and confused emotions. This didn't work for the Baby Boomers and now it isn't working for their children. The study, "Hooking Up, Hanging Out and Hoping for Mr. Right," found that many young women feel abused and pressured, living on campuses where there may be twice as many females as males - or odds that are even worse. They have been told to seek romance, but not to pressure guys for commitments, to take responsibility for their own decisions, but not to judge the predatory acts of others. Meanwhile, the statistics roll in about date rape, eating disorders, depression and divorce. "Their culture has told them -- in so many ways -- that they need to compete for guys," said Budziszewski. "That's a losing strategy. ... You don't build trust with a guy by sleeping with him. You don't build a relationship that will last for a lifetime, by sleeping with a guy. You don't escape the sins of your parents, by sleeping with a guy." Many parents, clergy and religious educators simply do not want to talk about it. But if they will not address these issues, who will? "People in my generation," he said, "are going to have to make a decision about what they did in the past, if they want to talk honestly to their children in the present. At some point, they need to ask this question: 'Do I love my children enough to tell them the truth?' " Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic College and is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 02:00:18 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 2:00:18 Subject: A Marriage Agenda for President Bush by Mike McManus (Part 1) Message-ID: ETHICS AND RELIGION (First of a five-Part series) A MARRIAGE AGENDA FOR PRESIDENT BUSH By Mike McManus On the 5th anniversary of Welfare Reform' passage, 400 government leaders from across America heard Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Wade Horn assess what has been achieved - and his challenge to finish the job by ''speaking the `M' word: Marriage.'' Nearly three million families are no longer dependent on welfare -- a 58 percent plunge from the all-time peak of 5.2 million. Employment of single mothers, that had not changed from 1985 to 1994, rose by 30 percent. As a result, child poverty rates which had increased between the late 1960's and mid 1990's despite growing prosperity - fell among African American children by 25 percent. This is wonderful news for those families and for America. However, illegitimacy rates have continued to rise, as they have for 60 years. As recently as 1960, only 5 percent of births were out-of- wedlock. That figure skyrocketed to 32.4 percent and 1,260,000 children in 1996. That figure rose to 1,346,000 in 2000, 33.1 percent of all births. That's 27.1 percent of white and 68.5 percent of black children, a figure ''unprecedented for any large subpopulation of any culture, ancient or modern,'' writes noted sociologist Charles Murray. Fortunately, the answer to this growing tragedy in America can be found in the Welfare Reform law itself which called upon the states to ''reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies'' and ''encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.'' Clearly, the ''M'' word is the answer. We must increase the marriage rate and decrease the divorce rate, right? Not according to the Clinton Administration which issued a ''Guide on Funding Children and Families'' on welfare which interpreted the phrase ''two-parent families'' to include cohabiting parents, separated and divorced parents as well as married ones. What nonsense! Why would government ''encourage the formation and maintenance'' of separated, divorced or cohabiting parents? Such families are manifestly harmful to children As President George Bush said last year, ''We know that children who grow up with absent fathers can suffer lasting damage.'' A child of a single parent is twice as likely to drop out of school, three times more likely to give birth out-of-wedlock, six times more apt to be in poverty or to commit suicide. Males from divorced homes are 12 times more likely to be incarcerated than those from intact homes; those born to unwed parents are 22 times more at risk of being jailed. Further, as Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher reported in their landmark book, ''The Case for Marriage,'' married people are happier than those who are single, much healthier, wealthier, and live longer, and yes, have better sex. As Genesis put it, ''It is not good for man to be alone.'' Speaking at the conference, I noted that President Kennedy set a great goal in 1961, to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The nation mobilized and 400,000 worked to achieve it in 1969. I urged President Bush to set three great goals to rebuild America's shattered families, inspiring goals that could be achieved by the year 2010: 1. Cut The Divorce Rate by 50 Percent. Two cities have nearly achieved the goal. Modesto, Cal. (ironically, the home of philanderer Gary Condit) has seen its divorce rate plunge 47.6 percent since its pastors adopted America's first Community Marriage Policy (CMP) in 1986 with the stated goal, ''to radically reduce the divorce rate.'' More remarkable, Kansas City, Kansas and its two county suburbs had 1,520 divorces in 1995 before they passed a CMP, and in 1999 had only 863 divorces, a drop of 44 percent in only four years! 2. Increase the Marriage Rate by 25 percent. Again, Modesto shows this is possible. Its marriage rate jumped 14 percent at a time the U.S. marriage rate was falling 18 percent. 3. Decrease the Out-of-Wedlock Birth Rate by 33 percent. In Modesto with 1,250 fewer divorces and 882 more marriages last year, more than 2,100 homes are keeping intact or are being formed annually. That means fewer children are at risk. Result? School dropouts fell 20 percent and births to teenagers by 30 percent, double the U.S. decline. If President Bush were to set those goals, the nation's 300,000 churches, synagogues and mosques will lead the way. As Wade Horn put it: ''We know that premarital education programs DO work. We know that programs assigning mentoring couples to newlyweds DO work. And we know that programs designed to save even the most troubled marriages DO work.'' Future columns will give details. END TXT. Copyright 2001 Michael J. McManus From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 02:00:28 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 2:00:28 Subject: Religious Violence Jolts Nigerian City Message-ID: Religious Violence Jolts Nigerian City By GLENN McKENZIE, Associated Press Writer LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Muslim-Christian violence raged Saturday in Nigeria's northern city of Jos, where frightened witnesses described dozens dead, churches burned and residents fleeing their homes or banding together for protection. President Olusegun Obasanjo authorized deployment of the army and appealed for peace in an emotional broadcast on state radio. Authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to try to stem the bloodletting, which broke out Friday evening at the time of Muslim prayers. Terrified residents said the fighting persisted unabated Saturday. "Put us in your prayers!" said Mary Dung, a Christian resident of a neighborhood in southern Jos. By telephone, Dung described smoke rising from burning homes around the city 620 miles northeast of Nigeria's commercial capital of Lagos. Bands of Christian and Muslim young men were exchanging gunfire on her street, which she said had been split between Muslims on one side, Christians on the other. "One of my neighbors was shot in front of my face," she said. The immediate cause of the fighting was unclear, although religious tensions in the city had been rising following the recent appointment of a Muslim politician as chairman of a state poverty-alleviation committee. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with 120 million people - and 250 ethnic groups. Southern Nigeria is predominantly Christian, and northern Nigeria is overwhelmingly Muslim. Northerners dominate Nigeria's military, and wielded immense power during the 15 years of army rule, which ended in 1999 with Obasanjo's election. The introduction of Sharia, or Islamic law, in several northern states last year sparked bloody clashes between Christians and Muslims. Hundreds were killed. Jos, a hilltop city of 4 million people whose government leaders are mainly Christian, has rejected the possibility of implementing Sharia. There was no official word on the overall death toll in Jos. Isa Abdulsalam, a Jos-based journalist with the Guardian daily, said he counted 10 bodies in one venture outside. Other residents said they saw dozens. Major roads were blocked by youths armed with guns, machetes, clubs and other weapons, other witnesses said. The city's state hospitals were filling up with wounded, Abdulsalam said. On state radio, Nigeria's president implored religious and community leaders to assure that "peace reign supreme in Jos." "I wonder what sort of Muslims and Christians start burning churches and mosques - places where God is worshipped," Obasanjo said, calling the perpetrators "barbaric." Two churches - an Assemblies of God and Church of Christ - were torched during the rampage Friday in the mostly Muslim middle-class neighborhood of Kwararafa, the Lagos newspaper ThisDay reported. There were unconfirmed reports of a mosque burned in the Nassarawa neighborhood where both Christians and Muslims live. Muslim-Christian fighting was also taking place in the rugged, impoverished neighborhood of Congo-Russia. Some residents were taking refuge in police stations, while others hid inside homes and offices. Zakar Davou, accountant at Mountain Greens Hotel in Holwshe, a suburb of southern Jos, said he saw Christian youths on Friday night setting up a makeshift roadblock, where they singled out suspected Muslims and burned their cars. "Oh man, it is a terrible situation," Davou said, adding that he was allowed to pass unhindered because he is Christian. Some witnesses said the fighting began when a Christian woman tried to cross a road filled with Muslims engaged in their Friday evening prayers. An argument ensued, escalating into armed clashes between Muslim and Christian youths. Jos State Deputy Governor Michael Bomang imposed a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on Friday night in an effort to prevent further violence. Speaking on state radio and television, he called soldiers and police into the streets. Susan Akele, a resident of the city's Nassarawa district, said by telephone that she and her family were hiding inside their home, afraid of even going to their window. "It just started raining - so I looked outside, and saw three corpses lying in front of my house. This is hell." END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 10 02:00:38 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 2:00:38 Subject: Devotional - Deadly Pride Message-ID: Devotional - Deadly Pride "'Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,' declares the Lord." - Obadiah 4 On the evening of August 31, 1986, the Soviet cruise liner Admiral Nakhimov set sail from Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. The 575-foot passenger liner was the flagship of the Black Sea cruise fleet in the 1950's and was carrying 884 passengers and 346 crewmembers on its voyage to Odessa. Shortly after 11 p.m., the 50,000-ton freighter Pyotr Vasyev spotted on a collision course with the cruiser liner. Marine safety workers in warned the freighter it was on a collision course with the Admiral Nakhimov, but the freighter's captain failed to take evasive measures. At 11:20 p.m., when many passengers had already gone to bed, the freighter struck the cruise liner, sinking it within 8 minutes. Four hundred forty-eight people died in the accident. The investigation revealed the cause of the accident wasn't a technology problem such as radar malfunction-or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship's presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late. Pride can be deadly. We need to acknowledge our wrongs and turn from them. Are you letting your pride take you on a deadly course? Today in prayer, give thanks to the Lord, forsake any pride and humbly walk with Christ. "Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it." - Bud Robinson God's Word: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." - Proverbs 11:2 By Peter Kennedy From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 00:26:06 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 0:26:06 Subject: Opening Comments 9-13-2001 Message-ID: Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I am posting a SPECIAL VIRTUOSITY DIGEST regarding the terrible tragedy that has hit New York, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania. Words cannot truly convey or adequately describe the enormity of the horror that has taken place here in the United States. In this instance images are more powerful than words, but still words are needed by people to express their grief and shock. Only a handful make it on television. I have posted as many stories as I can find that I think you should be able to read relatively quickly. I have tried not to duplicate what you might have read in newspapers or seen on television. If you have read these stories elsewhere please accept my apologies. Many of Virtuosity's international readers will be reading these comments for the first time. I will let the stories speak for themselves. No comment is necessary from me. Hundreds of you have written to me and I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to send me your thoughts and insights. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. One recurring theme in nearly all the e-mails I have received is PRAYER. I couldn't agree more. We must pray out of our helplessness and our dependence. The God of all grace will hear and answer our prayers, not in the way we might necessarily expect, but He does and will answer. Thousands have lost husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors. The spiritual agony has only just begun. Secondly, what happened is a brutal reminder of the reality and power of evil. Our president has pointed that out that this is a struggle between good and evil. Certainly he is in contradiction with the kind of pluriform thinking advocated by our own Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold who must, if he is consistent, contend that Osama Bin Laden must have "his truth." This is not about "truths" it is about good and evil, right and wrong. The truth is that a great evil was wrought, nothing less. The US Congress voted 100-0 adopting a resolution condemning the terrorist attack on the USA, and expressing their support for the President in whatever action he will take in response. ECUSA has yet to condemn the terrorist attack. Griswold wants to look for "another way." Bishop Bill Wantland correctly states it when he writes, "We must pray for the victims of this horrible unprovoked attack on a civilian population. We must pray for those who have perpetrated this cowardly act. But we must also recognize that this attack is a deliberate act of people who are followers of Islam, and who have also perpetrated a policy of genocide in Sudan, oppressed thousands of people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and have raped Nigeria. We must understand that at the bottom of all this is a hatred of all things Christian. This is a jihad, a holy war against our Faith, as well as against our country." Now that's telling the truth. Griswold's statement, by contrast, is milquetoast. I have included the thoughts of most Anglican leaders in the worldwide Anglican Communion, a number of ECUSA bishops and individuals like distinguished pollster George Gallup who have special insights. There will be more in the days to come. I have compiled in a single story WHAT THEY ARE SAYING and ECUSA BISHOPS SPEAK OUT for easy reading and some QUOTABLE QUOTES. Our Middle East Anglican bishops weigh in with their thoughts and columnist Terry Mattingly opines on the issue with special mention of AMIA Bishop Thad Barnum who wrote a book on his experience called Where is God in Suffering and Tragedy, his account of USAir flight #427 downed near Pittsburgh. I will put out a daily digest, albeit brief, as the news unfolds, from news quarters other than the mainstream media. I close with these words of the Psalmist. "But surely, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil. In your faithfulness, put an end to them...For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies." (Psalm 53: 5-6) All blessings, David W. Virtue From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 00:34:12 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 0:34:12 Subject: A MONUMENTAL EVIL by David W. Virtue Message-ID: A MONUMENTAL EVIL News Analysis By David W. Virtue WEST CHESTER, PA--Evil of incomprehensible magnitude has fallen upon the United States shattering, perhaps forever, the notion of American invincibility. Commentators have been calling it a second Pearl Harbor, with more dying in a few brief blinding moments than have died in arms in many a war. Newspaper headlines scream APOCALYPSE; AMERICA AT WAR, U.S. ATTACKED, U.S. AT WAR, and no one seems to doubt America's resolve in using its military might being turned, in time, on the perpetrators. The country's psyche has been irretrievably scarred and no amount of psychiatry and psychobabble can easily heal the wounds that will lie forever upon the nation's soul. A dozen men armed with knives used fuel-filled planes as bombs to demolish the financial and military power centers of America. This was not a hi-tech war with guns, lasers and smart bombs, simply men dedicated to dying for their political beliefs and their rage against America. We may find that, with time, religion, and the hatred of Israel and America's support for the Zionist State will also be major factors. And nothing could stop them. The sheer calculated simplicity of it all defies human imagination. A nation is in mourning. Unnumbered thousands still lie beneath the rubble of tortured steel and smashed concrete - a day of infamy etched forever into the hearts and minds of every American and now into the history books. Television images have done what language simply cannot convey - the shocking sight of buildings aflame, falling bodies and, in time, falling buildings. The scene is being replayed on dozens of television channels across the nation and around the world and the horror is not going away with time. "This is America, it doesn't happen here," or at least not death on this magnitude. A terrorist bomb blast in 1993 of the World Trade Center took the lives of six people. The bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma took 156 lives, but not this, not carnage on this scale. America has never seen death on this scale on its soil, outside of the Civil War, and hopefully will never see it again. Few countries have seen death on this scale outside of declared war. While all the evidence is not in, fingers are being pointed at terrorist Osama Bin Laden, his Talaban supporters and the nation of Afghanistan that shields him and his international terrorist organization. Two things about him we know. The first is his pathological hatred of the state of Israel, Zionism, and the United States that supports the Jewish State, and the second is his hatred of a decadent Western culture, that the pope calls the "culture of death" and which is morally numbing our own children's minds and impacting the life of his culture, other Middle Eastern nations and the rest of the world. On the latter issue it is hard to fault Bin Laden. Why should he and his people have to tolerate Brittney Spears or a Howard Stern. America is the single biggest purveyor of a value-free, morally- relativist, post-modern culture that is spitting in the face of every known Christian-based virtue from abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and a materialism that is fast undermining the pillars of a nominally Christian society. This bombing, as horrible as it is, might just have the desired effect of turning America around. One man I spoke to, a lapsed catholic, and nominal agnostic, said he would now go back to church and pray. In times of war one doesn't find atheists in foxholes. The spiritual impact this outrage has caused is also something to behold. Churches are holding midweek services with thousands cramming the aisles that would otherwise remain empty till Sunday morning. Jesus is in, pluriformity is out. People are looking for spiritual answers amidst the human carnage and wreckage of torn buildings and smashed lives. One can't blame God for this, it was deliberate human hatred, but God can make sense of it all and give life meaning to thousands whose lives have been forever wrecked. The temptation will be to brand seven million Arab Americans, mostly Moslems for this evil. But they are no more responsible than Arab Christians in Nazareth or Bethlehem. Last night a rabbi and a monsignor discussed the situation on television with the rabbi commenting that every religion faces a moral crisis. Christianity, he said, failed in the Crusades, the Jews failed in the Roman invasion of Palestine and now the Imams around the world must make a stand against the World Trade Center holocaust and say that this is not Islam. Not only have these planes been hijacked, so has this religion. The destruction is the psychotic behavior of madmen using a perverted logic and a demonic understanding of their own religion to kill people (meaning a nation) they disagree with. I spoke with my mother in New Zealand and she says the country is in shock. I remember the day John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot, as a boy growing up in NZ. The country went into shock. Mother says the shock is the same all over again. One hopes that out of the wreckage Americans will see that the greatness of America, not in its financial or even military might but in the power of its people to care for each other, take pride in its freedoms and renew its faith in the living God. The latter could stir revival. They, whoever they are, cannot take our freedom, our compassion and our hope. We are a strong people not because we have guns and money, but because we have faith and hope, and in the end that will triumph. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:06:55 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:06:55 Subject: WHAT THEY ARE SAYING AROUND THE WORLD Message-ID: WHAT THEY ARE SAYING AROUND THE WORLD. Compiled by David W. Virtue PALESTINIANS GRIEVE OVER USA TRAGEDY With deep sorrow and profound grief we write this message to offer our heartfelt condolences to the mothers, fathers, children, friends and families of the thousands of innocent people who have been the victims of the terrorist attacks yesterday morning on the USA. We would like to reach out to all of our American friends to assure them that we stand by them at this difficult and tragic time. Constantly, for the past eleven months, we have received many massages from our friends from America expressing their solidarity and sharing with us our grief. Never in our worst nightmares did we imagine that we would be witnessing such a horrendous event and human tragedy inflicted on our American friends. We care for every life and we pray for all those who are mourning the loss of loved ones taken away by this indiscriminate act of organized terror. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. We are aware that the media has shown President Arafat's shocked reaction to this act and his strong condemnation of it. Unfortunately, the media has also shown scenes of a few Palestinians celebrating this tragedy. We want you to know that these few do not speak for or represent the entire Palestinian people. What the media failed to acknowledge was the majority of Palestinians who were shocked, saddened and mournful. We believe that this media campaign is biased and aims at dehumanizing the Palestinian people. Such a campaign follows the same logic of the terrorists, since it deliberately attempts to punish innocent people indiscriminately. In our grief, we are asking ourselves why did the people immediately associate us Palestinians with the perpetrators rather than the victims. As Palestinians, we can very well understand the pain of our American friends. We know what it means when political leaders are targeted and are not safe in their own offices. We understand what it means when planes attack security headquarters. We know how it feels when the backbone of the economy is assaulted. We do not want to compare suffering, since every suffering is unique and this particular tragedy has such hideous dimensions. Yet, never before have Americans and Palestinians shared so much. We express our solidarity with the American people. We invite people all over to: Hold vigil prayers for the victims and their families. Raise awareness and sensitivity to the brutality that the media perpetrates through the images projected. Monitor the way that certain nations and peoples are stereotyped (The Americans, The Palestinians, etc.), thus inciting hatred and legitimizing aggression. Develop alternative media that will set new ethical standards in reporting. Actively participate in the WCC's "Decade to Overcome Violence" so that future generations will have compassion, do justice and value life. Commit to prophet Micah's vision that "they shall sit every person under his vine and his fig tree and none shall make them afraid." So that no American, Palestinians, Iraqi, Israeli, Japanese, etc. will be afraid to be in his/her office, home, or airplane, no matter what nationality they hold. May the peace of Christ be with us all. Revd Dr Mitri Raheb, Pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church- Bethlehem Dr Nuha Khoury, The International Center of Bethlehem Revd Dr Mitri Raheb, General Director JOINT STATEMENT BY BRITISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS We and all people of good faith and goodwill - whatever their religious, ethnic or racial background - are appalled by these terrible attacks on American cities. Such evil deeds have no place in the world we seek to build and share. Our hearts go out to the people of America and all those who grieve and mourn. We pray for them and with them. We remember the dead, the bereaved, the injured, and the missing, and all those working to save life. As Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, we believe that it is vital amid so much anguish and suffering to nourish all that we hold in common and to resist all that would drive us apart. We share a belief in God's compassionate love and a commitment to cherish and respect our common humanity. We pray that at this time of tragedy, we may be worthy of that gift and that challenge. This joint statement has been issued by: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster The Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks Dr Zaki Badawi, Principal of the Muslim College, and Chairman of the Imams and Mosque Council of the United Kingdom And endorsed by: Revd Anthony Burnham, the Free Churches Moderator Revd Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance Revd Christina Le Moignan, President of the Methodist Conference Statements from leaders of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion Statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, has spoken of his deep distress and sadness at the news from the United States. "I was appalled to learn of the terrible tragedies across the United States. The scale of the carnage and suffering is truly devastating. My thoughts, prayers and sympathies are with all those caught up in these horrific events." The Archbishop, who is president of the worldwide Anglican Communion, has been following developments closely and has been in personal touch with colleagues and friends in the United States. American Episcopal priests gather in prayer with Archbishop of Canterbury September 12, 2001 A group of Episcopal priests and lay persons from the United States gathered in St Matthew's Anglican Church, Westminster for a brief time of prayer and conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife, Eileen Carey, today. The group of Americans come from various parts of the United States including two priests from New York. The Archbishop lit a candle in the midst of the Sanctuary to remember those who have died in the United States and led the group in a prayer and blessing. The Reverend Dr John Kevern, Dean of Bexley Hall Seminary in the United States celebrated a Requiem Mass for the departed with prayers for all those who were injured and traumatised by the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. In his opening remarks before the Mass began Dr Kevern said "We gather together on this day of bereavement and shock, a shock I know that is shared by the British as much as by Americans. I am sure I speak for my own countryman when I say we want to thank the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Archbishop and those very many people in the United Kingdom who are praying for us and who have so kindly expressed sympathy. We Americans are deeply touched." As the Mass began Dr Kevern said, "We offer this Mass then for the repose of the souls of those who have died; for those who may now be dying; and for the families of all who are or will be bereaved; and indeed for the courageous rescue and support workers." The American priest then spoke of the need for wisdom to prevail in the councils of state "that in seeking justice we seek not revenge but the reconciliation of a broken world for whom Christ died." In the prayers for the people the parish Lay Reader prayed for the families and friends of those killed and for government and military leaders as they face difficult decisions. He also said " we pray for others who influence others in the media in writing and in the entertainment world, that all may take responsibility for their actions that often cause us despair as we see reality and fantasy merge into one in front of our own eyes." STATEMENT FROM ARCHBISHOP NJONGONKULU NDUNGANE OF CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA "As the world watches the horror of the World Trade Towers tragedy and America's pain, our hearts go out to all people of that nation wherever they may be and I urge all South Africans, regardless of faith, to join forces in prayer. "We need to pray for the families of all those dead and injured. "We need to pray for all involved in emergency services in New York and other affected areas. "We need to pray that the American leadership is granted wisdom to deal with this horrific situation. "We need to pray for our world." STATEMENT FROM THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA Beloved in Christ, "We in Nigeria are shocked and horrified at the devastation leading to catastrophic losses of lives that took place in the wake of the unprecedented terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and near Pittsburgh. "I had hoped, when I left New York, Sunday evening, to return to Nigeria and send back to you a joyful 'arrived safely home' message but never ever contemplated this changed role. "The Church of Nigeria commiserates with you on this day of national grief and be assured of our prayerful support in the trying days ahead. "Yours in Christ, The Rev. Canon Emmanuel Adekola Church of Nigeria Communication Officer" National Council of Churches calls people of faith to join in prayer in wake of attacks on US sites (NCC/CWS) Following is the initial statement from the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and its global humanitarian ministry, Church World Service, concerning Tuesday's attacks on national sites: "We join all in our nation and world in shock and anger at today's horrific chain of attacks on sites that are national symbols, claiming yet-uncounted innocent lives. In particular, we hold the families of the victims in our prayers. We acknowledge the grief, sense of vulnerability, loss and fear that result from these attacks. "We condemn these vicious attacks in the strongest possible terms. Even as our national sites are under attack, we call on all people to manifest the best of our national spirit. At such a time as this, we must hold together. We call on people of faith to reach out to one another. "We especially urge churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship to join in prayer and practical help. We must stand united against the temptation to retaliate against innocent persons. "We can all pray. We can respond to calls for donations of blood and other practical assistance. "In this the worst attack on U.S. territory since Pearl Harbor, we must turn our eyes to the God of us all. In Psalm 23, we are promised God's care even 'in the presence of our enemies.' May God guide us in these days of pain." The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches The Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director, Church World Service From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:07:49 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:07:49 Subject: ECUSA BISHOPS SPEAK OUT Message-ID: ECUSA BISHOPS SPEAK OUT Pastoral letter from the Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman Bishop of Quincy. TO BE READ IN ALL CHURCHES IN THE DIOCESE ON SUNDAY, SEPT. 16 Beloved in Christ, As I write this Pastoral Letter to you, I do so with a heavy heart. We as Americans have witnessed one of the most devastating attacks in our history. Even as I write this Letter just ten hours after the first tower was struck at the World Trade Center, we only have partial information. Quite naturally we want to know all of the details. The media have done all that they can to supply us with information, and we listen in disbelief. How can a world power have been so vulnerable? we ask. "Did we have any warning?" Who is responsible? In days and weeks the tragic information will continue to come. The various agencies responsible for asking questions and offering answers will work round the clock. And yet for the Christian, there will always be other questions. These questions will deal with issues which cannot easily be answered, and these questions will grab at the very heart strings of our Nation, as we witness bodies being uncovered and hear heart breaking stories from those who survived and also from those who have been left behind. These events once again remind us of the transitory nature of life. A crisis very often points to the fact that life is very fragile, and with life, in this world, there comes no guarantees. Attacks, wars, and terrorism all carry with them the reality of retaliation. Countless debates have occurred and will occur regarding how we must seek revenge. Retaliation is a natural response, and yet we witness in innocent encounters and international battles a similar spirit. Once we have determined who is to blame, we move into action. I do not call this into question, for human history is filled with countless examples. What we must ask, however, is a deeper question, for if we are honest with ourselves, we recognize that within the hearts of all people is the ability to be constructive or destructive. In the Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we see ample opportunity to assign blame, either because security was weak or there was a weak link in the Apostolic Community. Instead of assigning blame, Jesus prayed for his persecutors and he forgave his betrayer. His words from the Cross show the struggle He was going through as death approached. It was right and it was good that so many gathered in churches on September 11 for that is the best place to try and make sense of this horrendous event, but we must look beyond even the event to make sense out of what lies ahead for us as a people and as a Nation. Sin in the name of righteous indignation has destroyed many lives in the course of human history. Even righteous indignation in the name of religion can be sited as "justifiable" as we peruse history. But what about the lives that have been changed in this world forever? There is very little consolation in this world for those who have lost a loved one due to this horrific act. But for the Christian, there is hope. Jesus, who was the victim of hatred and prejudice opened the gates of Heaven. It must be a primary task for Christians to pray for the repose of the souls of these victims, to pray for their families and friends, and to pray for those who perpetrated these terrorist acts. There is for you and me, however, more to do. We must become more active in drawing people to the only One who can offer true hope, true peace, and true joy. Long after media reports are reduced in number, there will still be questions - questions which have as their answer the Name of Jesus. In the hearts of each of us there is turmoil. Perhaps we are angry with a parent or a child. Perhaps we are angry with a spouse or a neighbor. Perhaps we even can claim a good reason for this anger. Beloved in Christ, violent actions began with an angry heart. Today is the day to be reminded of what anger and hatred can do. Today is the day to call the person with whom we are angry. Today is the day to hug the person next to you and thank God for them. Today is the day to begin not to take people for granted. Today is the day to pray for those who have treated you unkindly whom you find difficult to forgive. Today is the day to seek reconciliation. For we live a fragile existence. We live in a world which offers no guarantees, but we must live our lives with faith, that the One who paid the price for our sins, opens his arms of love to us today, and has prepared for us a place that cannot be destroyed, where the world does not have the final word. I greet you with the love of the Consoling and Reconciling Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Statement from the Rt. Rev. William Wantland, retired Bishop of Eau Claire We must pray for the victims of this horrible unprovoked attack on a civilian population. We must pray for those who have perpetrated this cowardly act. But we must also recognize that this attack is a deliberate act of people who are followers of Islam, and who have also perpetrated a policy of genocide in Sudan, oppressed thousands of people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and have raped Nigeria. We must understand that at the bottom of all this is a hatred of all things Christian. This is a jihad, a holy war against our Faith, as well as against our country. Statement from the Rt. Rev. Claude E. Payne, Bishop of Texas "We must pray earnestly in the face of these horrific acts of terrorism. Hate creates the fertile ground for evil to flourish and the bombings in New York and Washington are a clear demonstration of the power of that evil. We must find ways to reconcile our differences which honor God's intention for us. Pray for the victims and their families, the leaders of the world who shoulder massive responsibility to bring this heinous episode to a quick resolution and for the conversion of hearts around the world to respond in a way that honors God." Statement from the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles "Let us unite in prayer at this distressing time. Even through these horrible events, obviously the worst assault on this nation since Pearl Harbor, God is our strength and our refuge. I ask all in the diocese to pray and to work in every way possible in the interest of peace and calm amid this crisis." Statement by the Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, Bishop of Southeast Florida At this terrible time we need to remember that our true security is in Jesus Christ. In the familiar words of St. Paul: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, not rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) Our hearts go out to all who have been injured, or who have lost loved ones, or who are still waiting for word of the missing. We remember in our prayers all those who have died as a result of this violent act of terrorism. Our prayers are also with the leaders of our nation, that they may be given wisdom and courage to deal with the demands of this crisis. My call to all Episcopalians in Southeast Florida is for us to be patient as the authorities investigate the source of the evil acts our country has experienced today. Regardless of who may have committed these acts of terror, it is important that we as Christians resist any temptation to look for scapegoats, or to generalize about any group of people because of the actions of a few. Even in the midst of our grief and outrage, just as we condemn the brutal actions of the terrorists, we must also be quick to condemn any reactions of racial, ethnic or religious prejudice. As Christians we seek justice, but we also seek peace. Let us pray that God will continue to guide and bless this our United States of America and to protect our beloved country from danger. Statement by the Rt. Rev. John Palmer Croneberger, Bishop of Newark I ask that the entire diocese join me in praying for those who have died, those who will die, those who are injured and all those who love them. We ask that the Lord guide us away from hatred and bigotry in the face of hatred and bigotry. Let us pray. Statement by the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander, Bishop of Atlanta As Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta I call all people of faith to prayer at this time of national tragedy. I call every congregation of the diocese to open their doors for prayer and to call their community together for worship. The Cathedral of St. Philip will be open for prayer all day and all night until further notice. We invite the people of Atlanta to join us at the cathedral at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday for a service of Holy Eucharist, during which we will pray for those who have died, for their families, for the United States of America and for peace in this world. May God be with us even in the midst of suffering and tragedy. Statement from Bishop William Persell, Bishop of Chicago "It is a day to mourn the dead, flags are at half-staff, the cathedral bell is tolling," said Bishop William Persell in his sermon at the 12:10 Eucharist Tuesday at St. James Cathedral. The service, which was moved from St. Andrew's Chapel to the cathedral, included collects and prayers of the people which addressed the tragic terrorist attacks today in New York City and Washington D.C. Over 50 people, four times the usual noon Eucharist attendance, gathered for the service in St. James Cathedral. Among the crowd were diocesan staff, Commission on Ministry members, and people from the neighborhood, drawn together to pray, grieve and affirm their faith. Four hours earlier New York City was shaken by the most devastating terrorist act in U.S. history when two aircraft, 18 minutes apart, slammed into the World Trade Center towers. Subsequent explosions collapsed both towers. Shortly after the tower attacks a plane crashed into the Pentagon. Thousands of fatalities are expected. "This is a time of grief, mourning, fear, anger, confusion; a time to mourn the dead, to remember their families and loved ones," said Bishop Persell in his noon homily. It is a time, he said "to pray for the injured, and all those ministering to them, to pray for the police, firemen and women, doctors, nurses; and all those who have been drawn into this horrible series of events." It is also a time to reflect on what our faith response must be, said the bishop, "that we not let hate, fear and retribution determine our thoughts and actions." Terrorist actions, no matter how horrific, cannot destroy the confidence and good will of the American people, he said. Bishop Persell encouraged those present to "be gentle" with each other. "Be careful in assessing blame," he said "not to accuse whole groups or religions for the actions of a few." Statement from the Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog, Bishop of Albany This attack on the civilians of our nation is the fruit of hatred and terrorism. I call on every disciple within the Diocese, and our fellow citizens, to pray for our country. Especially we ask God to sustain the emergency and rescue workers who labor to save the injured and trapped. We commit to Christ's love the wounded and killed as well as their families and loved ones. I have asked every parish in our nineteen counties to hold Services each evening through Saturday and to have people to pray with others. I have also asked them to take an offering to be used for the relief of those affected by this terrible event. I ask everyone to pray for our President, for the leaders of the Nation, for the members of the Armed Services and those who minister to them. Statement from the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, Diocese of Olympia On this day when we watch as New York and Washington are under attack it feels that our global village is quite small and very fragile. These attacks are assaults on all of our humanity leaving us speechless and dumbfounded. Words are incapable of expressing our thoughts and emotions. As people of faith it is crucial that we come together in prayer. Corporate prayer in churches, family prayers, private prayers - whatever way we are able we are called to pray unceasingly... I hope you will be having services either ecumenically or in your congregations. This is a time for peace candles and prayers. There are two services in Seattle this evening, both interfaith, one at St. Marks at 7pm and at St. James at 7:30pm. My prayers are with all of us as we sort out our feelings and continue to live in the hope of resurrection and transformation given to us in our faith in Christ Jesus. A Call to Prayer. Bishop Paul Marshall, Diocese of Bethlehem TERRORIST ACTS - A CALL TO PRAYER We have heard during the past few minutes reports of acts of terrorism at the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Most major government buildings in Washington and the United Nations building have been evacuated and all flights nationwide have been halted. As I write, I hear reports that both towers of the World Trade Center have collapsed. I ask our diocesan community to pray for the many people who have been killed or injured by these acts of terrorism, for our government, for people who suffer anywhere, and for the hearts of those who inflict suffering. May God bless us all. Statement from the Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk, Bishop of New York "The terrorist attack on innocent people in the City of New York, Washington DC and in fact an attack on all the people of this great land is an unspeakable act of cowardice. This emphatically has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with people overcome by the venom of hatred. It is beyond comprehension how anything like this could have happened. Our prayers are with the families of those who have been killed and those who tragically will lose their lives in the hours ahead. We salute and applaud the courage of those brave fire, police and EMS personnel who risk their lives to save thousands of innocent New Yorkers. We pray for those brave men and women who have died. Our churches are responding by opening their doors and conducting vigils. We pray we will soon see the end of this horror." END ENS provided some of the information for this posting From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:12:01 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:12:01 Subject: FRANK GRISWOLD PRESIDING BISHOP CALLS FOR ANOTHER WAY Message-ID: FRANK GRISWOLD, PRESIDING BISHOP CALLS FOR ANOTHER WAY 'We are called to another way': Presiding Bishop Griswold on the September 11 attacks. The events of this morning in New York City and Washington, D.C. make me keenly aware that violence knows no boundaries and that security is an illusion. To witness the collapse of the World Trade Center was to confront not only our vulnerability as a nation in spite of our power, but also the personal vulnerability of each of us to events and circumstances that overtake us. My heart goes out to those who have been killed or injured, and to their stunned and grieving families and friends. Our President has vowed to hunt down and punish those who are responsible for these depraved and wicked acts. Many are speaking of revenge. Never has it been clearer to me than in this moment that people of faith, in virtue of the Gospel and the mission of the Church, are called to be about peace and the transformation of the human heart, beginning with our own. I am not immune to emotions of rage and revenge, but I know that acting on them only perpetuates the very violence I pray will be dissipated and overcome. Last week I was in Dublin where I found myself convicted by the photograph of a young girl in Northern Ireland being taken to school amid taunts and expressions of hatred because she was Roman Catholic. I know the situation in Northern Ireland is complex, and that religion is a convenient way of ordering hatred and justifying violence, but the tears running down the little girl's terrified face spoke to me of all the violence we commit in word and deed against one another - sometimes in the name of our God whose passionate desire is for the wellbeing and flourishing of all. Expressions of concern and prayer have poured into my office from many parts of the world, in some instances from people who themselves are deeply wounded by continuing violence and bloodshed. I pray that the events of today will invite us to see ourselves as a great nation not in terms of our power and wealth but measured by our ability to be in solidarity with others where violence has made its home and become a way of life. Yes, those responsible must be found and punished for their evil and disregard for human life, but through the heart of this violence we are called to another way. May our response be to engage with all our hearts and minds and strength in God's project of transforming the world into a garden, a place of peace where swords can become plowshares and spears are changed into pruning hooks. The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church September 11, 2001 From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:14:31 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:14:31 Subject: Father, forgive them by Terry Mattingly Message-ID: Father, forgive them By Terry Mattingly Just after dawn, Father Seamus Murtagh got up to write his Sunday meditation. The appointed text was the parable of the prodigal son in the Gospel of St. Luke, with its twin themes of repentance and forgiveness. He decided his flock at St. Ann's Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., would hear about forgiveness. He wrote a simple title on his work -- "Father, Forgive Them." It was Tuesday morning. Soon the events crashed into his prayers. "As I pondered the news ...one of my reactions was -- I must change that message," said Murtagh, his gentle Irish voice tight with emotion as he preached at an interfaith service Tuesday night. "So I sat down to re-write the message. Then I asked myself, 'What am I doing? Is it OK for me to speak about forgiveness in the abstract, if we are afraid to do it in the concrete? "I decided that the message stays the same ... We need to really believe what we believe about our God and that it is in forgiveness that we are healed and made whole. We are transformed ourselves in the act of forgiving, more, perhaps, than the people who are forgiven." There were thousands of services held in the hours after the terrorist attacks, with stunned people reciting ancient words about ancient mysteries. This was merely one of those services. There were businessmen from the nearby Trump Towers. There were young people who seemed to have come from the beach. The kneelers at the historic Holy Trinity Episcopal Church were lined with mothers, fathers and children who had watched hell unfold on television. When all is said and done, said Murtagh, Americans must be driven "kicking and screaming into the word of forgiveness" while shunning the "deep satisfaction of revenge, of closure through getting even." Those touched by the tragedy must remember that God is "a God of forgiveness, a God of peace and a God of justice." There were stories to tell at each and every prayer service, as global terrorism lurched into the age of the cell telephone and the World Wide Web. From coast to coast, everyone seemed to know someone who knew someone who had received a call that answered an anguished prayer or carved a wound into the soul. At this service, Rabbi Howard Shapiro of Temple Israel turned to Hebrew for a prayer of thanksgiving that his son's daily subway trip through the World Trade Center had ended in safety. Then the verses he read from Isaiah included these sobering words: "All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever." The reading from St. Matthew was almost hard to bear: "Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body. ... Your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, nor tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Afterwards, I called Father Thaddeus Barnum, who wrote a book entitled "Where is God in Suffering and Tragedy?" about his experiences as a counselor inside the crash site of USAir flight 427 outside of Pittsburgh. Those memories washed over him again Tuesday, a flashback to days that changed his life forever. "There is so, so much that we have all taken for granted. It's the little things, the little gifts, the little details of daily life with our loved ones," he said, piecing together his thoughts for his next trip into a pulpit. "Scripture tells us to love God with all of our hearts and all of our minds and to love each other. ... "That is what this is all about. This reminds us that we are too busy to love God and we are even too busy to love each other. We take all of that for granted. We belong to God and we belong to each other. This makes us see that, whether we want to or not." Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic College and is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:22:08 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:22:08 Subject: Cloud of Ash. A New World by Rod Dreher Message-ID: Cloud of Ash. A new world By Rod Dreher columnist, New York Post. The phone rang at my apartment just before nine this morning. It was my father in Louisiana. "Go outside and look, the World Trade Center is on fire." I took the phone out my front door, on the Brooklyn waterfront, and saw the north tower in flames. Office papers were fluttering down across New York harbor. I'm a reporter. I ran downstairs to grab my notebook and pen. Then, BOOM, and screams. I scrambled upstairs and out the front door. The second tower was aflame. Workmen from the hospital up the street stood in sheer terror. "A plane, a passenger plane, just flew into the second tower," one said. I said goodbye to my wife, then took off for the Brooklyn Bridge. I knew the subways would be shut, and no traffic would be getting into the city. The pedestrian walkway over the bridge was the only way into downtown. As far as the eye could see, there was a thick rope of humanity crossing the bridge out of Manhattan, crossing to safety. Or so they hoped: Everybody seemed to know that the fires had been caused by airplanes, and those I talked to feared that the bridge would be attacked. I interviewed people who saw office workers leap to their deaths from the towers. One woman, so overcome by emotion she could hardly speak, had to step over the bloody, mangled body of a woman who either jumped or was blown out of the tower. I was struck by how calm everyone was. Tense, God knows, but calm and orderly. They had every reason to panic, but they did not. Some New Yorkers helped carry others who were too shaken to support themselves. At the last pillars of the bridge before descending into Manhattan, I stopped when I saw a New York Post colleague. I suggested we make plans to go down together and cover the disaster. She suggested that we should wait, that the towers could collapse. I thought she was worrying too much. "Oh my God!" someone screamed. I looked up, and the south tower of the massive building came tumbling down in flames and smoke. People on the bridge began to wail, and those who could walk picked up their pace to stay ahead of the enormous cloud of ash billowing toward us. A fighter jet passed overhead. My wife knew I was headed downtown, and she knew I should have been close to the collapsing tower. Nobody's cell phone worked. She didn't know if I was alive or dead. By the time I reached the Brooklyn side of the bridge, the ash cloud had reached us, and it set upon the crowd like a snowstorm. The sky was grey-black, obscuring the collapse of the second tower. Grey ash, pieces of the World Trade Center blew in the air, covering trees, cars, streets, everything. The streets in downtown Brooklyn were eerily still. Stores were closed. Pedestrians were so quiet that the car radios of passing automobiles seemed amplified. This must be what it was like when the news of Pearl Harbor was first broadcast. My neighborhood is home to many Arabs, both Muslim and Christian. It was also home to the World Trade Center bombers eight years ago. Most Arab bodegas on the avenue were closed. Smart, on a day like today. The American Muslim community must be forthright in condemning this terrorism, and must help the FBI find and destroy all the Muslim terror cells in this country. We always hear how wrong it is to blame all Muslims for terrorism. If that is so, let us hear now American Muslim leaders condemn these horrible acts. And let us not hear them equivocate, and blame Israel as well. I stopped by the local hospital to donate blood, and was told there was a two-hour wait. There were so many ordinary people who turned up to volunteer that the hospital had to send some away. My cell phone finally rang, as I was half a block away from home. My terrified wife held the door open for me, and held me tight and sobbed and shook. I was covered with ash, but I was home. I was safe. I looked over my shoulder at downtown Manhattan. The smoke had largely cleared. The Twin Towers, which I have looked at every day of my life for years, were gone. And we are in a new world now. Though it might seem histrionic, nothing on this day of infamy seems more appropriate than these lines from the Catholic Requiem mass, from its "Dies Irae": Day of wrath and terror looming Heaven and earth to ash consuming Seer's and Psalmist's true foredooming. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:23:56 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:23:56 Subject: 'Look out your window': Seaman's Church Institute Swings into Prayer, action Message-ID: 'Look out your window': Seamen's Church Institute swings into prayer, action by Deborah Wagner (ENS) The staff at Seamen's Church Institute [SCI] starts work at 8:30 a.m., and we were discussing our Pilot Boat dinner cruise scheduled for the evening. Henry Enright, director of development, Jennifer Edmondson, event coordinator, and myself were talking about the guest list when we heard a loud boom. "Must be a truck hitting the road hard," said Henry. We never took our eyes off the guest list even though the south tower of the World Trade Center looms out our 4th floor window. I returned to my office and started to check email. "Look out your window, Deb," said Jennifer. "The World Trade Center is on fire." Within minutes the SCI staff was looking out the 4th floor window, watching the flames leap out the windows from several floors. Someone shouted, "A plane hit the World Trade Center." We stared in shock as we watched the fire burn out of control. We felt helpless as we saw people falling to their knees on the sidewalk outside our building, crying, writhing, calling out names of friends and loved ones. The phones started ringing off the hook. Our executive director, the Rev. Peter Larom, had arrived at Islip airport in Long Island and was trying to make his way in. Two SCI employees had called in from the Brooklyn Battery tunnel in a rented van they were bringing in for the dinner cruise. We did a head count and tried to find the missing people. People were walking in a stunned daze as we watched the debris begin to fly from the building. Then we saw the mushroom clouds of fire from the second plane hitting the South tower. Many people cried. Some were shaking. We decided to hold a Morning Prayer service. Our response would begin with prayer. The entire SCI staff gathered and we read a service for peace. As the service ended we went back to answering calls, letting loved ones know that we were alive. Streams of people began leaving the area on Pearl Street outside our building. A few people came to our door and asked to use the telephone. One woman came in sobbing, "My God, they are jumping out the windows." I held the son of one of the SCI employees who was in the Battery tunnel and whose girlfriend worked in the building next door. We went to the chapel to pray. We felt relatively safe even though the sirens roared and emergency vehicles raced down the street in front of SCI. We had water, telephone and internet service, and air conditioning. We decided to stay open. I watched out my window as the first building collapsed in with a loud rumble. It was only then that the people on the street started to run and panic could be seen on everyone's faces. The sky grew grayish white as a snow-like dust began to fall. The building staff turned off the air conditioning so that the dust would not get in the air system. We still had telephone and internet access. We had electricity. We decided it was safer to stay in our building. The width of Pearl Street was covered with a steady stream of people leaving the area. The wife of our cafeteria cook came in covered in dust and ran to her husband. The second building collapsed and sent a new wave of people covered in dust. By lunch, Canon Larom arrived at SCI. He left his car in Astoria and against the crowds going the opposite direction, he walked across Queens to Williamsburg bridge and walked downtown. He gathered the SCI staff in the chapel and we talked about our response. We would offer office space to the Port Authority as we had during the last terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and we would open SCI as a canteen for emergency workers. Some staff members began to set up the cafeteria to give away the food and drink that we had on hand. We could not get through to the Red Cross or police so we decided to make flyers and hand them out to rescue workers. Episcopal churches were notified that we needed donations of water, soda, and volunteers. A team of volunteers took flyers and went off in different directions to hand out flyers. Within minutes, the first wave of rescue workers came in. They washed the dust and grime from their hands and sat down, some for the first time that day. We listened as they told about losing fellow fire fighters, and police officers. They spoke of carnage. We listened. We prayed. We served them drinks and whatever food we could find. We finally heard from the two missing SCI employees. They heard noises in the Brooklyn Battery tunnel and the lights went out. The leapt out of the van and ran back to Brooklyn. They were safe. As I was leaving the skeletal night crew, Peter Ng, his wife, and the senior warden of the Church of Our Savior came in to help. They carried soda, water and other snack foods. It took me over an hour to walk through the police lines and up to 20th Street. Radios and television carried the latest news to the streets. A graffiti artist on the Lower East Side had already created a mural covering the side of a building with the twin towers in flames. City officials asked SCI to shelter three families from a building that was being evacuated. The electricity went off and SCI was lit by candles. The Pascal candle from the chapel lit the front lobby. Canon Larom led prayers and the first night began to pass. --Deborah Wagner is director of communications for the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:30:30 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:30:30 Subject: Pope John Paul's Statement Message-ID: Pope John Paul's Statement I cannot begin this audience without expressing my profound sorrow at the terrorist attacks which yesterday brought death and destruction to America, causing thousands of victims and injuring countless people. To the President of the United States and to all American citizens I express my heartfelt sorrow. In the face of such unspeakable horror we cannot but be deeply disturbed. I add my voice to all the voices raised in these hours to express indignant condemnation, and I strongly reiterate that the ways of violence will never lead to genuine solutions to humanity's problems. Yesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity. After receiving the news, I followed with intense concern the developing situation, with heartfelt prayers to the Lord. How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ's word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it. With deeply felt sympathy I address myself to the beloved people of the United States in this moment of distress and consternation, when the courage of so many men and women of good will is being sorely tested. In a special way I reach out to the families of the dead and the injured, and assure them of my spiritual closeness. I entrust to the mercy of the Most High the helpless victims of this tragedy, for whom I offered Mass this morning, invoking upon them eternal rest. May God give courage to the survivors; may he sustain the rescue-workers and the many volunteers who are presently making an enormous effort to cope with such an immense emergency. I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to join me in prayer for them. Let us beg the Lord that the spiral of hatred and violence will not prevail. May the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Mercy, fill the hearts of all with wise thoughts and peaceful intentions. Today, my heartfelt sympathy is with the American people, subjected yesterday to inhuman terrorist attacks which have taken the lives of thousands of innocent human beings and caused unspeakable sorrow in the hearts of all men and women of good will. Yesterday was indeed a dark day in our history, an appalling offence against peace, a terrible assault against human dignity. I invite you all to join me in commending the victims of this shocking tragedy to Almighty God's eternal love. Let us implore his comfort upon the injured, the families involved, all who are doing their utmost to rescue survivors and help those affected. I ask God to grant the American people the strength and courage they need at this time of sorrow and trial. Pope John Paul II Catholic Information Network From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 02:59:53 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 2:59:53 Subject: Archbishop George Carey Calls for Prayer Message-ID: Archbishop George Carey calls for prayer LAMBETH PALACE, London--The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, has called for prayer in response to the tragedies in the United States. "This is a time of shock and deep distress. The suffering, devastation and loss of life touch us all. I hope that people of faith will take time to pray for those who are suffering in the aftermath of these terrible events. I pray that God's presence will be with them. "I am grateful to those churches able to remain open for private prayer and reflection." Earlier this evening, the Archbishop and Mrs Carey were joined by members of staff in the Crypt Chapel at Lambeth Palace to pray together for all those caught up in the tragedy. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 03:00:01 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 3:00:01 Subject: Statement from Church in Jerusalem & Middle East Message-ID: Statement from Church in Jerusalem & Middle East ACNS Jerusalem The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East is distraught over the September 11 attacks on the United States of America. We fully and explicitly condemn those acts of terror on United States soil and on the citizens of America. We forcefully denounce this inhuman and unjustified action, and we join our sufferings with the American people. On behalf of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, ordained and lay, we assure the President, the government and the people of the United States of our ceaseless. prayers, calling upon Almighty God to comfort the hearts of the bereaved for the loss of their dear ones, and beseeching Him to heal all the injured in body, mind or spirit. We call on all peace loving people in the world to join hands, minds and hearts in practicing collective common sense, before forming opinions and reactions that may inadvertently affect the innocent, as well as combating evil, oppression, injustice and the killing of the innocent. We pray for greater commitment to bringing an end to all the causes that make for war and/or hostilities, without resorting to the weapons of the evildoers, but with the weapons of God, so that ultimately peace and harmony prevail. May God have mercy on all the suffering, and may the souls of all who perished rest in His peace, and may the hearts of all the bereaved be comforted with His love. In Christ, Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 03:00:07 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 3:00:07 Subject: A Tribute to USA from Canada by Gordon Sinclair Message-ID: A Tribute to USA from Canada By Gordon Sinclair Canadian Author and Journalist America: The Good Neighbor. Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television Commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record: "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those." Stand proud, America! Wear it proudly!! From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Thu Sep 13 03:00:14 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 3:00:14 Subject: MEMORABLE QUOTES Message-ID: MEMORABLE QUOTES Compiled By David W. Virtue From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 00:51:28 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 0:51:28 Subject: Opening Comments 9-15-2001 Message-ID: Dear Brothers and Sisters, It was a day of Prayer and Remembrance throughout the nation yesterday as millions of Americans gathered in church, synagogue and mosque to pray for the nation's 5000 killed. The occasion was a sober and somber reminder of our fragility and constant need for the rule of God in our lives. Today's opening story reflects the mood of the nation. A little known news item is that Britain is waking up to the fact that hundreds of Britons died in New York this past week, so this is a British tragedy as well. William Beau Wagner, the husband of Debra Wagner the communications director of Seamen's Church Institute wrote to me following the article I ran in the last digest, that he spent yesterday in the zone, just blocks from ground zero. "The Seamen's Church Institute Emergency Relief canteen is feeding approximately 300 emergency workers three to four times a day. As of yesterday we still had no electricity or phone service. We are gearing for a month long effort. Volunteers and donations are being coordinated by the dean's office at General Seminary." WE NEED EVERYBODY'S PRAYERS, he writes. But that was not the only news. In New York City, Frank Griswold issued the finding of the Title Review Committee set up to look at Presentment charges of Washington Acting bishop Jane Dixon. The timing could not have been worse. To no one's surprise Jane Dixon slipped through the fingers of two sets of presentment charges and then stood up in Washington Cathedral to pray for those killed this week, with virtually no one aware that she has brokered pansexual behavior into her diocese that has killed 100 times more nationwide than those who died in this week's tragedy. "The rule of law died a long time ago in the Episcopal Church, and this decision is its epitaph," wrote one Episcopalian. Nothing could be more underhanded than slipping this decision through at this time in our nation's life. Writes Chuck Nalls canon lawyer. "The reason for the declared impasse in the civil case is now apparent-Jane Dixon had advance news of the actions of the Review Committee. At 3:03 PM yesterday, my office received a fax from +Griswold. He forwarded the decision of the Review Committee rejecting the charges. My only editorial here is that his timing is absolutely reprehensible." One of Mrs. Dixon's presenters wrote, "I am disappointed, but not at all surprised, by the committee's decision. I would simply note that it was a similarly outrageous anti-canonical decision by the Righter court that led to the Lambeth sexuality resolution. Let us hope that our Anglican brethren around the world are watching this exercise of tyranny in ECUSA and will be inspired to respond appropriately." You can read that story today. I have posted a number of stories about the attack on America from a number of sources you may not have seen in your daily newspapers. Syndicated columnist Mike McManus reflects on it all and I have posted a couple of human-interest stories as well. I have also posted an exchange today between two clerics over the Middle East situation. This, of course impinges on the plane bombings here. The US Episcopal Church, as you know, takes a very pro-Arab line, understandably so, as we have strong connections with the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle East. But are we being too uncritical of what the Arabs do? You can read the exchange and draw your own conclusions. I have included a round up of PRAYERS from around the world with more bishops and other senior clerical officials and organizations making their pronouncements. The quite amazing thing in all the ECUSA Episcopal bishops' offerings, including the Presiding Bishop's letter, is that one reads little or nothing about justice for those who died. As you know justice is a very big issue in ECUSA especially when one comes to talk about lesbigays and victims of racism, but it is strangely silent on those who were slaughtered for no particular reason in that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is much opining about the need for love and peace and please don't retaliate out of a spirit of vengeance or revenge, but nothing is said about justice for those who died. The silence is quite startling. Our pluriform presiding bishop thinks perhaps that we can paste over what happened with nice words. The doctrine of Original Sin, international and intentional evil and the principalities and powers seem markedly absent from his musings. But then so are a lot of doctrines, except, of course, constant talk about the implications of our baptismal covenant. What we saw this week was a baptism of fire, and that fire will not soon go out, except with an appropriate response that calls forth the very justice that Frank Griswold is so strangely silent about. If you are a newcomer to Virtuosity, you can read past digests by going to http://www.orthodoxanglican.org/virtuosity and hitting the ARCHIVES link. More than 80,000 persons in 36 countries read virtuosity. You are invited to ask your friends to sign up. All blessings, David W. Virtue From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 00:53:54 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 0:53:54 Subject: Griswold's Review Committee Throws out Case against Dixon Message-ID: GRISWOLD'S REVIEW COMMITTEE THROWS OUT CASE AGAINST DIXON By David W. Virtue WASHINGTON, D.C. - Washington Acting Bishop Jane Dixon will not face a presentment trial. The Episcopal Disciplinary Review Committee of the Episcopal Church set up to consider a presentment against the bishop dismissed the charges in a four-page report. Chuck Nalls, Canon lawyer for Fr. Sam Edwards and the vestry of Christ Church, Accokeek said, "The Episcopal Church cannot claim any longer to have enforceable canons. The basis for the decision is that there are essentially two equally valid interpretations of canon III.17.2. Because Dixon's interpretation is mutually valid, she cannot be found guilty of a canonical violation--ergo the charges are dropped. "They did this in the midst of the nation's worst crisis. Griswold and his liberal bishops wanted to make it clear that they would absolve one of their own and allow Dixon to continue to rein down hell on one single orthodox parish priest and have him thrown out of the diocese. They also wanted to send a message to the judge that the Episcopal Church is united in its stand against Edwards and Christian orthodoxy." Dixon faced two presentments: one from three bishops, the other from clergy and laity. The decision comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with Episcopal Church politics. A four-page document called "Title IV Review Committee" said Dixon had been charged with violating Canon III.17.2 by exceeding 30 days in objecting to the Rev. Sam Edwards call as rector of Christ Church, St. John's parish in Accokeek, and for also violating Canon III. 17.3 by refusing to send notice of the election to the Secretary of the Convention of the Diocese. Other complainants charged that Dixon also violated Canon III.14.4 by conducting worship services within the parish without securing the consent of the rector or wardens. They also charge that she appointed an interim priest to take charge of the parish without receiving notification from the wardens that a vacancy existed, thus violating canon III.17.1. The Review Committee considered each of the charges and "concluded unanimously" that taking the facts to be true, no offense had occurred. As a result Dixon will not now face presentment. The central argument was the 30-day period that Dixon had to refuse Edwards call. The Committee argued that the meaning of the 30-day period in which a bishop may protest the call of a rector could be explained from both sides. Complainants argue an equivalency between the word "communicate" in the canon and a bishop's making an objection to a proposed candidate. If there is no objection within the thirty-day period, they argue, then objection thereafter is waived. Dixon argued that the 30-day period refers to the Bishop's right to communicate with the vestry on any number of subjects subsequent to a candidate's being identified and prior to the vestry's electing a rector; if there has been such a communications, the vestry or parish must consider it at a meeting called for that purpose." Dixon further argued that there is no time limit for the Bishop to determine whether or not the rector-elect is "duly qualified." Dixon asked for additional information and sought an interview with Edwards prior to the expiration of the 30-day period. Practical and personal circumstances prevented information such as a background check being received by the end of the 30-day period prevented a meeting of the two, Dixon argued. "From the complaints and supporting documents and affidavits it is neither evident that the Bishop did not 'communicate' with the vestry or that a valid and effective election was held following a meeting called for the purpose." The Committee also argued that there was a difference of opinion as to the meaning of "duly qualified". They said Dixon's understanding of "duly qualified" was based on a broader inquiry than whether the individual was validly ordained and in good standing in his or her diocese. Both Edwards and Dixon "hold different views as to the meaning, purpose and operation of Canon III.17.2 and 3" said the report. The Review Committee believed that Dixon's actions were based on a "reasonable interpretation of the canons" and that no offense occurred. Bishop Charles L. Keyser president of the Review Committee signed the letter. The action comes as no surprise to most observers, who expected the committee to approach its assignment with extreme bias and to ignore the clear meaning of the canons. Indeed, not only has the decision been rendered as expected, but the timing of the decision seems to have been made to give Dixon maximum benefit, writes Robert Stowe England, an Anglo-Catholic journalist based in Washington, DC. Virtuosity had received notice of the action, and it was assumed to have been leaked the day before to Dixon, prompting her to declare an impasse in the negotiations that had been urged on her by Judge Peter J. Messitte of the U.S. District Court of Maryland's southern division in Beltsville, Md. Dixon had also sued Edwards in June, seeking a declaratory judgment from the court to oust him and his family from the rectory, and to void his contract with the vestry, and compel the vestry to allow her to come on to the property to conduct services. The vestry vigorously resisted all such efforts. The Presiding Bishop had urged the Review Committee to move quickly to resolve the matter, in the hopes that such a move would prove favorable to Dixon in the courts. Fr. Sam Edwards, speaking by phone from Christ Church, Accokeek, said the report was issued and signed on Sept. 5 but was not made available till Wednesday Sept. 12. "It would appear to be connected with the fact that 24 hours later Dixon's lawyers filed a motion to amend the record in the civil suit. It is passing strange they prepared a motion in such a short period of time. Yesterday the Diocesan chancellor told lawyer Chuck Nalls that after prayerfully considering the matter the property issues could not be amicably settled and they therefore awaited the judge's decision." "Based on Title IV it would appear that there are no enforceable checks on episcopal authority over vestries and congregations. I now contend that every vestry in the Episcopal Church has had its status as a full partner reduced to an advisory capacity," said Edwards. "It is also now apparent that the bishop has had his/her role elevated from a consultative to an absolutely determinative role. The Review Committee recognized sincerely held positions by both sides on the 30- day limit. In short they decided not to decide. Their decision not to make a decision was to wash their hands of any decision and leave decision-making to tooth and claw. They admitted they don't have any enforceable capacity." Edwards said that as a result there was now no effective discipline. "It means that the Episcopal Church is simply an association of religiously minded people. A bishop can interpret the canons in the bounds of his own diocese." The judge did not give a date when he would make a decision. "We are very hopeful," said Edwards, "as we think our case for dismissal is very strong." Asked if this meant that he and the vestry might take the parish out of the diocese if the judge rules against him, Edwards said "no comment." "This bodes a great deal of oppression and arbitrariness in the future," one source said. "Now, perhaps it would be appropriate to call the revisionists the Taliban wing of the Episcopal Church," the source added. It is very clear that the decision rests on Griswold's notion of pluriform truth in its most pristine form, with absolute right and wrong meaningless in terms of the canons. As Nalls noted, "In sum, there is no rule of law in ECUSA and no rights of vestries over clergy call--the bishop can simply reject a candidate for any reason at any time." END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 01:11:01 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 1:11:01 Subject: A DAY OF PRAYER. A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE Message-ID: A DAY OF PRAYER. A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE Editorial By David W. Virtue Yesterday a country mourned. Yesterday a country remembered. Yesterday a country prayed. And yesterday a country declared itself united. A nation torn by madness will emerge from the rubble stronger and greater. God is powerful. God is in the midst of a suffering people. God is good. God is just. Jesus still saves. The country's diversity will not be destroyed by fear. Xenophobia is not an option. The country is resolved, the country will move forward. And a day of judgment will come for the nation's enemies. These words sum up many of the sentiments millions of Americans who went to church, synagogue and mosque heard yesterday across America. They prayed, they sang hymns, they listened to Scripture, they took Holy Communion, they listened to preachers. Many were visibly shaken, teary-eyed and briefly knocked out of their comfort zones. Many darkened church doors they had not darkened in years looking for spiritual comfort and hope. What is the meaning of such evil? Why? There is a dark and tragic side to life. Everyone now knows it. We have all been close to it. They poured into churches as never before, looking for meaning and enlightenment in the midst of a tragedy that saw 5,000 of their countrymen snuffed out in a moment in time. They heard sermons of hope and of God's faithfulness in the midst of extreme tragedy. They came wanting to believe again. Lapsed Christians, lapsed agnostics and wary atheists. It was a powerful moment captured by super-evangelist Billy Graham in Washington's national cathedral. What better person to capture the ambiguity of pain and suffering, life and death, hope and joy than an evangelical committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Why does God allow tragedy and suffering?" Asked Graham. "God is sovereign, love, mercy and compassion. The foundations have not been destroyed they have not disintegrated emotionally or spiritually. We have solid foundations. We can rebuild." Above all, said Graham we "trust in God." "We are here in the middle hour of our grief. We come before God to pray for the missing and the dead and those who loved them," said President Bush to several hundred invited guests in America's national Episcopal cathedral. But where is God some ask? Why didn't He DO something? A more thoughtful question might be to ask, what should He have done that would not violate our freedoms. The answer is that God is where He has always been. Therein lies the paradox. God loves us and wants us to love Him. He has given us free will, which means, of course that we are free not to love. We have the option to hate. The men who gave their lives did so not out of love but out of bitter hatred. That is the stark reality of Islam. To kill the infidel in the name of Allah guarantees one's eternal place in Paradise. Followers of Christ are called to lay down their lives for the gospel, a vastly different sacrifice. A man throws his body over a woman as they race from a burning building to avoid falling debris. He dies. She lives. That's self-sacrifice. That's what Jesus would do. What happened on Tuesday was an exercise in free will, with horrible consequences. The opposite of which is to say that our will is free only if the consequences are allowed to happen. The towering infernos of Manhattan, reminiscent, for some no doubt of the gas ovens of Europe. Memory has its price. Does this mean that God is unfeeling? Not at all. He knows and understands how we feel. After all He allowed us to kill His only begotten Son. He knows exactly what we are feeling. And His will, will ultimately prevail. The Lord is my Shepherd, truly I shall not want. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 01:16:24 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 1:16:24 Subject: THEY SPEAK OUT FROM AROUND THE WORLD Message-ID: THEY SPEAK OUT FROM AROUND THE WORLD Compiled by David W. Virtue Support and prayer from Diocese of Surigao, Philippines We, the Bishop, Clergy and Faithful of the Diocese of Surigao extend our condolences and prayers for all the victims of the horrendous, heinous and cowardly attacks last Sep 10. We extend our comfort and support to the Diocese of Washington and to the whole Episcopal Church in the USA in these difficult times. We pray for peace, for the healing of the land, and for reconciliation, which is the Christian path. We ask all the parishes, missions and worshipping communities in this Diocese to pray for the American people. We dedicate this Sunday, Sep 16, as the day of prayer. The Rt Revd Rhee M Timbang Bishop, Diocese of Surigao Iglesia Filipina Independiente ***** Saints of the Lord, Jesus said to His disciples, "...in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Jn 16:33 This past week has been a time of tribulation for our beloved nation. Again we are reminded that life is fragile and transitory. We are wounded and broken as a nation, like Jesus was wounded and broken on Calvary's Cross. We grieve the horror and loss of so many innocent and courageous souls. At the same time we look to the Lord Jesus to heal and multiply in us His abundant life, tender mercies and amazing grace Praise God, for the faith response of so many, to the tragedy authored by the heinous terrorism. Multitudes gathered in churches, even before President Bush's encouragement, to pray for the victims and make sense of this horrendous event. The world offers only retaliation, which is little comfort to those who have lost loved ones. God has promised those who trust in Him a hope and future that will not disappoint. Remain close to the Lord in prayer, rely upon His strength to empower your ministry in these troubled times. Trust that as you daily surrender your life to Jesus and His call to ministry, that He will make Himself known in and through you as you preach, teach, council and minister His redemptive love. I ask the Lord Jesus, in this moment, to refresh you with more of the Holy Spirit ... "good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap." Luke 6:38 The Rt. Rev. Doug Weiss AMIA Bishop ***** Latest from the Anglican Church League, Sydney, Australia Dear friends, As many of us consider what to say to our congregations on Sunday about the terrorist attack on the US, hopefully these thoughts may be of some help - * Christians - of all people - should not be surprised at the evil that is found in the human heart. (Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?") We *ought* to be horrified, but we should not be surprised. Mankind's rebellion against the loving God who made us is at the root of all this. * The Old Testament teaching of "an eye for an eye" (e.g. Exodus 21:24) is meant to put a limit on retribution - so that it is just. We need to pray that any military response will be a just one. * When evil seems to triumph, and when justice does not seem to be done on this earth, we need to remember that the judgment of the Last Day before the throne of the Lord is where ultimate justice will be done. * We need to call all people to repent - see Luke 13:1-5. * Christians ought to be setting the example in extending hands of friendship to the Islamic community. * The Lord Jesus knows and understands our suffering - seen most fully on the Cross. We need to talk about the gospel. * Let us pray that these sad events may cause many people to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. Colin Mackellar (ACL newsletter editor) ***** The disaster in the United Sates of America has affected us all... We, at The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, (Cairo, Egypt) wish to express our most sincere condolences to the bereaved and our most profound sympathy to the many individuals, families and communities, including our U.S. partners, who have suffered so grievously. It is impossible to predict the consequences of these terrible events; we join our friends all over the world in prayer for God's guidance, wisdom, justice and love. Nabil S. Abadir President CEOSS END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 01:59:09 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 1:59:09 Subject: PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Message-ID: PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Compiled by David W. Virtue From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 01:59:42 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 1:59:42 Subject: THE NATION RESPONDS WITH PRAYER by Mike McManus Message-ID: Ethics & Religion THE NATION RESPONDS WITH PRAYER by Mike McManus In stunned disbelief, America watched a handful of terrorists transform commercial jets into bombs that demolished shining symbols of American capitalism and military power. The next day America's churches were full of mourning people turning to God in prayer. I attended a service across from the White House at St. John's Episcopal Church, where most presidents have worshiped. The service opened with the timeless wisdom of Psalm 46: ''God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way... Come and see the works of the Lord... He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth... Be still and know that I am God.'' The Gospel came from John, Chapter 10 which quotes Jesus: ''I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me...and I lay down my life for the sheep,'' a statement repeated four times in a few verses. I thought of hundreds of firemen and police killed trying to save the lives of others. As President Bush put it, ''Today our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America, with the daring of rescue workers, with the caring of strangers and neighbors who came to give blood.'' For the first time in my memory, a President quoted Scripture: ''Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray that they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: `Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.''' The supreme moral question we must now answer is, what should be done about that evil? A woman at St. John's prayed, ''As Christ said, `Let us pray for our enemies.'' But as the Pope said Wednesday, ''How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of-ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people.'' Edward Cardinal Egan, the new Archbishop of New York, added, ''We call for justice. We insist that those who have committed this crime be called before the courts of civilized people. We must not, however, allow our pursuit of justice to descend into sentiments of hate and violence.'' However, that draws some fine lines. Is the problem a few terrorists or a wider Muslim challenge to Western culture and Christianity? While our government had not officially declared who was responsible at this writing, fingers are being pointed at Osama bin Laden and his Talaban supporters in Afghanistan. As retired Episcopal Bishop William Wantland has noted, followers of Islam ''have also perpetrated a policy of genocide in Sudan, oppressed thousands of people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere and have raped Nigeria. We must understand that at the bottom of all this is a hatred of all things Christian. This is a holy war against our Faith, as well as against our country.'' On the other hand, many Muslims in this country are as horrified as any Christians by what has happened. Several have noted that nothing in the Koran justifies slaughtering civilians. The question which seems to have been avoided in all of the media coverage is this: What fuels the hatred of America that would drive some Muslims to commit these heinous acts? David W. Virtue put it this way on his web newsletter, www.orthodoxanglican.org/virtuosity: First, Osama Bin Laden has a ''pathological hatred of the State of Israel, Zionism and the United States that supports the Jewish State. Second is his hatred of a decadent Western culture, that the Pope calls a `culture of death' which is morally numbing our own children's minds and impacting the life of his culture, other Middle Eastern nations and the rest of the world.'' We can see the culture of death in untrammeled pornography and its consequences: millions of out-of-wedlock births, abortions and divorces. If America hopes to end terrorism, it must do far more than wipe out terrorist camps and leaders. They can be replaced with a younger generation of America haters. Pollster George Gallup declares, ''This most terrible moment in American history could be one of the most transforming if this tragedy leads us to renounce evil that can lurk in the human heart and choose to seek the good as we know it in Jesus Christ.'' END TXT Copyright 2001 Michael J. McManus From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:00:01 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:00:01 Subject: Priest Dies while Helping Victims in New York Tragedy Message-ID: PRIEST DIES WHILE HELPING VICTIMS IN NEW YORK TRAGEDY Franciscan Father Michael Judge Lived Close to the Needy NEW YORK, (Zenit.org).- Father Michael F. Judge, OFM, met his death while administering the sacraments to the wounded and dying in the attack on New York's World Trade Center. The Irish Franciscan, 68, was chaplain of the New York City Fire Department; in his ministry, he faced many tragic situations. Father Judge lived in a monastery near Manhattan's Penn Station, but spent much of his time in the city's hospitals and firehouses. Whenever firefighters fell in the line of duty, Father Judge consoled their families and spoke at their funerals. He formed a close friendship with Steven MacDonald, a city police officer who was paralyzed by a teen-age gunman in 1986. When TWA Flight 800 crashed off Long Island, Father Judge was there to comfort devastated relatives and shell-shocked rescuers. After the attack on the first of Manhattan's twin towers, Father Judge arrived on the scene with one of the first groups of firefighters. He immediately began to give absolution to the wounded. Minutes later, the tower collapsed, crushing many victims, including the Franciscan. According to a statement of the Franciscan Province of the Holy Name in New York, to which Father Judge belonged, "Father Michael died doing what he loved most, next to the people he loved most, the needy. "Father Michael's body was taken to St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street, and placed in the sanctuary next to the bodies of his companions, the firefighters. Details of his funeral will soon be made known." "May he and all the victims of the disaster rest in peace," the Franciscan statement ends. Michael Judge made his religious vows 46 ago and was ordained a priest 40 years ago. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:00:16 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:00:16 Subject: Does Jesus pull the Trigger by Dr. E. Earle Fox Message-ID: Does Jesus pull the trigger? By Dr. E. Earle Fox The recent events have raised the question of Christians and coercive force in a big way. I spent most of my adult life as a (very uneasy) pacifist. I could not see Jesus "pulling the trigger". Several things changed my mind. One was the realization that everything civil government does, it does (as it were) at gunpoint. To be a consistent pacifist means to abandon all civil government. There is nothing at all in either common sense or Scripture which suggests such a direction. The other realization was that Jesus does indeed pull the trigger. When He says, "Depart from Me, I never knew you...." that is the final and ultimate trigger. Coercive force is under the law of God just as all other parts of the creation. That is the point of Christians being involved in government -- to get it there. That is what our American constitution, built on centuries of English (heavily Biblical) common law and Reformation theology is all about. Putting the use of coercive force under the law and grace of God. But, and this is absolutely vital, those who hold the gun, those who administer coercive force, should be among the most spiritually mature among us, not whacky red-neck types who cannot distingish between good and evil other than by their own cultural bias, or immature, addicted, undisciplined sorts who cannot keep their zippers up. Our standard of enforcement is the law of God, the top of which is the command to love our neighbor just like ourselves, even if our neighbor is our enemy. Love is tough, not squishy. Should we go after the terrorists. Of course. Should we, as some are saying, forget about whether we hurt a few innocent bystanders in the process. Absolutely not. Military warfare is simply an extension of the bigger and wider spiritual warfare that is going on all the time. And subject to the same law and grace of God. Our chief and overriding aim is not to win, but to serve God, to carry the cross of Christ. Our task is to do what is right and honorable, and to let God take care of the rest. If that means we let some suspect get away because "getting him" would mean the death of innocent people, then we pull back. Those innocent people are just as valuable in the eyes of God those killed in the tower attacks. We do not purchase our freedom at the cost of someone else's innocent life. On May 2, 1778, General George Washington, having survived a terrible winter with the British only a day's march away, with all lives at risk, said to his troops: "While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian." Amen, George. The principle is this, I think, that we must take up arms to defend truth and righteousness, to defend our communities and families, but we must also prefer rather to lay down our arms than use them in a manner contrary to the law and grace of God, even at the risk of defeat and death. We will win God's way or not at all. That is the way of the cross applied to civil government, i.e., to the use of coercive force. That, I think, was the spirit of the early Christians facing gladiators and lions with no arms at all. Those are the principles upon which our Declaration and Constituion are built. And that gives us a superb opportunity for Americans to turn our all too common political foolishness, demagoguery, and empire building into a telling to the world of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "Your political freedom rests necessarily on your spiritual freedom in Christ." Pentecost Blessings Earle Fox **Emmaus Ministries - a School of Christian Apologetics **POB 7203, Alexandria, VA 22307 703 765-7862 From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:00:36 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:00:36 Subject: ECUSA's Middle East Policy Called to Task. Two Clergy Exchange Views Message-ID: ECUSA'S MIDDLE EAST POLICY CALLED TO TASK. TWO CLERGY EXCHANGE VIEWS The following exchange took place between the Presiding Bishop's Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Christopher Epting and Canon George Conger, rector of St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church, Sebastian, Florida. The Episcopal Church's response to Israeli occupation of Beit Jala August 29, 2001 As the Presiding Bishop's Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, I want to make it clear that the Episcopal Church stands with her full communion partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in denouncing in the strongest possible terms the recent Israeli occupation of the West Bank town of Beit Jala and the use of the Lutheran Church of the Reformation and an adjacent orphanage there as a military outpost. We ask the Israeli government immediately to remove troops and tanks from Beit Jala, particularly the area where the church and orphanage are located. The continued presence of military personnel there is a sacrilege. Again, we implore both sides--the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel--to cease and desist from all acts of violence and intimidation. And we continue to support the deployment of international--including ecumenical and interfaith--observers to promote peace, justice and security in the region. Finally and most importantly, we join our prayers--individually and by means of the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Peace--with those of the people of God everywhere for a return to a climate where negotiations to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can take place. The Rt. Rev. Christopher Epting, Presiding Bishop's Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Dear Bishop Epting, Please excuse my writing to you in this way. I cannot claim any acquaintance other than a common vocation as Episcopal priests. According to the Episcopal News Service story 2001-234 you wrote, "We ask the Israeli government immediately to remove troops and tanks from Beit Jala, particularly the area where the church and orphanage are located. The continued presence of military personnel there is a sacrilege." I believe your statement was unwise. No mention of the reason for the Israeli occupation was given in your press release. [The school and surrounding buildings were being used as cover by snipers shooting at Israeli civilians...per the IDF]. One could read your statement to say that it was a sacrilege for the Israelis to do what they did, but not for the Palestinians to use it as a base in which to attack Israelis. An uncritical and one sided statement was issued condemning the Israelis...this statement was mollified by then asking everyone to get along. However the murder of Jewish civilians was not placed at the same level of hyperbole as the temporary garrisoning of a church and school. The tendency to repeat uncritically pro-PLO statements about the unrest in Israel from 815 has become common currency. When the Presiding Bishop criticized Ariel Sharon for visiting the Temple Mount, Bishop Griswold advanced an argument based not, I believe, on Western news reports, or upon a reasoned examination of the situation, but upon the half truths bandied about by the PLO. See ENS's story 2000-240. I claim no special knowledge in this situation. If I am wrong in pressing this point, I apologize. However as a journalist for the Church of England Newspaper I am privy to just about all of the wire services and press copy and do not make my statements rashly. I would not normally have written to you. However, a relative is one of the firefighters missing since the collapse of the World Trade Center tower. The lack of restraint and judgment I believe was displayed in the statement attributed to you in the ENS story, given the current climate, drives me to express my hurt and disappointment that you have spoken for the whole Church without being apprised of the full facts. Regards, George Conger Dear George: Thank you for your note. It is the Presiding Bishop's desire and mine to be increasingly balanced in our statements regarding the complex situation in the Middle East. I am in regular dialogue with our Jewish friends here in the States as well as Palestinian Christians and Muslims. According to my brother, the Lutheran bishop on the ground in Israel/Palestine, the church and school in Beit Jala have *never* been used for any kind of military endeavor. My statement, as the Presiding Bishop's Deputy, was intended to state clearly our solidarity with our Lutheran colleagues who had asked for such support. I do not regret having released the statement. Christopher Epting Dear Christopher, I am saddened by your response. I don't think this issue will go away given what you have written. An interesting timeline... IDF moves into Beit Jala on the 28th...see the attached press release from the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs. The IDF moves out of the Lutheran school on the 29th, per the Washington Post. On the 30th you issue the sacrilege charge demanding that the IDF leave the school. On the 30th the IDF moves out of Beit Jala entirely per the Washington Post. I will refrain from editorializing...as the facts seem to be fairly straight forward. Regards, George Conger Positioning of forces in the town of Beit Jalla in order to prevent Palestinian fire on Jerusalem (Communicated by the IDF Spokesman) August 28, 2001 Following the numerous and frequent incidents of shooting from the town of Beit Jalla towards innocent Israeli citizens in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem and on the Tunnel Road, which has resulted in injury to many Israelis and damage to property, IDF forces took control of key areas of Beit Jalla and will maintain a military presence and activities in these sites and their surroundings in order to prevent further gunfire. IDF forces will carry out their task while taking utmost care to avoid any possibility of harm to innocent civilians, foreign nationals, or holy sites. The IDF Spokesman stresses that the IDF is in effect carrying out a function which the Palestinian Authority should have fulfilled: the prevention of gunfire and terrorist activity directed against the citizens of Jerusalem, the neighborhood of Gilo in Jerusalem, and the Tunnel Road, from areas under its control. IDF forces entered the area and will undertake the necessary actions within a limited timeframe in order to achieve the aims of the operation. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:00:25 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:00:25 Subject: A WAR WE MUST WIN by Rev. Lou Tarsitano Message-ID: A WAR WE MUST WIN By The Rev. Louis. R. Tarsitano "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Galatians 5:16-17). By any sane definition, since New York City and Washington, D.C. were attacked last Tuesday, our nation is at war. It is not a war that we have sought. It is not a war that we have begun. It is, however, a war that we must end, and we must end it in only one way. We must win it. Those who have waged war against our country must be eliminated. Their safe havens and hiding places must be removed from this earth. Their allies must be compelled to give them up, or they must be required to share their fate. Nothing but victory will suffice, because nothing but victory can be a just or a moral purpose when the blood of so many of our fellow-citizens, of our neighbors, has been shed in such a cruel and vicious way. While most of our nation, by the grace of God, has begun to draw together as a nation to seek an honorable justice for the dead, the voices of the congenitally or habitually confused have also been heard. "Peace at any price" some of them demand, although God Almighty warned in the days of Jeremiah that only a false prophet cries "peace" when there is no peace (Jer. 6:14). Others insist that this slaughter of the innocents is a "crime," but not an act of war, to be handled by some imaginary court of law. One might just as well imagine some bailiff delivering subpoenas to the Japanese high command after Pearl Harbor, or a writ of habeas corpus to Adolf Hitler, demanding the release of the Jews from Dachau and Auschwitz. Worst of all, a small group of especially careless Christians has reverted to a form of ancient heresy called "gnosticism"-a counterfeit sort of "spiritual knowledge" that at the least imposes a false separation between ordinary human life and a spiritual life in God, and at the worst hands the physical world over to the devil, to do with as he pleases, because only "spiritual" things truly matter. Such people have complained that the demand of the American people for justice is "unholy," and nothing more than bloody-minded human revenge, but their opinions are a gross perversion of the Christian faith revealed in the Scriptures. Of course the American people are angry. What decent person would not be angry in such circumstances? But the mere fact of anger does not automatically make that anger a sin. As St. Paul wrote, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:26-27). There is a righteous anger, as well as a sinful anger. A righteous man does not go to his bed full of bitter hatred and a servant to the devil. Rather, he kneels down, confesses his sins, and asks God both to do true justice and to show him his own vocation in that justice, before he climbs into his bed and closes his eyes, confident both in God's mercy and in his irresistible righteousness. Dealing with anger in this way, precisely by seeking God's justice and our proper part in it, is just one example of St. Paul's general teaching about the Christian life that we heard in this morning's Epistle: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." St. Paul is not offering here a choice between a "human life" and a "spiritual life." He is informing us of how a redeemed human life is to be led by a faithful Christian in this world: under the guidance of the Holy Ghost and not in slavery to our fallen human nature. St. Paul is not describing a life of passivity or of mushy-headed religiosity. He is declaring, once and for all, that the Christian life is an active life-a life that takes on challenges and overcomes enemies, not with the weakness and vice of fallen human nature, but aggressively, fearlessly, and with the help of God's commandments and grace. And to walk in the spirit without fulfilling the lust of the flesh, we must remember this commandment of God, also delivered by St. Paul: Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Romans 13:1,2,4) God has appointed human governments to do righteousness and to punish evil. He has given nations the authority to bear the sword, to use force against the evil when necessary and unavoidable, including persons, governments, and nations that have disobeyed his moral law. A Christian may, indeed, do his duty by questioning the legitimacy of a particular war, or else a hundred generations of Christian thinkers have wasted their time defining what constitutes a just and unavoidable war. What a Christian may not do, However, is to dismiss the possibility of war altogether. God's commandment forbids us to do murder, but it does not forbid us to defend our families' lives or the life of our nation (Ex. 20:13). God's standard of justice, even more to the point, is very high, valuing only human life to be worth as much as human life. When God gave Noah the authority to rebuild the world after the Flood, he gave him this instruction: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man" (Genesis 9:6). Likewise, when God saved the world, he gave and accepted the life of his Son Jesus Christ in our place, life for life, as the only satisfaction of divine justice. It was this same Eternal God, moreover, who taught us to pray in the Psalms, "Blessed be the LORD my strength, who teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight" (Ps. 144:1). Yes, our Lord taught us to love our enemies, and we should. But true love has nothing to do with giving free reign to evil, or else God is a hypocrite for creating hell as an eternal prison for those who refuse to abandon evil for good. There are times when a real love and a real justice must say "enough." And we ought not to forget the lessons of the twentieth century. A regime that gives candy to children to celebrate murder will not hesitate to sacrifice those same children, to put a bullet in their heads, when their deaths suit its purposes. The twenty-first century is only nine months old, and yet it is too easy to forget the lessons of the century just past. You may have seen or read about a television series called "Band of Brothers," which tries to recreate, as much as film can, the labors of a real Parachute Infantry company, Easy Company, from their training in Georgia until the end of World War II. One of the smallest parts belongs to the actor who played the company commander, 1st Lt. Thomas Meehan III, who was killed during the initial drop on D- Day. Ten days before he died, he wrote the following in a letter to his wife: [F]or each of us who wants to live in happiness and give happiness, there's another different sort of person wanting to take it away. Those people always manage to have their say, and Mars is always close at hand. We know how to win wars. We must learn now to win peace. Stick our noses in the affairs of the world. Learn politics as well as killing. Make the world accept peace whether they damn well like it or not. Here is the dove, and here is the bayonet. May we never see the day again that "World Peaceways" and like organizations dull our senses and make us anything but realists. If I ever have a son, I don't want him to go through this again, but I want him powerful enough that no one will be fool enough to touch him. He and America should be strong as hell and kind as Christ. That's the only insurance until human nature becomes a tangible thing that can be adjusted and made workable. Lieutenant Meehan never had that son, but his nephew has kept his letter as an heirloom for us all. And the perfection of human nature that he once hoped for has not come, nor will it come until our Savior returns in glory. But war has come. It has found us again, and we have no choice as a nation but to look for the grace of God, yet again, to prevail-to make us strong enough to overcome hell and kind as Jesus Christ, the victor over sin and death, as we do it. We have been, in the midst of our blessings of prosperity, too disengaged, too confident that we have been above the fray in the rest of the world, too certain that all faiths are the same and have the same vision of peace. We have learned a hard lesson this week, and most likely other hard lessons are to follow. As a country, we will have to learn again to be both brave and faithful, overcoming our recent inclination to settle for being merely comfortable and religiously indifferent. Wars are won first in the heart, and in the mind, and in the will. If the heart, mind, and will of America belong to the One True God; if we as a people walk in the Spirit of God and not according to the lusts of the flesh, then we can trust Providence and one another to work out the details of our warfare. Let us vanquish sin, Satan, and death first, in Jesus Christ, and our earthly enemies will have good reason to tremble. The Rev. Tarsitano is rector of Saint Andrew's Church, Savannah, Georgia From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:00:41 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:00:41 Subject: A Message from the Presiding Bishop - Reformed Episcopal Church Message-ID: A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH TO ALL THE FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS THROUGHOUT THE REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea....Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." -- Psalm 46:1-2, 10-11 May these words of the Psalmist offer comfort and confidence to all of you in the aftermath of this week's unspeakable tragedies in New York City, Washington, D.C., and western Pennsylvania. In the gracious providence of God, and according to the best of our knowledge, I can report to you that all of our fellow Reformed Episcopalians were spared from bodily harm in the events which took place this past Tuesday. But as Americans, and as citizens of a free society, all of us feel victimized, violated, and vulnerable. President George W. Bush has declared today, September 14, 2001, to be a National Day of Remembrance and Mourning. On this day, and in the days and weeks that follow, I ask that we, as people of God, be faithful and fervent in the ministry of intercession for all those who suffer; for those who mourn the loss of loved ones, friends, neighbors, and co-workers; and for all those who minister to them and care for them, whether in body, mind, or spirit. May we join together in firm commitment and resolve to uphold our President and other leaders of federal, state, and local government, before the throne of God's grace, that they may be endowed with wisdom, courage, and strength for all of the decisions and actions that will face them in the coming days and weeks. Let us also be faithful in prayer for our military leaders, and for those who serve in the several branches of our Armed Forces, as they may have to face what are yet unknown dangers in carrying out a response to what our President has termed "an act of war". And let us pray fervently that out of this national tragedy shall come a new spiritual awakening leading to repentance, renewal, and and hunger and thirst for righteousness throughout our country. May the word of God to Solomon speak in a new and compelling way to our national mind and heart: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." -- II Chronicles 7:14. We have received some inquiries as to how Reformed Episcopalians can be of help in relief efforts and other ministries of mercy following the devastating events of this week. At present, efforts are still concentrated on the daunting task of removing tons of rubble, rescuing those who may yet be found alive, and removing those who have perished. as things proceed beyond this initial phase, particular needs may be identified that we may commend to our parishes and people for financial or other support. We will communicate those opportunities to you as we become aware of them. In the meanwhile, I pray that God will speak His peace to your hearts in the midst of these troubled days, and draw you close to Himself in His protecting, loving care. "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." Faithfully yours, in Him who is the Prince of Peace, +Leonard W. Riches Presiding Bishop From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:00:48 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:00:48 Subject: Aid and Comfort to the Enemy? Message-ID: Aid and comfort to the enemy? Balint Vazsonyi My active political career began at a 1991 town meeting in Bloomington, Ind., held by the then-congressman for the district, Frank McCloskey. He presided over a chorus of CIA haters who had assembled to wish the United States the worst possible outcome during the Gulf crisis. This past Tuesday afternoon, as America was searching for its dead, Tom Clancy was talking to Judy Woodruff on CNN. Intelligence gathering was the topic, and the noted author spoke about too much reliance on technology and not enough human effort. In his civilized way, he pointed out the lack of enthusiasm by the media for the intelligence community over a long time now. "What do you think they should they do?" the interviewer wondered. "They have to get down into the dirt, infiltrate organizations and situations, and find out what is being planned," replied Mr. Clancy. "But that's spying," shrieked Mr. Woodruff. It then hit me: Peter Arnett and Bernie Shaw in 1991 placing themselves above "petty jingoism" and assuming the role of international journalists with no particular stake in America; Judy Woodruff's face at all times distorted with disgust whenever she interviews a person committed to the America of the Founding Fathers; Hollywood's millionaire communists never missing an opportunity to beat up on the country to which they owe everything. Our enemies are not very bright people. Yes, they are cunning, street smart and vicious beyond belief. But bright they are not. They believe that people such as mentioned in the foregoing passages hate America's current president far more than they hate America's enemies. And, after Jane Fonda, should we blame them? The hapless adolescents who seized control of America in the late 1960s believed and argued that the CIA was a considerably greater threat to America than the Soviet Union. Betraying field operatives, causing the deaths of loyal servicemen, became something of a sport. Our enemies would not dare to launch an attack of this magnitude if they did not firmly believe that many prominent of Americans are devoid of loyalty. The time has come to inform them otherwise. It would behoove the '60s people to make an effort and reorient themselves, spend a few days in their innermost chamber on their knees, and ask for America's forgiveness. It may be too late for some, perhaps many. But if the wake-up call of Sept. 11, 2001, did not suffice, they ought not to be in public life. The practical steps are obvious. We have to dismantle the entire madness called multiculturalism. No, people are not the same everywhere, and what they do, believe and advocate is not of equal value. No, except for folk dancing and food, we don't want people to bring their habits to America. If they like them so much, why leave home? If they prefer it over here, they should, without delay, set about learning the ways of America, beginning with the English language. No, all religions are not the same. Everyone who is welcome in America is obviously also welcome to bring the family religion and practice it freely. But we are under no obligation to think of them as being all the same. Indeed, we are under obligation to teach our children that some religions respect human life, others do not. Some interpretations of some religions actually idolize the killing of what the interpreters consider the infidel. And if our awareness of that makes some newcomers uncomfortable, this may not be the right place for them. Of course, we can bury our dead and decide to continue living in a make-believe world. But the price to pay will be more and more horrific. And it will always be the innocent who pay. So let us go after the perpetrators. But let also every film- maker, television producer, news editor and news anchor take stock. Let every teacher in every school take stock. Let trustees of universities take stock. Let all of us ask ourselves: Are the discontented among us simply trying to improve our America from within, or are they, whether unwittingly or not, offering aid and comfort to the enemy? Balint Vazsonyi, concert pianist and director of the Center for the American Founding, is a nationally syndicated columnist. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:01:00 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:01:00 Subject: Taliban anticipating massive US attack, vows revenge Message-ID: Taliban anticipating massive US attack, vows revenge KABUL, Sept 14 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban said Friday it expected to be hit by a massive attack by the United States and vowed that it would take revenge. "We are ready to pay any price to defend ourselves and to use all means take our revenge," a spokesman for the Islamic militia's supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar told AFP by satellite phone from the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. The spokesman's comments came a day after the United States said for the first time that it considered Osama bin Laden a suspect in the investigation into Tuesday's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. "Now they are indicating in clear words that they are going to strike," the spokesman, Abdul Hai Mutmaen, said. The spokesman said he expected the attack to be far more extensive than the limited cruise missile strikes launched by the US in 1998 over bin Laden's alleged involvement in the bombing of American embassies in Africa. "It will be at a very high level. Last time they only attempted to strike a (bin Laden) camp. This time they want to eliminate the whole system and government." Despite the impending threat of US military action, the Taliban has refused to hand bin Laden over. In a statement issued on Thursday, Omar said bin Laden could not have orchestrated the attacks on the US. An English version of Omar's statement was presented to the international press in Islamabad on Friday. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sat Sep 15 02:00:55 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 2:00:55 Subject: Episcopalians respond to terrorist attacks in New York, Washington Message-ID: Episcopalians respond to terrorist attacks in New York, Washington by James Solheim and Jan Nunley (ENS) In the wake of the bombing of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, the Episcopal Church Center in New York was flooded with expressions of shock and offers of prayers from around the world. Many wanted to know if the center itself, located in midtown Manhattan near the United Nations, or any of city's Episcopal churches had been affected. While staff members were badly shaken, the center is several miles from the disaster. Trinity Parish on Wall Street, however, is just around the corner from the Trade Center. The parish's director of communications, John Allen, was arriving at work when he heard what he assumed was a military jet, followed by a tremendous thump. Allen ran into the office building and witnessed a rain of paper and floating debris filling the churchyard. After calming down the children gathered for school, staffers shepherded them to the end of Manhattan Island, where they escaped by ferry to Staten Island or special buses up the east side of Manhattan. In St. Paul's Chapel, across the street from the WTC, lights flickered and went out and people ducked under the pews as the granite building shook. Those who had gathered for services waited and wondered what was going on. As the dust and smoke diminished, 15 or so people stumbled out into the streets, now covered with ash, and sought safety. A disaster film The Rev. Douglas Brown, prior of Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, was part of a crew filming at Trinity Broadcasting when he saw the shower of paper from the attack on the first tower descend to the street. The second plane hit a tower much closer to Trinity and "the sound was unearthly," Brown reported. Watching CNN, the participants at the filming also learned about a similar attack on the Pentagon and "it began to be a little apocalyptic." When the twin towers collapsed, Trinity staffers moved into the stairwells, using masks to breathe as the wind shifted toward Trinity. Though it was snowing ash and debris, the building emptied and staffers ran down to the Staten Island Ferry to escape the island or moved north to safety. When Brown arrived at the General Seminary, he looked downtown and saw both towers missing. Archbishop Rowan Williams of Wales, who was part of the videotaping session, said "it felt horribly like being in a disaster movie, with all the film cliches of people crowding into narrow streets in a dreadful, thick dust that blotted everything out." In a breakfast meeting with Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, Williams said that they agreed that blind retaliation and revenge would be misguided. He said that he was even "grateful for the sense of having been permitted to see a little of what it is like to live under bombardment and fear every day of one's life.... This is what it is like to live in Jerusalem and Baghdad every day." The Rev. Lloyd Prator, of St. John's in Greenwich Village, was walking down Seventh Avenue when he looked up and saw the towers wreathed in smoke. He went back to the rectory to change into clerical attire and opened the church, knowing that St. Vincent's Hospital, a block away, would be deluged with victims and their worried families. "The rest of the day I stayed on the street, meeting ambulances, blessing the sick, commending the dying, and talking to people who waited," Prator said. Fewer and fewer ambulances arrived, meaning that there were not many survivors. Nightmarish snowstorm Andy Stauffer, a former staffer at the Church Center, was working at Morgan Stanley on the 44th floor of the WTC's south tower when "I heard a thud and my boss said that a plane had hit the neighboring tower. He told us to get out, so we went down the stairs. Someone on the public address said that our tower was secure and that we could return to our offices, but we just chuckled and kept on moving." When Stauffer and his colleagues got to the concourse level, looking for an exit, the second plane hit their building. "There was mayhem and the strong smell of fuel. The screaming was incredible," he said. He found an exit, jumped on the subway and miraculously walked away unscathed. But it gives him a chill when he watches the video, realizing that he was on the ground floor when the jet struck. "Everybody with me that day got out." The next day, Kelley Lackey, a student at General Seminary, rode her bike to within a few blocks of the North Tower "where I found myself kicking around in the thick white dust that was still falling from the sky like some sort of nightmarish snowstorm." Offering to volunteer, she was sent as a chaplain to the Chelsea Piers where clergy were waiting to deal with families, volunteers and the wounded. "I witnessed countless acts of love and compassion," she said in a reflection. The Rev. Bud Holland, coordinator for ministry development, and the Rev. Brian Grieves, director of Peace and Justice Ministries, also went from their desks at the Church Center to offer their services and found what Holland described as "a very compassionate environment." He said that it gave him "a lot of hope to see the persistence of life and the wonderful expressions of caring. SCI moves into action Although it was not damaged, Seamen's Church Institute (SCI), located nearby on Water Street, quickly organized to support volunteers, police and fire department personnel responding to the disaster, just as they had during the 1993 bombing at the WTC. Deborah Wagner, director of communication, was at a staff meeting when she heard a loud boom. Within minutes she and other staffers watched as flames engulfed the first tower. "We stared in shock and watched the fire burn out of control. We felt helpless as we saw people falling to their knees on the sidewalk outside our building, crying, writhing, calling out names of friends and loved ones," she said. "People were walking in a stunned daze as we watched the debris begin to fly from the building. Then we saw the mushroom clouds of fire from the second plane hitting the south tower." Panic erupted when the towers collapsed. "We decided it was safer to stay in our building. SCI director Peter Larom walked across the bridge from Queens to meet with the staff and determine a response. Calling on help from Episcopal churches in the city, SCI mobilized a group of volunteers and decided to stay open 24 hours a day, even without electricity. Wagner said that the response has been fantastic. International response Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold immediately issued a statement urging a calm and well-considered response to the attacks. "Yes, those responsible must be found and punished for their evil and disregard for human life," he wrote, "but through the heart of this violence we are called to another way." The worldwide Anglican family responded quickly. Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said that he was "appalled to learn of the terrible tragedies." Calling for prayer, he said that "this is a time of shock and deep distress." In a personal note to the Diocese of New York, Carey said that, while "deep and profound grief is a natural part of a spiritual life," we must also stress that "this emotion must be directed in a search for justice, and not for revenge." He was joined by other church leaders, including: *Bishop Riah Abu al-Assal of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, who said that he found himself "unable to comprehend or even to begin to understand the horrors of this divided and broken world." *Archbishop Michael Peers of the Anglican Church of Canada, who said: "While it is too early to understand with any certainty what lies behind these events, we can be certain that God meets us in prayer, and shares in both our horror and our hope." *Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, who wrote that Christians in Uganda "stand shoulder to shoulder with your people as they grieve and struggle to come to terms with the terrible tragedy which has befallen your country and the whole world. We are crying out for justice; we are praying for America and for world peace." *Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Southern Africa, who said, "We need to pray that the American leadership is granted wisdom to deal with this horrific situation." Prayers for peace and tolerance Most diocesan bishops asked their congregations to open their doors to all, pray for peace and urge caution in assigning blame for the attacks. "What we witnessed and felt through catastrophically destructive acts was that which others around the globe have long lived with on a daily basis: the raw, naked display of the empty powers of evil enslaving the heads, hearts and hands of those who are thereby given to ideological fundamentalism, apocalypticism, gnosticism, and sectarianism," wrote Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison, Jr. "It is important to recognize that we too can be in the thrall of these evil powers. We can fall into thinking that we alone possess the truth and others are wrong. "Or we can pray to God for the grace to see the world comprehensively, to be satisfied with less than final answers, to be willing to follow wherever life's questions lead, to live into the full mystery of life, trusting in Christ alone to guide us. ...Whatever happens, God reigns." "We have as a nation been deeply wounded. And while those responsible for this violence must be punished for this evil and their wanton disregard for the dignity of human life, our greater calling is to cast out the darkness not with more darkness, but with light," Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina wrote. "Let us, therefore, resolve as a nation to rise to the nobility of our national calling, to be a people whose greatness is found in goodness." Strong sense of one family In addition to statements issued by bishops, messages of support and prayer for victims of the attacks poured into the Episcopal Church Center from Episcopalians in dioceses across the country. "Evil and death are not to have the last word!" wrote Caroline Westerhoff of Atlanta, expressing the sentiments of many. "In Rhode Island, we are identifying parishioners who will go shopping with or for some of our Muslim neighbors who are being threatened. Anger and fear often meet at these times, don't they," wrote the Rev. Ran Chase from Providence, Rhode Island. The Rev. John McCann in West Missouri commented, "My son is a paramedic in Oklahoma City, so I am keenly aware of the dedication of all who labor now to help and save others." "My daughter lives in Brooklyn (she attends NYU) and can look across to lower Manhattan," wrote the Rev. Gay Jennings from Ohio. "She said the sight is the worst thing she has ever seen. We are dealing with grief in our office. The sister of one of our employees was on the flight that went into the Pentagon. Too much sadness at one time." "I was already scheduled to preach and preside at the 12:30 Eucharist at Bexley Hall on Tuesday," the Rev. Barbara Price reported from Rochester. "Many non-Episcopalians from the seminary community joined us. We had some young people walk into Bexley in the afternoon, looking for someone, anyone, to talk to to help them 'think through what we're seeing on TV from a spiritual perspective.' ... This is truly an American tragedy--there is a strong sense of being one family. May God grant us the grace to see our Muslim brothers and sisters as part of our American family, too." --Jim Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service. The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 00:11:20 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 0:11:20 Subject: Opening Comments 9-17-2001 Message-ID: Dear Brothers and Sisters, NY CITY. Ground Zero. It's been another rough few days for the folk at the Seaman's Institute in Manhattan. Bill Wagner writes, "I am actually writing this from my office (out here in the real world). Soon I go back to the Zone. As I sit here using a computer, which we cannot get to in the zone, I still have the dust of ground zero on my shoes. We, in the zone are taking this one step at a time. My wife Debra, is still walking in before dawn each day. The Seamen's Church Institute was never geared to do this type of thing. I give great credit to Canon Peter Larom (Executive Director of SCI) for showing the way. For the first 4 days the entire staff at SCI had to reinvent themselves and their organization. God's grace must have been with them as they developed the skills they needed. We are now up to feeding 500 and have trucks of volunteers bringing hot food to ground zero. Thank everyone for their prayers. Yesterday, at long last Debra was able to lay down the main responsibility for getting the food in, at least for a few hours. Thank you." They are starting to see the pain of those who are pulling bodies from the carnage. Some on the spot Virtuosity's readers write and tell me what it feels like to be in a city that is empty save for those who are working; tearing at steel and concrete, listening and hoping that a life or lives beneath the rubble might yet be saved. "They still have hope," said one reader. Everybody wants to find someone alive. It keeps them going 24 hours a day even under heavy arc lights all through the night. Television now reveals what looks like ants crawling over piles of concrete and steel. In truth it is an orderly, functioning chain of men carefully picking up what they can with their hands listening for sounds, while bulldozers grab big chunks of concrete and yet bigger cranes grab for steel girders. Hundreds of trucks line up and haul their loads to Staten Island, the island of junk. They're all professionals now wrote another. Unless you have a skill they can use they don 't want you. There's no point in feeling hurt, they can't afford the luxury of amateurs making mistakes, however well intentioned they might be. That's lost time. They don't have it to waste. Go home and pray. Write out a check. Give blood. Go to Church. Pray some more. Take His body and blood into you with thanksgiving. Then pray some more. This is America. On Saturday I attended a rally in West Chester, PA with my rector. He got an invite to pray, speak and lead in song. He's good at all three. That's probably why he's our rector. All the state's politicos were out in force at all levels of government, from highest to lowest. Firemen and police and thousands of onlookers added weight to the occasion. Patriotic songs were sung, a Black Police officer sang "I'm proud to be an American," and "America the Beautiful," so beautifully, he had us all in tears and then we cheered. This is America. A spotless fire engine unfurled a huge American flag atop its extended ladder right up High street and everybody cheered some more. Every color, race and religion was present. Everybody wanted to own this day as theirs. A Catholic monsignor, a number of Protestant ministers, an Imam and a Rabbi all had something to say. Everybody got a hearing. Cold drinks were handed out free to anyone who wanted them. Veterans of Foreign Wars, the FOP, Fire chiefs and leaders of civic groups all weighed in with a prayer, voices often breaking as they read them. The Fire Chief never finished his. Everybody understood. We all knew what he was feeling. This is America. Prominently displayed on the side of the courthouse entrance and freshly polished, hung the 10 Commandments. Frequent references were made to them. An old Black preacher went through them all and reminded us of just how important they were in our daily lives. The ACLU was understandably absent. The lines between church and state took a real beating on Saturday, and no one cared. They invoked God, Jesus, the 10 commandments, the Constitution, and they called on God to "help us in our hour of need." These are salt of the earth Americans. No frills. No cynicism. No hatred. Just patriotism and God all mixed in together. This is America. Last night (Sunday) my wife and I were invited to attend another town meeting in a place called Malvern. It was called together by a simple Black Baptist lady who just had to do something. She had come to Good Sam my parish and had had the misfortune of hearing me sing and insisted I go public. My wife noticed she had a tracheotomy sticking out of her throat. I was blown away. I could hardly turn her down. She arranged the whole thing by herself, and she probably won't live to a ripe old age. I gave her a big bear hug and held back the tears. Wasps don't cry. So there we were, sitting in an outdoor park in the early evening, near a gazebo, with some ordinary folks with a boom box and a bunch of patriotic CDs while families from around the town sat on the lawn and heard poems read, and listened to stories of how people felt about what is happening to America. A Baptist minister and young choir director played two hymns on trumpet and trombone, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "God Bless America." When they finished there wasn't a dry eye anywhere. Then they clapped and cheered. This is America. Then an old man got up wearing a hat and shirt made out of an American flag, took off his hat and then belted out a patriotic song a cappela. The crowd stood and cheered. He just had his 15 minutes of fame. We all loved it. This is America. I worry about excessive patriotism it can lead to Xenophobia, but there was no fear of that last night. My wife looked around and saw every color in the rainbow. Black and yellow, red and white all are precious in His sight. There they were, all God's children. They sat on the lawn trying to sing the songs, some in tears others hugging their children as though they might never see them again. Who knows what might befall you on Monday morning. Then I sang Rock of Ages. Somehow it seemed appropriate. The last verse reads: While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyes shall close in death, When I soar to worlds unknown, See thee on thy judgment throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee. Five thousand people now understand this. Had a hard time finishing the hymn. I think Augustus Toplady would have understood. This too is America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. I have posted a number of stories for you to read with an opening reflection on what is becoming an international religious and culture war. A somewhat different take than what you might read on op-ed pages of local newspapers. I go out on a limb. There are a number of other solid pieces of writing from around the world for your reading interest. If you would like to look at past digests you may do so by going to: http://www.orthodoxanglican.org/virtuosity. Hit the ARCHIVES link. All Blessings, David W. Virtue PRAY FOR AMERICA. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:48:33 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:48:33 Subject: THE WAR OF TWO CULTURES Message-ID: THE WAR OF TWO CULTURES News Analysis By David W. Virtue It is now becoming apparent that the devastation wrought this week in these United States was the opening salvo in a worldwide culture war. The war of civilizations has just begun. Many of us have thought, for some time now, that the growing tensions in the world have less to do with the haves versus the have nots, north versus south, justice versus injustice, black versus white, capitalism versus socialism, globalization and those who oppose it, or even the revival of now defunct isms like communism, nationalisms of one sort or another, fascism or nazism, but a war in which the primary contestants are Islam and Christianity with attendant notions of freedom and democracy. E.L. Doctorow said as much on national public radio. It is the clash of cultures, that is, two ways of seeing reality and life. He is partially right. It is also about a clash of religions, two religions in particular that view the world, God, human destiny, and to some degree human behavior in vastly different ways. Behind that are super-power jealousies, fear, oppression and exploitation of the weak and vulnerable. It is about deeply held ideological viewpoints, viewpoints that are becoming more entrenched and polarized by the day. It is about different cultural mandates. The vast majority of Americans are still Christians, some nominal, the greater majority committed at various depths to a Christian worldview. A quarter of the nation is Roman Catholic. There are 70 million Evangelicals of one stripe or another in the US. But liberal theology, slowly dying in mainline churches for the past 40 years, and pluriform truths, nose-dived this week demonstrating their hollowness and vacuity in the face of absolute evil. The Episcopal Church's chief pluriform thinker Frank Griswold stayed in the safety confines of 815 while his counterpart Catholic Cardinal Egan dashed off to hospitals to give spiritual comfort and the last rites. There is also no word that NY Bishop Mark Sisk ministered to anyone either. The ACLU was suddenly silent. Postmodernism coupled with scientism and moral relativity has made serious secular inroads into the lives of most Americans with awful moral consequences and a relativization of truth that has blinded millions to the view that absolute truth can be known, affirmed and stated with candor and without fear of ridicule. Apologetics might have taken a temporary backseat but it is slowly emerging from a long slumber. The slaughter of 5,000 Americans brought home the reality that good and evil, life and death, sin and salvation remain the staple theological diet of most American lives, built solidly on the truth that Christianity answers the big questions about life's meaning, its purpose and its ultimate destiny. Is there a God? Can we know Him? Has He self-disclosed? Has he appeared in human form? Was the appearance of His Son of significant salvific value to warrant our attention? Is the forgiveness of sin possible or necessary? If we die is that the end? If there is life after death what does it all mean? Is there a final judgment? Is there someone called Satan and does he have human allegiances. The Western mind has, for the most part, shelved these questions or ridiculed them as irrelevant to modern life where hi-tech gadgets, electronic toys, extended life through modern medicine are our current pre-occupation. One does not stand under a collapsing building with half a million tons of concrete bearing down on one's head and worry if a hair transplant is vitally necessary. But then, in a single moment it is all shattered by an event so horrible that we are forced to face the reality that good and evil exists; that Deepak Chopra's pseudo-Buddhism has no answers. Neither do the apostles of self-enlightenment, self-fulfillment and self- actualization, nor do the upholders of pansexuality. The culture of celebrity just took a major hit. The culture of death may need morphine just to stay alive. Bin Laden, it has been said, is the most notorious advocate of a potent strain of militant Islam that has been gaining popularity in the Muslim world for 30 years. It is simultaneously theological and cultural. Its fundamental tenet is that the Muslim world is being poisoned and desecrated by infidels. These infidels include both outsiders such as the United States and Israel, and governments of Muslim states-such as Egypt and Jordan-that have committed apostasy. The infidels must be driven out of the Muslim world by a jihad, and strict Islamic rule must be established everywhere that Muslims live. These extreme "Islamists," as Bin Laden biographer Yossef Bodansky dubs them, hope to re-establish the Caliphate, the golden age of Muslim domination that followed the death of Muhammad. They regard the Taliban's Afghanistan as a model for such Islamic rule. So it comes to this. Those of pure Islamic faith and heart using less than impure methods to achieve it have declared a Holy War. One religion argues that to lay down one's life for the gospel is entirely acceptable, while another religion uses martyrdom and the slaughter of others to jolt people to accept their truth...or else. Ironically many current academics, using popular textbooks, say that Western civilization is singularly responsible for the mess we are in, arguing that Western achievement is a sinister and exploitative plot to undermine other cultures. Over the last generation or so, the one thing we can reasonably assume about these works, regardless of the exact topic or period under discussion, is that they are going to be on the other side. If an evil interpretation of Western conduct can possibly be applied to a given event, if a Western achievement can be distorted to expose the sinister and exploitative side of our civilization, then, without fail, it will be done. The story of ancient Greece thus becomes a heartrending saga of slavery and patriarchal brutality; the age of global discoveries is seen in terms of imperialism and genocide; Christian churches existed to demean women, suppress knowledge, and persecute their rivals. Interestingly enough The Episcopal Church has bought into much of this liberal thinking. Spiritually America is thin. George Gallup's observation that American Christianity is 3000 miles wide and one inch deep is sadly true. American Christians are going to have to wake up spiritually and grow deeper into their faith, become more mature and ask the big and hard questions about pain and suffering, life and death. Many will start reading their Bibles again and begin asking the hard questions. That is a good thing. Death focuses the mind. A feel good God who loves me just the way I am, a la Louie Crew, and who doesn't want me to change my behavior is out. Homosexuality is out. God's absolute moral will for our lives is in. A health and wealth gospel has no place in Scripture or in our lives either. No longer will we believe that God excuses sin on 'boys will be boys' notions. Sin is sin. Evil is evil. Repent or else. Fire breathing evangelists preaching hell and damnation might be closer to the truth after all. America is at war said our president. We are at war not with another nation, but a hidden group of terrorists spread across many nations. Finding them and punishing them will be difficult and time-consuming. Americans are an impatient people, they want action now, but they will have to learn to grow up and wait for the answers to come. Delayed gratification is always the best. Certainly Osama Bin Laden knows this and he waits with the patience of Job to catch his enemy off guard before striking again. Americans might have to learn such patience. Holding up a Quran, Bin Laden puts it this way: "You cannot defeat the heretic with this book alone. You have to show them the fist." America's military response will be built on the notion of defense, defense of a nation that was violated. Vengeance but tempered with justice. Revenge should not motivate our leaders. Neither should hatred. It will be a knife-edge of reaction not to make Bin Laden a martyr and a hero to the Islamic world. Hopefully America's Arab friends and Pakistan will step in to deal with this man before we have too. The enemy of my enemy is my friend in times like these. Both US Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Welsh Primate Rowan Williams in their statements about the tragedy have it wrong. Dead wrong. This is not about revenge. Our political leaders have not used that word. These men are fools. Revisionist fools. No one has said anything about revenge. What America will do is to find and destroy a group of barbaric terrorists and their accomplices who attacked two major American cities and killed 5,000 people. That is an act of war pure and simple. There will be no idiotic Episcopal Task Force on Reconciliation to try and resolve it. "Tell me Osama how does that make you feel. I'm sure we could find middle ground here. Hows about you take out one tower instead of two. Now George do you think the American people can live with that? Now when you've decided I, as the Presiding Bishop have arranged dinner at Sardis. I'll pick up the tab. Oh and by the way Osama please don't hit midtown Manhattan all my favorite restaurants are there." What was equally painful this week was to hear two fundamentalist Christians Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson argue that this tragedy occurred because it was God's judgment on America because of the abortion industry and sodomy. It gave Jane Dixon a temporary high ground to bash fundies. They too are wrong. God does not allow or will 5,000 innocent people to be wiped off the face of the earth because abortionists are running rampant and homosexualists are practicing a deadly behavior. If you want to argue the judgment of God on homosexuality look at the AIDS figures. If you want to look at what abortion has done to women, there are volumes of guilt-ridden women, a chronic shortage of babies that may well impact social security in the years to come, and the fear that these women may have murdered a life and will stand before God one day and give Him an explanation. And if you want to argue the judgment of God on ECUSA you might look at the existence and growth of the AMIA as a sign of God's displeasure. God will judge "the living and the dead" at the Last Judgment, but please don't tell us that the elimination of 5,000 ordinary folks in mega-bomb planes is His judgment on others sins. But on many moral issues Islam is right. This is a culture war. They don't tolerate sodomy or abortion, they know it kills people. And real Christians can join with followers of Islam on a number of moral, social and family issues, not the pseudo-Christianity of Jane Dixon, sodomist Michael Hopkins, the Integrity crowd or what is fashionable laissez faire Episcopalianism. These people are not mainstream Christians, if they are Christians at all. And that is why this is a Holy War. We have exported the culture of death while preaching democracy and freedom; the good life, including pornography, abortion, mortgage payments and credit card debt and wonder why they see us as the enemy. Two things need to happen. America must, in good time, work to eliminate terrorism. They won't do it perfectly; there will always be those to replace them. But military action is necessary. Let us not be naive about the nature of evil. God has given the state the right to bear the sword. Secondly Christians need to shore up their weakened faith, understand and practice the law of God, preachers should preach justification and sanctification, affirm the truth of Scripture is its unalterable standard of faith, and, in the case of the Episcopal Church, get rid of its current leadership and evangelize like crazy. This is a golden moment for that to happen. Pluriformity is dead. The gospel is still true. Western civilization is still rooted in the Reformation and personal freedom. If we lose that we will invite the infidels into the gates and then we will have no one to blame but ourselves if they destroy us. God help us all then. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:48:58 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:48:58 Subject: More Christian Leaders Speak Out Message-ID: MORE CHRISTIAN LEADERS SPEAK OUT Compiled by David W. Virtue ADDRESS OF ARCHBISHOP WALTON EMPEY - Church of Ireland The address of the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Reverend Dr. Walton N. F. Empey, given in the Pro-Cathedral on Friday 14th September 2001 at 11.00 a.m. on the occasion of the National Day of Mourning for the American Atrocities. Those of us who are old enough will remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on the occasion of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. There is no doubt that Tuesday, 11th September, 2001, was a dark day for the people of America and for millions of people throughout the world and that it will remain firmly embedded in our minds until the day we die. A far-fetched imaginative film could not match the actual horror that unfolded before our eyes as our hearts beat in anguish at the unbelievable scenes of human agony and destruction. Prayers flashed across international boundaries as all people of goodwill, lifted their hearts to Almighty God for the American people and in particular for the husbands, wives, children, fathers and mothers of those who lost their lives in the most appalling circumstances. They need to know that they are not alone in their grief but are and will be supported in prayer at this dreadful time. It is important that this message be conveyed to them as we try as far as is humanly possible to share in the burden of their grief. So many of us Irish people have such strong ties with America and its people that it all comes home to us with particular force. But our prayers must also go beyond even those who are suffering loss to all the people of New York and Washington and for the entire nation. Symbols are important, very important and so an attack as such strikes at the very heart of all Americans. The cold, calculated clinical attack has shocked an entire nation and through them the free world. We pray that they may turn anew to God, not only as they struggle now with shock, anger, despair and the human desire for revenge but in the months and years to come. They are an extraordinarily resilient people as they have shown again and again and if the resilience is grounded in faith in God they will have nothing to fear. Our prayers must also be for those in leadership and in particular President George W. Bush. We can only guess at the huge pressures he has to endure by the holding of that office and for the terrible decisions that will inevitably confront him. He may be the most powerful man in the world but let us not forget that he is also a human being with all the frailties which that implies. We say in all sincerity "May God help you to bear the burden that has fallen on your shoulders and on the shoulders of those who advise you and may the Holy Spirit guide you through the labyrinth of difficulties that lie before you". There is one other group that we must not forget, the rescueworkers, particularly the firemen and police who despite the grief of loss of so many brave comrades and friends have still to face the grim and dangerous task of rescue and the recovery of bodies. They will, in the next few weeks, see sights that no human being ought to see and we pray fervently that God may give them the strength and the courage to endure the terrible task that lies ahead of them. A few moments ago I mentioned the importance of symbols. The great symbol of Christianity is the Cross of Christ. It is a bare cross to remind us of the suffering of Jesus but it is also an empty one to remind us that out of darkness came light and out of death came Resurrection. We pray that all Christians in America will keep their eyes on that symbol of hope in these dark days and in the days to come. Finally may the souls of those who died in New Year and Washington and those who endured the terror of being passengers in the hijacked aircraft rest in the Peace of God. Amen ***** The Faithful Flock of the Dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Within the United States of America During the morning of Tuesday, 29 August/11 September, terrorists overpowered the pilots and crew of four passenger jets and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, near Washington, D.C. In so doing they intentionally killed everyone on board the planes, including themselves, and many thousands of innocent lives in the buildings they destroyed. These horrific acts of terrorism have by their savagery and audacity instantly wrought a profound change in American society. Everywhere, the American people are weighed down by the magnitude of the loss of life, filled with indignation at those who have committed these senseless acts and their supporters abroad, and newly aware that much that they have taken for granted in their lives must now undergo a fundamental change. Regrettably, we hear repeated cries for revenge and retribution. To these the Orthodox must respond with the words of divine Scripture: "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12: 19). Let us also not forget the words of our Savior, said of those who were putting Him to death, as He endured the excruciating pain of His brutal crucifixion: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Lk. 32: 34). Beloved children in our Savior, let us use these sad days for serious introspection. Speaking to His disciples of the fall of another tower, in which lives were likewise lost, Jesus called His followers to examine their lives, and repent. He said: "Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Lk. 13: 4-5). Many search the Scriptures to see if these be the last times which were foretold, and see "wars, and rumors of wars" as signs that this is so. Be this so or not, let us repent as He urges us, and dedicate the remaining time of our lives to the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. Aware of how swiftly death came upon the many thousands who perished in the recent disaster, let us use the time remaining to us to acquire the virtues and to do good to our neighbors, so that they may marvel and say: "See what men of love these Orthodox Christians are!" Beloved, let us dedicate ourselves to this goal, and not be dissuaded from the straight and narrow path which leads to it. Thus, let us begin by entreating God in our private prayers, that He have mercy upon the victims of this tragedy, and more especially upon the families and loved ones they have left behind. And let us also offer Him fervent plea, that He direct the leaders of this great country, that, guided by His wisdom, in days to come they may make their crucial decisions with prudence, dispassion and circumspection, so that amid peace and tranquility "we may work out our own salvation in fear and trembling" (Phil. 2: 12). Laurus, Archbishop of Syracuse & Trinity, Deputy of the First Hierarch Secretary of the Synod of Bishops ***** Pastoral letter from Bishop Leo Frade Please read this pastoral letter to your congregations at service throughout this week. Open letter to all the people of Southeast Florida: On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, we witnessed through television the power of evil. We could see the effects of the fanatical actions of a few persons full of hatred, trying to rob us of our peace and liberty. We suffer today for those who have died, those who have been injured and those who have lost their loved ones. Our suffering will no doubt increase as we learn the final toll of this horrific terrorist action. Yes, we suffer indeed, but at the same time we must remind ourselves and the whole world that our country will not be defeated by the hatred and fanaticism of a few. We thank God that our elected government continues in control, that our will to preserve freedom and peace remains strong. We also know that justice will prevail over those who have shown so much disregard for the lives of so many innocent people. Our prayers are with the leaders of our nation, that they may be given wisdom and courage to deal with the demands of this crisis. Our hearts go out to all who have been injured, or who have lost loved ones, or who are still waiting for word of the missing. We give thanks for those who, at risk of their own lives, are working to rescue survivors. We remember in our prayers all those who have died as a result of these violent acts. My call to everyone in Southeast Florida is for us to be patient as the authorities investigate the source of the evil acts our country has experienced. Regardless of who may have committed these acts of terror, it is important that we as Christians resist any temptation look for scapegoats, or to generalize about any group of people because of the actions of a few. Even in the midst of our grief and outrage, just as we condemn the brutal actions of the terrorists, we must also be quick to condemn any reactions of racial, ethnic or religious prejudice. As Christians we know that in the midst of life we are surrounded by death. At the same time we strongly believe that it is also in death that we are surrounded by life through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our true security. As St. Paul writes in the eighth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans: "With God on our side who can be against us?.....Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked.... For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, nor angel or prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, nor any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord." Let us not despair - our country and our faith must remain strong. Let us pray that God will continue to guide and bless our beloved country, that the United States of America will continue strong and determined to be free as "One Nation under God". Blessings, The Rt Revd Leo Frade Diocesan Bishop Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida ***** House of Lords speech The Rt Revd John Gladwin Lord Bishop of Guildford In the American Book of Common Prayer appear these words: You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day... though a thousand shall fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, the deadly pestilence shall not come near you. They are from Psalm 91. My Lords, the deadly plague of hate has come very near us in the full sight of God and our television cameras. And the world reels; and our words crumble in the face of it. The global community is, for Christians, nothing new. Across the street from what was the World Trade Centre stands the first Church of England parish church, St Paul's Chapel, Broadway, built in 1766: it is the mirror image of St Martin's in the Field. My Lord's The grave yard of St Paul's has just been expanded by several acres. St Paul's Church, and the surrounding land, on which the Towers of the World Trade Centre were built, and have now fallen, was a farm owned by Queen Anne. It was given, as part of her bounty, to sustain the life of that Church in a small colonial port City. How times change. Yet of the things that matter most, human virtue and evil, nothing changes. Yet again, as the Pastor of the American Church in Surrey reminded us in our Cathedral vigil with the American community, the senseless death of one man long ago and far away, affects even the senseless deaths of the ten thousand who have fallen at our right side this week. My Lords it is in the nature of evil to seek to create chaos, to attack the innocent and to feed bitterness and hatred destroying all that makes our life truly human. We must not allow such to bring down our values and reduce them to rubble. Those who are responsible for these deeds must be brought to justice the justice which lives with freedom: impartial, measured and effective. As we see ordinary firemen and police men and women struggle to find the people in the devastation, and as we ourselves are drawn into an unshakeable bond of affection with our American friends is not resistance making a start? Life and hope and renewed commitment to liberty and justice must spring forth from this death. The roots of American liberty and of our freedom as represented in our Parliament are one in the deepest of places in the culture, the values, the faith of our people over many centuries of struggle. If that is our good fortune and if it that which has come under attack from the forces of oppression and fanaticism then let us see it as gift to be shared with the whole human community. We ought not to forget that our Parliament is to be the voice of the people defending their freedom and their dignity and enabling their duty and citizenship. As the forces of terror have struck deep into the heart of our free world so now we must ensure that freedom and justice strikes deep into those nations dominated by oppression and the gross abuse of power. That is the war we must win. Now is not the time to consider the detail of all that needs to be done to our politics and our security. What matters at this moment is what we believe and what we hold together. Her Majesty's decision to have the US National Anthem played at the changing of the guard was a generous and powerful symbol of what we all stand for. It had an added poignancy. The American national Anthem was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key while the British bombarded Baltimore from warships from its harbour! Dare we think of a day when the US marine band will play in a free and peaceful and just Kabul? Every ancient English parish church (and those built by Englishmen abroad) stands as a symbol of life in the midst of a graveyard. Out of this sea of death we must bring new life and hope to our world. That is our prayer for the people of New York and Washington and all America and it is our commitment for the world we desire. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:49:06 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:49:06 Subject: Parish of St. John's Addresses Dixon's Dismissal of charges against her Message-ID: PARISH OF ST. JOHN'S ADDRESSES DIXON'S DISMISSAL OF CHARGES AGAINST HER Here is the response from Accokeek to the decision that no presentment against Bishop Dixon is possible. This should have been posted in the last digest. Please accept my apologies. Saint John's Parish 600 Farmington Road West Accokeek, MD 20607 Christ Church, Accokeek; Saint John's Chapel, Pomonkey For immediate release September 15, 2001 Statement on Title IV Review Committee decision in the matter of the Rt Rev'd Jane Holmes Dixon, Respondent The leadership of this congregation has read the decision of the Title IV Review Committee with disappointment and dismay. The character of this decision does nothing to reassure any member of this parish - indeed any member of the Church at large - that the Episcopal Church is a government of laws, not men. We note with interest that the decision of the Review Committee, while issued on September 5, was not made available to the complainants until September 13. We further note that yesterday - not 24 hours from the time that the attorney for the complainants was notified of the decision and during a time of national grief and mourning - attorneys for the Suffragan Bishop of Washington have filed a motion to amend the record in the pending Federal court. We hope we may be forgiven for doubting whether such a short period of time sufficed for the preparation of this motion. In the release from this parish of September 13, the Rector, Fr Samuel Edwards was quoted as saying, "The question is whether there are any checks on [a bishop's] authority or whether each bishop is an absolute ruler within his diocese. In the end, the question that must be resolved is whether the Episcopal Church is still a constitutional body or whether it has decayed into an absolutist system." To our sorrow, it appears that in fact there are no checks on episcopal authority over vestries and congregations: The vestry - not just this vestry, but in principle every vestry in the Episcopal Church - has had its role as a full partner in the call of clergy to reduced a merely advisory role. The bishop - not just this bishop, but in principle every bishop in the Episcopal Church - has had his role elevated from that of a consultative partner to that of an absolute determiner. The opinion of the Review Committee is, in essence, a decision not to decide - a decision to wash it hands of the matter and thereby to leave it to be settled by the rule of tooth and claw. If one of the characteristics of government is to secure justice for both small and great, this agency has admitted that the Episcopal Church is without authentic government. If one of the characteristics of a Church is an ability effectively to hold to account all its members whatever their station, this decision raises the question whether the Episcopal Church is in fact simply an association of religiously-minded people. The effect of the Committee's decision is to admit that there are no enforceable constraints on the personal whim of whatever individual occupies the episcopal chair in any diocese and that, in the end, the canons, as in Lewis Carroll's Wonderland, mean whatever the bishop wants them to mean. We have come to a sad time when, in view of the manifest inability of the judicial processes of the Episcopal Church to secure the lawful of prerogatives of vestries and congregations against violation by that Church's highest officials, vestries and parishes must wait upon the pleasure of the secular courts. If this cause is lost, no congregation in the Episcopal Church is safe. Hence, we continue in our determination to defend ourselves against the continuing legal aggression. We are now assessing the impact for this particular congregation of this new revelation of the true character of existence in the Episcopal Church. We would encourage all other congregations likewise to give the matter critical thought and much prayer. END For further information, please contact the Rector or Wardens of the Parish at the following addresses: Telephone: 301 292 5633 Facsimile: 301 292 2415 e-mail: Accopriest at aol.com From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:49:15 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:49:15 Subject: St. Nicholas Church Destroyed in Twin Towers Attack Message-ID: ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH DESTROYED IN TWIN TOWERS ATTACK NEW YORK--The terrorist attack against the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center that killed an estimated 5,000 people, also destroyed tiny St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church located about 500 feet from ground zero. On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, Fr. John Romas, pastor, attempted to go to his church but was turned back by police. Wednesday, he was permitted to visit the site to view what was left of the church. "It would break your heart," he said of the devastation he witnessed. "It's one thing to see it on TV, and another thing to see it in person. St. Nicholas is buried under debris. It is the worst thing." He described steel girders and concrete from the towers burying the building. Fr. Romas said that, at the time of the first blast, one parishioner, Vassilios Torazanos, 50, was working in the church but rushed out of the building moments after the first jet, American Flight 11, crashed into the south tower at 8:48 a.m. He left his car in the adjacent parking lot and ran all the way to Brooklyn, about two miles distant over the East River. Normally about 45 to 50 faithful (capacity for St. Nicholas) attend Divine Liturgy on Sundays. He said his parishioners plan to rebuild their church and have established an account for anyone wanting to donate. (St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Atlantic Bank, account number 09062602, 8010 5th Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11209). Fr. Romas also said he is attempting to locate a site in the area to hold church services and plans to ask permission from city officials to allow him to retrieve the church's holy relics: those of St. Nicholas, St. Katherine and St. Sava. They were kept in an ossuary on what had been the top floor of the four-story building. Greek immigrants established St. Nicholas Church in 1916 and purchased the structure for $25,000. It was one of two old calendar parishes under the Archdiocese until 1993 when it switched to the Gregorian calendar. Among the church's unique characteristics are its small size and its icons, which were a gift from the last czar of Russia, Nicholas II. Fr. Romas expressed hope he would be able to salvage some of the icons. The church also was open Wednesdays at midday, for people to light a candle and pray during their lunch breaks, to attend a Paraklisis the first Wednesday of the month, or just for spiritual contemplation. The tiny church building was constructed around 1832. It originally was a residence and later housed a tavern before the founders of the parish purchased the structure. It measured 22 feet wide in front, 20 feet, 11 inches in the back, and about 56 feet long. It was 35 feet tall. On three sides it was bounded by a parking lot. Among its first members were the parents of Telly and George Savalas. The church has been known locally for several years for its celebration of Epiphany. Parishioners would proceed to nearby Battery Park at the south tip of Manhattan, where a diver would jump into the icy water of New York Harbor to retrieve the cross. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:49:31 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:49:31 Subject: Empires of Faith: Islam and the Academy by Philip Jenkins Message-ID: Empires of Faith: Islam and the Academy by Philip Jenkins A story long popular in London tells of a foreign visitor losing his bearings while walking along Whitehall and politely asking a passerby, "Excuse me, sir, which side is the Foreign Office on?" Hearing the visitor's accent, the Brit despairingly replies, "Yours, probably." This story comes to mind when we read the histories of Western culture and civilization served up by many current academics, particularly in popular textbooks that are sold by the millions. Over the last generation or so, the one thing we can reasonably assume about these works, regardless of the exact topic or period under discussion, is that they are going to be on the other side. If an evil interpretation of Western conduct can possibly be applied to a given event, if a Western achievement can be distorted to expose the sinister and exploitative side of our civilization, then, without fail, it will be done. The story of ancient Greece thus becomes a heartrending saga of slavery and patriarchal brutality; the age of global discoveries is seen in terms of imperialism and genocide; Christian churches existed to demean women, suppress knowledge, and persecute their rivals. Modern scholars have no wish to repeat the errors of their despised predecessors, who supposedly served as mindless cheerleaders for Western imperialism and oppression. No, indeed! Why do that when you can be a mindless cheerleader for the imperialism and oppression of every other civilization on the planet? Perhaps it is a perverse scholarly variant on Newton's law of motion: For every action, there is an opposite and wildly disproportionate reaction. Though academics have turned venomously against Western Christian civilization, they certainly have not abandoned their willingness to make moral judgments, to present history in terms of heroes and villains. In many ways, contemporary liberal history looks very much like the most simplistic works of bygone days about the glories of civilization, but the civilizations that are now extolled are, basically, everyone except the West. This means the world of Islam, China, and even the Aztecs-perhaps the bloodiest and most ruthless bunch of thugs ever to be graced with the word "civilization." When we see how contemporary academics have turned so enthusiastically to any and all other societies, we might think of George Orwell's explanation of the extreme political ideologies of the 1930's. In Orwell's view, a generation of young people brought up on flag-waving jingoism had come to despise their own country, but they still felt a powerful compulsion to express their patriotic passions, and so they transferred their loyalties to more fashionable nations-to Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany. To observe the process of transferred cultural patriotism in operation, we can trace how scholars over the years have treated the European Middle Ages. Once upon a time, the Middle Ages were seen as a magnificent peak of cultural achievement. This was the view epitomized by Henry Adams' Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres (1904) and popularized in such Catholic bestsellers as James J. Walsh's The Thirteenth, Greatest of Centuries (1907). Clearly, a view that at once glorified the West and Christianity was going to be a prime target for liberal historians from the 1960's on. These skeptics made short work of naive romanticism about an age reputedly characterized by pervasive faith and heroic chivalry, a world of saints and scholars. If we look at a modern "Western Civ" textbook today, the Middle Ages are portrayed much differently. Instead of the old Eurocentric nonsense, the blaring triumphalism, we now know the truth: Medieval Europe was replete with superstition, class violence, and religious bigotry. Fortunately, though, Christian Europe was able to pull itself together through the aid of the great Muslim civilization, with its matchless saints and scholars, its heroic chivalry, and . . . you get the picture. Literally every one of the crudest stereotypes about medieval Christianity still flourishes, but it has been transferred en masse to Islam in the same period. Beyond question, medieval Islam did possess a glorious civilization. Muslim scholars did a superb job of preserving classical writings, and they made significant progress in science and philosophy. I have no wish to denigrate Muslim achievements, past or present. Even now, entering a mosque can be a moving experience-all the more so when the building stands as an island of dignity and decency amidst a sea of extreme poverty. Islam itself is not the problem. Still, current Western views of the history of Islam are so over the top in their obsequious desire to praise Muslim achievements over Christian ones that they have simply become ludicrous. Just look at the bestselling religious books of Karen Armstrong and try to find a respectful word about Western or Christian thinkers in the Middle Ages, in contrast to the lavish praise heaped upon their Muslim counterparts. This past May, PBS stations nationwide devoted three hours of prime time to a major documentary called Empire of Faith, which presented the current myth of Islam at its most extreme. This production, with actor Ben Kingsley as narrator, was trumpeted as one of PBS's leading events of the season. At every point, the portrait of Islam offered by this program was staggeringly uncritical, although it featured commentary by a dozen or so leading academic historians-or perhaps I should say, because it featured so many eminent historians. Even the title is indicative of the slanted approach. Islam, we are told, was a "worldwide power founded simply on faith." Not surprisingly, the account of the religion's spread conveniently overlooks the fact that faith received a significant assist from a massive and consistent exercise of armed force. The whole "empire of faith" notion subtly, and improbably, suggests that millions of Christian Syrians, Egyptians, and others suddenly volunteered to become a despised underclass under Muslim rule. In fact, Christianity survived only because the Byzantines were sufficiently powerful and inventive to outfight the Muslims for several centuries, and because they possessed a potent secret weapon called "Greek fire" (we call it "napalm"). Once Muslim power was established, Empire of Faith tells us that, in effect, Islam created the modern world. Muslim women, we are told, had many more rights than the primitive Christians. But the greatest accomplishments were in the sciences. "Algebra, astronomy, trigonometry, and engineering" all trace their roots to Islamic scientists. "The Renaissance had its beginnings in Baghdad," and eventually, Muslims came "bringing the precious gift of knowledge to Europe." Of course, the 13th was the Greatest of Centuries-not that the scrofulous Christians had anything to do with it. By the way, it is amusing to see these paeans to science and scientific discovery, because they contrast so sharply with conventional academic discussions of Western advances, including scientism and the tainted desire to subdue the material world. Science and technology are bad if they are developed by Europeans or Americans; they are good if cultivated by anybody else. The documentary depicted everything Christian or European with the greatest hostility. Much of the supposed European backwardness was connected with the people's primitive religion-namely, Christianity. Muslims were developing an admittedly sophisticated medical technology "at a time when Europeans were praying to the bones of saints to cure their illnesses." While Muslims were publishing learned works on paper (a Chinese invention), "the monks of the West were hoarding their knowledge on scraps of expensive parchment." The only true glories of Europe were to be found in Spain, in places like Cordova, "a city of light-a Muslim city!" Sometimes, visitors traveled from the "cold stone of their northern castles into the glorious Muslim cities of southern Spain." While Muslims were portrayed as living in urban sophistication, "in contrast, people in Paris lived in shacks by the river." (Rumor has it that the Islamic world was not entirely populated by wealthy lords and merchants living in the splendors of Club Muslim, but the program obviously did not have time to discuss the lower orders of that glorious society). One of the few media critiques of this particular piece of pro-Muslim fluff came from Claudia Rosett, writing in the Wall Street Journal (May 7). She wrote-accurately-that "This show bears a propaganda stamp akin to those old Soviet brochures once sent out by Intourist-the kind that were packed with pictures of colorfully costumed ethnic minorities and wide-angle photos of verdant fields but somehow went light on the grittier aspects of the situation." Empire of Faith merits careful viewing, but one point that emerges repeatedly is the double standard. For the filmmakers, the ultimate evil of the Middle Ages was the Crusades, dubbed with terms like "a campaign of bloodshed," "a surge of religious fervor and fanaticism coming from Western Europe," "incomprehensible horror," where the warriors were "fired up with fanaticism and zeal." After we have shaken our head sufficiently over these atrocities, described to music that is alternately terrifying and dolorous, we are relieved to hear of the liberation of the Holy Land by Muslim warriors, fearless and brave, motivated by religious zeal (but definitely not by fanaticism or fervor). Modern historians love to illustrate the bigotry of medieval Christendom by quoting the line from Chanson de Roland: "Les Chrestiens ont droit / et les paiens ont tort," ("Christians are right, and pagans are wrong.") How simplistic and stupid, we scoff, when everyone knows that, in Le Chanson de PBS, it is les paiens who are infallibly correct. Or to paraphrase Orwell once more: Cross bad, crescent good. What Empire of Faith has done-like countless texts over the last few years-is to take an image of the Middle Ages that would have been familiar in the age of Sir Walter Scott and precisely invert it. Knowledge and culture come from Islam to Europe, not the other way around, and the fanatical barbarians on the frontier are not the stereotyped Saracens, but the mindlessly savage Catholics. Twenty years ago, Edward Said popularized the term "Orientalism" to describe a familiar package of prejudices about the savage and mysterious East. What contemporary academics are doing is applying the same notions to Christendom and the West: They are, in fact, inventing "Occidentalism." And they are doing it without any significant criticism from the media. Since the West is self-evidently evil and repressive, its enemies must be laudable. To adapt the dialogue in my original story: Which side is PBS on? Anyone else's, probably. This documentary could be dismissed as an isolated event, except that it epitomizes many contemporary ideas about both Christianity and Islam, particularly in the Middle Ages. In the conventional image, the two faiths differ above all in their attitudes toward religious tolerance. "Islam" implies Muslim-ruled Spain, a society in which Christians and Jews lived and interacted with some freedom; "medieval Christendom" suggests the massacres of Jews and heretics during the crusading era, and especially the great pogroms during the Black Death. Presumably, scientifically advanced Muslims did not need to find scapegoats for the plague. Christian Europe is equally condemned by its involvement in the Crusades, those acts of religious-based militarism that foreshadowed the worst brutalities of later imperialism. The contrast between the two religions is simply good and evil, night and day. Unfortunately, the conventional image is also utterly wrong at every point. Certainly, some Muslim societies were tolerant, for the simple reason that, for most of the Middle Ages, they were ruling over vast Christian majorities (not minorities) and simply could not suppress or massacre all their subjects. Somebody had to pay taxes and build roads. In countries like Egypt, therefore, the new Muslim rulers contented themselves with persecuting the tens of thousands of monks and clergy. Each was required to have the name of his church or monastic house branded on his hand, and if he failed to do so, the hand would be cut off. Christian laymen generally escaped these torments until the 14th century, when, during the Black Death, Muslim authorities launched a wave of massacres and forced conversions on a vast scale. Yes, Muslims did launch pogroms, though commonly against Christians rather than Jews. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the number of Christians living in Asia fell from perhaps 21 million in 1200 to just 3.5 million by 1500. Generally, Islamic tolerance is an historical myth. Muslims were not monsters, but- contrary to legend-they did not rise above the prejudices of their age any more than their Christian contemporaries. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:49:37 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:49:37 Subject: An Afghani Speaks Out: ARE WE GOING TO WAR? by Tamim Ansary Message-ID: An Afghani speaks ARE WE GOING TO WAR? By Tamim Ansary I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed that this would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage. What else can we do?" Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether we "have the belly to do what must be done." And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I am from Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost track of what's going on there. So I want to tell anyone who will listen how it all looks from where I'm standing. I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York. I agree that something must be done about those monsters. But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not even the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps." It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country. Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering. A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. There are millions of widows. And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass graves. The soil is littered with land mines, the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets. These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban. We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already. Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate their hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did all that. New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would only be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time. So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with ground troops. When people speak of "having the belly to do what needs to be done" they're thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed. Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people. Let's pull our heads out of the sand. What's actually on the table is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that folks. Because to get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. We're flirting with a world war between Islam and the West. And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants. That's why he did this. Read his speeches and statements. It's all right there. He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the west wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to lose, that's even better from Bin Laden's point of view. He's probably wrong, in the end the west would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that? Bin Laden does. Anyone else? END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:49:44 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:49:44 Subject: PENTAGON ATTACK Message-ID: Pentagon Attack Sir: As you already know by now, all of us in the front office made it out safely after yesterday's attack. I wanted to relate to you something of what we all experienced, from a first-hand perspective. At 0900, Admirals Guter and Lohr, all the Aides and EAs, and several AJAGs were in Admiral Guter's office for the weekly AJAG meeting. We were discussing several issues, when word came in that the World Trade Center had been attacked. We turned on the TV in the Admiral's office, and saw live the scene of horror as the second plane smashed into the South Tower. Everyone in the room let out a collective gasp, and stared in momentary disbelief. After coming to grips with what we were watching, Admiral Guter quickly took control of the meeting. While leaving the TV on, we moved to the next issue for discussion. Several minutes later, with a warm DC sun shining through the windows of what we all considered was the unassailable fortress of our defense establishment, a deafening explosion sounded. Just as we heard the loud crash, a shock wave ripped through the building, shaking the walls and jarring our bones where we sat. "We're under attack," and "We've been hit," were the first audible responses after a split second of stunned silence as our minds came to terms with what our bodies had just felt. What we were watching on TV in New York had just happened to us. Sir, you have been in this building. The plane struck the OPPOSITE side from where our spaces are, and still we were battered around with tremendous force. That should give you an indication of the strength of the blast. Immediately, the word spread through this massive complex to evacuate. We all left the office, calm mostly because we were still in shock over what was happening. For the most part, the evacuation was orderly. But we heard shouts and screams, voices shouting "Oh my God!" and "Get the hell out! Out! Out!" Panic was spreading through some, many running in all directions through the corridors. One area of the building had lost power, was dark, and black with choking smoke. Word of the fires, and collapsing ceilings and bulkheads were carried throughout. Balls of flame and swarms of debris shot through rings E, D, and C at the affected area, tearing through bulkheads, people, and even the spirits of those anywhere in the building. Through the mass of bodies, pressing against each other from every direction, I found my Admiral up ahead. We had been separated by the sweeping current of blues, greens, and khakis. Fighting through the press, I reached him. He was calm, and resolved. As we headed down the ladder well from the 5th deck, he told me to make sure we had everyone out. We had. We finally made it outside, through the river entrance. Crossing the grass yard with thousands of others, we felt the warm sun and saw ahead of us the gleaming white of the Washington Monument across the Potomac. Turning around, I looked upon a war zone. Thousands were still pouring out of the building. From our angle, it seemed half the building was throwing huge clouds of black smoke into the air, covering much of the sky. After staring at our burning building for a few minutes, it was really setting in that we had been attacked. My mind thought of the trip to Pearl Harbor a few short weeks ago, and our tour of the ARIZONA Memorial. Was this what those sailors had felt on that day-the shock, confusion, surprise, and then horror at the slow realization that they had been attacked suddenly and without warning? I didn't know, but I imagined it must have been somewhat similar. The crowd assembled stared aghast...the shock was fast turning to anger, and a temporarily impotent desire for vengeance. Then soldiers and sailors were running past the throng, shouting for doctors, medics, and corpsmen. They had turned the North entrance by the POAC into a morgue, triage, and temporary care facility for the injured. There were many of them. Shortly after the call for medical help went out, word spread that another plane was detected headed straight for the Pentagon. The ETA was 10 minutes. Just as the World Trade Center was hit twice, so were we to be, it seemed. We were too close to the building. Orders were passed to get even farther away. In a scene from a movie, literally thousands of Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Army officers and enlisted ran from the building grounds, hopping bushes and low walls, jumping down steps two and three at a time. Along the river the hill slopes down away from the Pentagon, and it was there, in that natural trench, that thousands threw themselves, hitting the dirt and laying down....taking cover from the imminent second attack. Just as some were screaming, "Why do we have no air cover!?" F-16 fighters out of Andrews AFB, their wings visibly packed with missiles, screamed overhead. They flew in circles over the Pentagon and the District, with word, we were told, to shoot down ANY airliner that came into the area, no matter how many were onboard. I looked up and thought, this indeed was war....Thousands of my fellow citizens were dead in New York, my headquarters was burning and collapsing in smoke and rubble before my eyes, and jet fighters were flying combat air cover over our capital for the first time in history. I myself saw two people collapse outside from apparent heart attacks as we took cover and awaited the imminent second attack. Thankfully, it never came. Personally, I suspect that that plane that crashed outside of Pittsburgh was headed not for Camp David, as the press had speculated, but for us at the Pentagon. Sirens from police cars, fire engines, and ambulances screamed everywhere. Helicopters, military and police, filled the sky overhead and deafened our ears. Busses packed with medical personnel brought in from Bethesda and Walter Reed skidded around armed barricades and raced to the center of the carnage. We ran into RADM Craig Quigley, the Pentagon spokesman, and he stuck with us for a while. He was as confused as the rest as to what was happening. Dozens of us surrounded a man who had a portable radio, thirsting for ANY news as to what was going on. A report came though, later contradicted, that the State Department and the Treasury had also been hit. No one knew what was going to happen next, or when the attacks might end. We were gathered outside the Pentagon, watching it burn, still feeling the shock of the blast, and we felt impotent. No one knew what to do. We could only make sure others were safe, help those who were injured, and rage inwardly, pining for a deadly retribution. We had somehow survived a sneak attack while too many others working very close to us had paid with their lives. We would never be the same. Late last night, Admiral Guter called me at home. His message was simple. "Chris, we're going in tomorrow." "Aye, Sir," I said. We sent the message to the rest of our troops. My apartment building is only a few blocks from the Pentagon, and I walk here to work everyday. This morning, at 0545, in the same uniform I had worn when we were attacked, I headed across the street to my office. Parts of the building were still burning, smoke billowing upward in the pre-dawn hour. Police, military and civilian were everywhere, letting no one near the building without a Pentagon pass. But DOD workers, military and civilian, were heading in. We were sending a message...."You will not frighten us; you will not stop us, no matter what you do." Passing through security, I entered the south entrance of the building. Smoke and black soot were everywhere, a cloud choking me as I passed through. I walked through the NATO corridor, the end of which I could not see through the smoke. But I was not alone. Others were walking in alongside me, faces grim with determination. No one spoke, no one laughed. Only the echo of footsteps on the ash-covered floors could be heard throughout. Passing through SECDEF corridor, the smoke cleared. I could see through the windows into the inner courtyard, jokingly referred to as "Ground Zero." It was no longer a joke, but had become reality. I stopped in my tracks and stared. Fire engines were in the courtyard. Smoke was still pouring off the roof, and fires still burned on the opposite side. The grassy areas of the courtyard were being turned into makeshift morgues, body bags covering the lawns under the trees laid out in rows like at the national cemetery not far away. They weren't full, but were obviously ready for what the rescue crews would find in our building once the collapsed wreckage was cleared away. All along the walk to our office, corridors were covered in black ash and cordoned off with yellow police tape. But I am here in our spaces, as is the ENTIRE front office. We smell smoke, we have soot all around, and firemen are yelling at us to leave, but we are here for now. It is amazing that we have power in our part of the building. I want to please Sir, ask you to pass on my thanks for all my friends down there who called my home and left messages for me yesterday. I could not return all the calls, and the phone lines in the area are still jammed and not working properly. Please thank everyone for their concern and prayers. May God be with those who yesterday and today gave their lives in this, America's latest war. Very respectfully, Chris Ludmer LT, JAGC, USNR Aide & Flag Lieutenant to the Judge Advocate General From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:49:53 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:49:53 Subject: Prince of Peace, God of War Message-ID: Prince of Peace, God of War Claremont Institute Precepts: Prince of Peace, God of War By Thomas L. Krannawitter Amid terrible times of suffering, Americans turn to God. Americans always have been, after all, a religious people. George Washington believed the American Revolution, and the ensuing experiment in free government, was guided by the hand of Providence, because he thought God on the side of freedom. Abraham Lincoln, in his Second Inaugural Address, a work no less theological and philosophic than political and poetic, interpreted the horrors of the Civil War as divine retribution for the sin of slavery. Americans of old understood what is right, and reasonably expected God to shine His blessings on them and protect them when they lived rightly. And they feared Him when they strayed. They understood that God is good, that God favors freedom over tyranny, justice over injustice. They understood that the principles of America are good -- that it is the first country in human history founded on the "laws of nature and of nature's God" -- and that their patriotic duty to their country is no less a duty to God. Today many of our ministers, priests, and rabbis neither think nor speak this way. As a nation we have succumbed to modern ideas that blur, if not erase, the distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil. These ideas have come to dominate our halls of worship, as they dominate our legislative halls and halls of education. Many churches today fail to teach patriotism because they no longer know what is right, and they no longer know America to be right. But this week we have seen the face of evil up close. Evil has been thrust upon us. If anything good is to come from these terrible events, we must use them as reminders of the principles of right and the duties of citizenship. Our God and our Constitution demand it. Our slain countrymen deserve it. One way to help us remember these things is to recall the sermons delivered during the American Founding. These sermons represent a religion that knew right from wrong, as clearly as it knew night from day, because it understood that the principles of right are made available to man by his reason no less than divine revelation. What follows are excerpts from a 1758 sermon delivered by Samuel Davies to the militia of Hanover County, Virginia, as that body sought new recruits to fight the French and Indian War: Cursed be he that doth the work of the lord deceitfully; and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Jeremiah 48:10 Nothing can be more agreeable to the God of Peace than to see universal harmony and benevolence prevail among His creatures; and He has laid them under the strongest obligations to cultivate a pacific temper toward one another, both as individuals and as nations. "Follow peace with all men," is one of the principal precepts of our holy religion. And the great Prince of Peace has solemnly pronounced, "Blessed are the peacemakers." But when, in this corrupt, disordered state of things, where the lusts of men are perpetually embroiling the world with wars and fighting and throwing all into confusion; when ambition and avarice would rob us of our property, for which we have toiled and on which we subsist; when they would enslave the freeborn mind and compel us meanly to cringe to usurpation and arbitrary power; when they would tear from our eager grasp the most valuable blessing of Heaven, I mean our religion; when they invade our country, formerly the region of tranquility, ravage our frontiers, butcher our fellow subjects, or confine them in a barbarous captivity in the dens of savages; when our earthly all is ready to be seized by rapacious hands, and even our eternal all is in danger by the loss of our religion; when this is the case, what then is the will of God? Must peace then be maintained? Maintained with our perfidious and cruel invaders? Maintained at the expense of property, liberty, life, and everything dear and valuable? Maintained, when it is in our power to vindicate our right and do ourselves justice? Is the work of peace then our only business? No. In such a time even the God of Peace proclaims by His providence, "To arms!" Then the sword is, as it were, consecrated to God; and the art of war becomes a part of our religion. Then happy is he that shall reward our enemies, as they have served us. Blessed is the brave soldier; blessed is the defender of his country and the destroyer of its enemies. Blessed are they who offer themselves willingly in this service, and who faithfully discharge it.... ...Some [Americans] lie dead, mangled with savage wounds, consumed to ashes with outrageous flames, or torn and devoured by the beasts of the wilderness, while their bones lie whitening in the sun and serve as tragic memorials of the fatal spot where they fell. Others have been dragged away captives and made the slaves of imperious and cruel savages. Others have made their escape and live to lament their butchered or captivated friends and relations. In short, our frontiers have been drenched with the blood of our fellow subjects, through the length of a thousand miles; and new wounds are still opening... Will this violence cease without a vigorous and timely resistance from us? No. We have no method left but to repel force with force, and to give them blood to drink in their turn who have drunk ours... I seriously make the proposal to you, not only as a subject of the best of kings and a friend to your country but as a servant of the most high God; for I am fully persuaded what I am recommending is His will; and disobedience to it may expose you to His curse... ...The cause in which these brave men, and our army in general, are engaged is not so much their own as ours. Divine Providence considers them not so much in their private, personal character as in their public character as the representatives and guardians of their country; and, therefore, they will stand or fall, not so much according to their own personal character as according to the public character of the people whose cause they have undertaken. Be it known to you, then, their success depends upon us even more than upon themselves. ...Ye that love ease and shrink from the dangers of war; ye that wish to see peace restored once more; ye that would be happy beyond the grave and live forever -- attend to my proposal. It is this: A THOROUGH NATIONAL REFORMATION. This will do what millions of money and thousands of men, with guns and swords and all the dreadful artillery of death, could not do -- it will procure us peace again, a lasting, well- established peace. Our enemies think their political cause -- the cause of tyranny -- is good. We think the cause of freedom and constitutional government good. Both think God on their side. It cannot be. As the preachers of the American Founding explained, reason is the voice of God, no less than revelation. Reason and revelation agree on the equal rights of all men, government by consent, and the rule of law. Any revelation, any religion, that contradicts these simple dictates of rational morality - - that denies the equality of all men, and the equal rights of liberty, life, and conscience with which we are endowed by our Creator -- is untrue. If the enemies of freedom wish to discuss these things, we will demonstrate why their position is unreasonable, unjust, and evil. But if our enemies refuse to talk, if they refuse to heed the counsels of reason, and choose instead to make war, we will make sure they get it. In those times, terrible times such as we face today, let us follow the Abraham of America, our great Civil War President, having faith that "right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." Thomas L. Krannawitter is Director of Academic Programs at the Claremont Institute. He is currently writing a book on the political sermons of the American Founding. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:50:00 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:50:00 Subject: A Reflection Upon Tragedy Message-ID: A Reflection Upon Tragedy By Jack Lynch The world remains in shock after the worst tragedy in American history. Many despair; many simply are in shock. But the effects of this horrible event will go beyond the terror of this nation; it will go beyond the changes in our national life, for this act of wickedness will be the uniting experience of a generation. Indeed this may be the very defining principle of what this generation is. Little has united us before now, but like the deaths of Kennedy and King, and the assault on Pearl Harbor did for our parents and grandparents, this act of terror will be burnt into our collective memory. The unity will come through working out our fears and our rage and our helplessness. It will come as we turn towards one another and towards God as we discover our common humanity and our common dependence on him. History will someday inform us what the total effect of recent days will be. In this we go not without hope, for as much we have observed the potential of human evil, so have we seen, and so shall we continue to see, the manifestation of divine benevolence in human life: Manifestations such as the firemen and police officers who have risked and given their lives to rescue others, manifestations of the extraordinary grace in ordinary people. It became all the more real when I heard about a friend of mine who is a student in New York. He had gone to the university chapel to pray the Great Litany, as I had done here, and he went to visit an elderly man from church. As he walked near through the tragedy, he was pulled aside to assist in an ER. All night, he was the only Christian chaplain present-A young man, a student like myself. It could have been me. God was with him in the midst of it all. It could have been any of us, and that is what this generation will see. Any of us could have been involved; nearly all of us know someone who was there. Perhaps as a result we shall seek God's face more as a people, as a body of his children. I hope that we will discover that that is the one thing we can do no matter who we are, where in world we are, or whence we come. The universal nature of this horror demonstrates the universal work of the Cross of Christ. His sacrifice is for all. Christ suffers with us as we suffer, as he shares our humanity. That being so, evil, sin, and death cannot triumph, for as Christ shares in our sufferings, so shall we share in his Resurrection to New Life. Of course questions remain: Who? Why? What next? Yet perhaps the most fundamental questions will relate more to our own hearts rather than what we shall do next. We will turn towards division and hatred? Will we succumb to fear or self-imprisonment? Obviously there must be justice, but what is justice in the face of such wickedness? God alone is just, and he is with us as we seek him in the midst of death and destruction. So as we look to the future of our country, let us turn toward the Cross, and let us be instruments of Christ's peace. Jack Lynch, 19, is a senior in the Department of Classics and Sacristan for Episcopal Campus Ministries at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. He is active in Episcopal Campus Ministry and is in the discernment process for ordination. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:50:05 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:50:05 Subject: Understanding Osama bin Laden Message-ID: Understanding Osama bin Laden William O. Beeman Pacific News Service Providence, Rhode Island -- The United States risks a severe miscalculation in dealing with the destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon on Tuesday. This event is not an isolated instance of violence. This is not an "act of war." It is one symptom of a cancer that threatens to metastasize. The root cause is not terrorist activity, as has been widely stated. It is the relationship between the United States and the Islamic world. Until this central cancerous problem is treated, Americans will never be free from fear. Merely locating and hunting down a single "guilty party" in this case will not stop future violence: such an action will not destroy the organization of terrorist cells already established throughout the world. Of greater importance, it will do nothing to alleviate the residual enmity against America. The perpetrators of the original attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 were caught and convicted. This did not stop the attack on Tuesday. The chief suspect is the Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden, or his surrogates. He has been mischaracterized as an anti-American terrorist. He should rather be thought of as someone who would do anything to protect Islam. Bin Laden began his career fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979, when he was 22 years old. He has not only resisted the Soviets, but also the Serbians in Yugoslavia. His anger was directed against the United States primarily because of the U.S. presence in the Gulf region, more particularly in Saudi Arabia itself - - the site of the most sacred Islamic religious sites. According to bin Laden, during the Gulf War America co-opted the rulers of Saudi Arabia to establish a military presence in order to kill Muslims in Iraq. In a religious decree issued in 1998, he gave religious legitimacy to attacks on Americans in order to stop the United States from "occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places." His decree also extends to Jerusalem, home of the sacred Muslim site the al-Aqsa Mosque. Bin Laden will not cease his opposition until the United States leaves the region. Paradoxically, his strategy for convincing the United States to do so seems drawn from the American foreign policy playbook. When the United States disapproves of the behavior of another nation, it "turns up the heat" on that nation through embargoes, economic sanctions or withdrawal of diplomatic representation. In the case of Iraq following the Gulf War, America employed military action, resulting in the loss of civilian life. The State Department has theorized that if the people of a rogue nation experience enough suffering, they will overthrow their rulers, or compel them to adopt more sensible behavior. The terrorist actions in New York and Washington are a clear and ironic implementation of this strategy against the United States. Bin Laden takes no credit for actions emanating from his training camps in Afghanistan. A true ideologue, he believes that his mission is sacred, and he wants only to see clear results. For this reason, the structure of his organization is essentially tribal, or cellular, in modern political terms. His followers are as fervent and intense in their belief as he is. They carry out their actions because they believe in the rightness of their cause, not because of bin Laden's orders or approval. Groups are trained in Afghanistan, and then establish their own centers in places as far-flung as Canada, Africa and Europe. Each cell is technologically sophisticated, and may have a different set of motivations for attacking the United States. Palestinian members of his group see Americans as supporters of Israel in the current conflict between the two nations. In the Palestinian view, Ariel Sharon's ascendancy to leadership of Israel has triggered a new era, with U.S. government officials failing to pressure the Israeli government to end violence against Palestinians. Palestinian cell members will not cease their opposition until the United States changes its relationship with the Israeli state. Above all, Americans need to remember that the rest of the world has an absolute right to self-determination that is as defensible as our own. A despicable act of terror such as that committed in New York and Washington is a measure of the revulsion that others feel at U.S. actions that seemingly limit those rights. If we perpetuate a cycle of hate and revenge, this conflict will escalate into a war that our great-grandchildren will be fighting. William O. Beeman is a specialist on Middle East culture at Brown University. He has worked for the past four years in Tajikistan, where he has monitored developments in Afghanistan. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:50:10 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:50:10 Subject: Concern for the Persecuted Church in Pakistan Message-ID: CONCERN FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH IN PAKISTAN This is an idea indirectly connected to the persecuted church, but thought it might be worth sending out. You may have heard by now that the Pakistani government has demanded the Taliban in Afghanistan hand over Osama bin Laden in three days. This is a departure from prior Pakistani relations with the Taliban as the former has been supporting the latter for years. This move on the part of Pakistan is not without significant risk for the ruling government. It's actually been somewhat surprising that the Pakistan government has actually been so co-operative with the US since the attack on Sept 11. Here's the idea: contact the Pakistani embassy, thank them for help and acknowledge how tough it must be to stand up to Islamic extremists. (These same Islamic extremists are responsible for passing a law in Pakistan known as Penal Code 295-C aka the "blasphemy law". This allows anyone who blasphemes Islam to be put to death. Many Christians are on death row in Pakistan because of this law, frequently under very questionable allegations.) So if we can encourage Pakistan to stand up to Islamic extremists now, it may help weaken the political strength of radical Islamic politicians in Pakistan. In turn, this may help rescind or mitigate this Penal Code 295-C later. The particulars are below. Let me know what you think or if you have any other ideas. Thanks and may Jesus use you in the difficult times ahead. Dr. MaLeeha Lodhi Ambassador of Pakistan to the USA Embassy of Pakistan 2315 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington DC 20008 Info at pakistan-embassy.com President General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan ******** A friend from the NZ branch of a mission society with people in Pakistan sends the following. The (Xer's) have also advised and commented that: Murree Christian School has closed for 4 weeks, with a daily review. All foreigners have been ordered out of the NW Frontier, and Baluchistan and northern areas. The Coopers observed military maneuvers in the NWFP as they traveled to Peshawar last Friday. Embassies have not yet ordered their people out but people have been told to have their bags packed. The general view is that the notice to move will be very short - a matter of hours possibly. The Bazaar 'feel' is a little more tense than usual; sympathy is expressed over the US tragedy, but definite disagreement over US having ground access. Muslim brotherhood will be the strongest influence. A person was told that 70 US military aircraft have landed in Islamabad. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Mon Sep 17 01:51:03 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 1:51:03 Subject: Liberals Embrace Morality without Religion By Andrew Carey Message-ID: Liberals embrace morality without religion By Andrew Carey Church of England Newspaper Behind the spin with Andrew Carey Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's analysis of the serious decline of Christianity has prompted one of the most interesting media debates in years about the importance of Christianity to morality and the role of the Church in contemporary society. A range of headlines from 'Don't ask me to weep if Christianity is vanquished' to 'Most Britons have no room in their lives for Christ' followed. Pages of debate in the weekend's press including much serious analysis of the real state of Christianity, rather than the usual knee- jerk lamentations of decline. At the heart of the debate was the question of the extent to which Christianity underpinned morality. The Cardinal carefully used the word 'demoralised' to indicate how, without the underpinning of Christian morality, many people in society were now 'in thrall' to selfish values. For many people meaning was now to be found in a hotchpotch of New Age spiritualities, in drugs, pornography and recreational sex. Against this view, the Observer's leading article insisted, "We can be moral without religion". The sub-heading revealed the newspaper's colours: "The end of Christianity is no bad thing". "A child brought up without religion can certainly be a moral human being. And in a multicultural society we need to develop a secular morality - of equality, honesty, fairness - which can unify rather than divide as religions have done so often in the past and still do, as last week's nauseating events outside a Northern Ireland school have shown. But championing this secular morality requires confidence and bravery. It will mean that faith will become a wholly private matter, not subject to either state interference or sponsorship." Commentators insisted that unchurched young people thought deeply about morality these days, from strong views on the environment and international debt through to forming their individual views on drugs and recreational sex. Modern society, they insisted, threw up many more ethical conundrums than ever before, and people were responding by thinking more deeply. Yet, while it is not impossible for individuals to make good and wise moral choices without Christianity, both the Cardinal and Archbishop are right to argue that it is the lack of a framework of shared values which make ethical decision-making less and less likely. The evidence is all around. And while Christian morality still has a creeping presence in the culture, moral decision-making is a much more privatised matter. The Observer's call for a shared secular morality looks an empty prospect -- prey to division on political, ethnic and class lines. And the insistence on a privatised religion demonstrates a dangerous, and possibly intolerant, naivety about the very nature of faith. But the real promise in the Cardinal's words is the realism at the heart of it all. In Christian Missions, Stephen Neill explains how the 18th century outburst of missionary activity, paralleling the age of rationalism, could hardly be considered "a promising seed-bed for Christian growth". He writes: "There is no reason to suppose that it can not be so today. But such renewals do not come automatically; they come only as the fruit of deliberate penitence, self-dedication and hope. And the starting-point of all these is ruthless realism as to the situation in which the Church actually finds itself." There are two factors that prevent the mainstream denominations from wholeheartedly embracing this ruthless realism and being energised for Christian mission. Firstly, a disastrous nostalgia prevents clergy and laypeople realising that they are truly in a missionary situation. The fact that a few more people turn up to Church on Remembrance Sunday, or Easter or Christmas, and the role of the Church in civic occasions, seems to prevent them from recognising that they no longer have a recognised role in British society. The chaplaincy role of the established Church should not blind us to the reality that society has changed and that most people have no contact with the Church and in the words of the Daily Mail 'have no room in their lives for Christ'. 'Liberal' Christianity I believe is the second enemy to a ruthless engagement with the contemporary situation. In some press coverage more optimistic views of liberal church leaders were quoted suggesting in the case of the Bishop of Oxford that he believed the Cardinal's views were 'wedded to traditional thinking'. This, of course, is the reason why liberal Protestantism is in its death throes in Western culture. In its rush to embrace everything new in culture, many mainstream Christians cannot conceive of a valid reason to evangelise. Having baptised every new trend, having embraced pluralism, having kicked the Bible into touch, there is absolutely no reason for people to choose Christianity any longer. An Evangelical Alliance spokesman threw down the gauntlet to both British Catholicism and British Anglicanism. Accepting the Cardinal's statement as a 'painfully accurate' picture of the state of our culture, Martyn Eden demanded "a vigorous counter-cultural response rather than a retreat into quiescence". Do our Church leaders have the vision to embrace this ruthless realism? What the newspapers said about the Cardinal "Despite the good works done in the name of religion, they are no longer central to social organisation in this country or in most of the world." Leading article, Independent, September 7, 2001 "What is amazing about Christianity, though, is not its decline, but its extraordinary longevity. And far from being 'vanquished', it is now being absorbed... Institutional Christianity may be in trouble, but the features, fables and ethics of the religion itself are being diffused among the millions of customised moralities and belief-systems that people construct." David Aaronovitch, Independent, September 7, 2001 "Those a little older than the Cardinal have something else in their memories. They grew up in a world where Stalin murdered Russian churchmen; where Hitler vilely persecuted German churchmen of all denominations; where the Spanish killed nuns and monks because they were religious. To be adult in 1937-38 was to predict that Christian faith could hardly survive, except as a backstreet minority in such a world. With such events in the recent past, and with what happened afterwards, it is difficult for a Christian of that generation to be a pessimist about the future of the churches." Owen Chadwick, The Times, September 8, 2001 "All societies from the most primitive, had had rules that bind them together, rules, for example of ownership and partnership. The whole cannot function without a reciprocity of obligation. Christianity once performed that role, too, but no longer. The watershed acknowledged by the archbishops is an opportunity to consider what sort of morality is appropriate for Britain in the 21st century." Leading Article, The Observer, September 9, 2001 From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 00:12:31 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 0:12:31 Subject: Opening Comments 9-19-2001 Message-ID: Dear Brothers and Sisters, NEW YORK, NY. Ground Zero. Time is running out for survivors caught in the labyrinth of steel girders and broken concrete at the World Trade Center. A Virtuosity reader in New York City Dana Fenton writes; "One of my home colleges is the command center for search and rescue and will not reopen for a couple more weeks. We will have thousands of families who will have nothing to bury...we have emergency workers having breakdowns (trust me, the media will not cover this, but my psych colleagues are working at ground zero). Even the cadaver sniffing dogs and the search and rescue dogs are breaking down, one died of heat prostration last night." "The real grieving has not yet started here, we are still numb and all of us by the time this is over will have known someone who is gone. Three of my students have lost a best friend, three close friends and a godson." "Body bags are holding body parts, one per bag, the stench of dead flesh will not go away until the first freeze." On a more prosaic note, she writes, young Latino men whom I see on the subway in normal working clothes, for example, fitted slacks or jeans and fitted shirts with their neck crosses tucked in are now walking around in "Ghetto Drag" baggy jeans, oversized "T" shirts head wraps and sporting cheap glitzy oversized crosses, because they are brown and terrified of repercussions as soon as they go downtown to their jobs." This is the world of New York City. It's not pretty. It's not supposed to be. And yet our Presiding Bishop thinks he can pluriform this one away. No chance. I have looked at all the press releases and photos coming from the official ENS sources, including Griswold's own comments and those of others and conclude that he is radically out of touch with reality. His pluriform theology cannot cope with absolute evil. I try to put in perspective his comments and those of Rowan Williams, Primate of Wales who just happened to be in town when the twin towers were hit. I have also written a statement Griswold should have read to Episcopalians. It tells the truth in unvarnished form, not glossing over evil, recommending justice and confirming the Episcopal Church's premier place in the history of this great nation. As our president said, "There is no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil. It must be the core of Western policy that there be no sanctuary for terror. And to sustain such a policy, free men and free nations must unite and work together." As some of you know Trinity Wall Street took something of a secondary pounding in the fall of the twin towers. No one was hurt, the damage was slight. They also have the money to repair it. Most of you also heard or read the comments by Jerry Falwell and his take on why America got hit. The notion that this was God's judgment on America for abortion and its sexual sins is not only bad theology it is in very poor taste. I have written a story today about my own encounter with Jerry Falwell some years ago. He is not a nice man. His Fundamentalism is ugly and so is he. You can read how I encountered his wrath. I have also compiled more responses from the international Christian community about the attack on America. We are learning that this slaughter was truly international. The Germans say they lost more people in this holocaust than at any time since World War II. It was truly an international slaughter. I am posting a number of other thoughtful responses to this tragedy for your reading interest. These are stories you will not necessarily read in your local newspapers. On other more mundane Episcopal issues you can read a give and take between two Episcopal bishops over the AMIA consecrations in Denver. The liberal bishop of Mississippi A. C. "Chip" Marble wrote a stiff letter to retired evangelical West Tennessee Bishop Alex Dickson. You can read that exchange. The letters highlight the issue of authority. A good read. I want to thank all of you who have written personal notes to me. I am deeply touched by your thoughts and prayers. Yes, it is difficult writing this stuff. I live with it 18 hours a day, on radio, television and endless stories must be sorted through for your reading. Hopefully you are receiving the best. Of course I am not in the belly of the beast so I can't complain. Others are doing what I only write about. Theirs is the greater struggle. If you would like to review past digests you may do so by going to http://www.orthodoxanglican.org/virtuosity. Hit the ARCHIVES link and read to your heart's content. Please feel free to recommend Virtuosity to others and point them to the Website. All Blessings, David W. Virtue From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:30:25 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:30:25 Subject: FRANK GRISWOLD AND GROUND ZERO Message-ID: FRANK GRISWOLD AND GROUND ZERO News Analysis By David W. Virtue Where was Frank Griswold when two commercial jets blasted into two skyscrapers taking 5000 lives, just down the road from 815 the Episcopal Church's national headquarters? According to an Episcopal News Service news release, our Presiding Bishop was holed up in his office and putting out the news that he was all right thank you very much. "Thank you for the many expressions we are receiving of support and concern. We are safe and exceedingly mindful of the tragedy that is happening in another part of New York and also in Washington." Exceedingly mindful!!! The earth bloody well shook, nine buildings fell to the ground with more teetering and Griswold is "exceedingly mindful!" By contrast when Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Eagen of New York heard the news he was out giving the last rites to the dead outside of St. Vincent's hospital. New York Bishop Mark Sisk is photographed out and about inspecting the damage. Griswold by contrast, was certainly not doing what a priest should have been doing, namely reaching out to the dying, injured and distraught. After all you would have thought that our chief pastor and pluriformist would have at least enough compassion to hit the streets, perhaps with a group of clergy and cry with those that cry and pray with those who are dying - perhaps even offer them the consolation of the cross, hope of salvation and eternal life with, gulp, Jesus. No, instead Frank Griswold had breakfast with Archbishop Rowan Williams Primate of Wales who both assured us, in lofty tomes, that he and Rowan were firmly against revenge, and, in the words of Williams, "we found ourselves very much of one mind." That's a relief. God help us if we should ever have primates disagreeing over the slaughter of 5,000 innocent souls, a half dozen blocks from where two of the world's tallest buildings have just collapsed around their ears. More tea Rowan? Both lofty minds opined that, "what must be discouraged is pressure to relieve the tension by being seen to be doing something." Shades of Neville Chamberlain. No revenge please, we're British. Another cuppa Rowan? The Taliban have announced a Jihad, Bush says its war, and we'll find the bastards and nail their backsides to the Afghani desert. 5000 dead will not go unpunished, while these two latter day liberal pacifists sit down to a breakfast of canapes, pinkies raised, contemplating a pluriform answer to an evil that most journalists can't find words to express. There was and has been no condemnation of this evil by Griswold, just vague words of regret. "The Church Center community has gathered to support one another and to pray for all those who have died, or been injured during the events of this morning. In some way they touch us all, and we hold one another in prayer. We will offer our noonday Eucharist for all those who have died or been injured." So those dying on the streets are going to be consoled by Frank having a Eucharist for himself and his gang at 815, while people scream and die a few blocks from his front door. With Griswold everything is turned inward, to himself. His first response is selfishness, what does it mean to me. His second is knee jerk anti-Americanism - let's not be mean to Muslims. Ironically Griswold has plenty of time to condemn the Israelis over their policies against the Arabs, and condemn Fr. Sam Edwards for being "schismatic" because he is an orthodox believer in an increasingly unorthodox church. He had time to sign and send a personal letter to canon lawyer Chuck Nalls to say that there will be no justice for the church in Accokeek. He managed that on the afternoon of September 13th, whilst other churchmen found it more appropriate to be among the injured, the dead, the grieving and the suffering. We know Frank Griswold's priorities, wipe out the orthodox in the Episcopal Church while 5,000 men and women have just lost their lives. These are his priorities for you. He waxes eloquent about the stained glass windows of St. Paul's but he makes no mention of the people who go there. What of them? Did they make it out? Last year Griswold used the PLO line against Israel when he condemned Israel over the Jewish radicals presence on the Temple Mount. Griswold mouths the platitudes of the Palestinians who throw bombs at innocent Israelis, yet can't muster the courage to condemn whoever did the job in New York. Nor has he condemned the anti-Christian violence in Jos, Nigeria, and he has refused to participate in "buying" children to free them from the clutches of Muslims in the Sudan. Furthermore have we ever heard Griswold condemn Muslims who persecute Christians in countries like Pakistan, Nigeria, the Sudan, or Uganda where many are being martyred for their faith? Furthermore Griswold has never condemned the snatching and holding of eight Christian aid workers, by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Why not? Because Frank Griswold doesn't believe in evangelism of the Taliban or anybody else. Pluriformity rules that out. He wants people to live into their baptism, whatever the hell that means. Now that we are 99 percent sure it was people with very definite Arab sounding names like Ali and Ahmed coming from, (big surprise), Middle East countries, Griswold is still silent. The only people you are permitted to offend are narrow-minded Episcopal fundamentalists, Anglo- Catholics, homophobes and thousands of alleged racists that nobody has ever met. Yesterday, on a pastoral visit to the area, Griswold, his wife Phoebe, and members of his staff, escorted by police, walked the ruined site of the World Trade Center and its environs. Frank finally said the "e" word. "I saw utter devastation, preceded by blocks of silent, abandoned buildings and shops, and each checkpoint led us deeper into 'ground zero.' " Perhaps this is Frank's "deeper place" - he's finally found it. How fitting. "For me," (we're back to how Franks feels) "the most affecting moment was passing in front of St. Paul's Chapel [across the street from the World Trade Center] and noticing a thick layer of debris and dust on the front steps, a half-open gate, and the open door to the church. The churchyard was thick with dust, refuse and thousands of pieces of paper, he reported. The trees surrounding the church had bits of paper and plastic stuck in them. The Episcopal Church and US flags were in tatters but still flying, both at half mast." When the group left, Griswold returned to St. Paul's, climbing over the rubble to enter the silent and empty church. He noted no damage to the building, although its windows were covered in dust and debris and could not be seen through. Seeing the sacristy door open, Griswold went in to write a note: "I've been here. You have my prayers and my love. Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop." Again we learn more about Frank than we do about why he was not ministering to the fallen and dying. Saint Frank? "I have been here? You've got to be kidding. No mention of God, but two of Frank. The Griswolds then joined in assisting workers distributing food to rescue personnel and police. A marvelous act of tokenism. Back to Frank again. "My overwhelming impression was of incredible evil, counterbalanced by incredible generosity, and the spirit of being one." Workers at the site seem "grateful that those of us who are signs and symbols of the church and its care are present." Yes, more symbols please, but don't actually do anything. Then Griswold gives us his final narcissistic fling. "Over the past few days, many of us have been asking, 'where should I be?'" (I'm at my deeper place, where are you?) According to Griswold, "It felt right to be there at the heart of it all." We definitely know how Griswold feels about himself, he's the most likely person to be in touch with. How comforting. Down the road the Seaman's Institute is dishing out 500 meals three times a day. Where was Frank Griswold? "I'm with you." Well, at least in Frank's Zen spirit. Can you imagine George Carey writing this rubbish? If he had been there here's what the headlines out of ENS might have read. ARCHBISHOP AND CLERICS RACE TO SCENE OF DISASTER. (ENS) The Archbishop of Canterbury and his clerical staff raced to the scene of an horrific disaster yesterday, having learned that two commercial aircraft had hit New York's twin skyscrapers. "We don't know all the facts said Carey, but we know we can't sit on our hands and do nothing. If we find people we can minister too, the walking wounded, we will, otherwise we can be found in neighborhood hospitals ministering there." "I promise a full report when I return." No such press release was ever written; Frank Griswold was having breakfast with Rowan Williams contemplating a pluriform answer to evil so horrific, words cannot be found to express it. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:32:05 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:32:05 Subject: The Speech Frank Griswold Should have Delivered Message-ID: THE SPEECH FRANK GRISWOLD SHOULD HAVE DELIVERED. By David W. Virtue My dear Episcopal Brothers and Sisters, What happened this week was evil unimaginable. The murderous slaughter of 5,000 innocent lives and numerous buildings is beyond human comprehension. For those of you who lived through World War II and saw the devastation of entire European cities, you will have some idea. This is on the same scale. There is no way one can lighten or lessen the evil that happened here today. We also know that those responsible, Islamic terrorists must be punished for what they did. The state has the right to bear the sword in situations like this. We believe that this can be done with wise heads and sound judgment prevailing. Mass bombings might be necessary, but whatever measures are taken certainly the defense of our nation and retributive justice must be done. We certainly don't want to make Osama Bin Laden a hero or martyr to his people. But he and his followers must be punished. It is the duty of the state to protect its citizens. We also want to make it clear that we are not indicting seven million Arab Americans, many of whom are Christians. That would be equally wrong. Punishment must be metered out to the guilty not the innocent. At times like these the Church must rally around the state, that is to say, while the Church should not be uncritical of what the State does, in this instance it is very clear that evil such as this cannot go unpunished. It is also apparent to me that we have a war of two cultures, and I for one would not want to see the destruction of the West and its prevailing Christian culture. Islam and Islamic culture is not something the vast majority of the America people would live under or tolerate. The Episcopal Church therefore stands with the American Government in its efforts to curtail and eliminate the worst aspects of Islamic extremism, and my contacts with Imams in New York agree with me. I therefore call on all Episcopalians to put aside their differences and unite with our President and military leaders in defending these shores, its people and institutions, and take the necessary and appropriate action to curtail these terrorists. The Episcopal Church has a proud heritage and can own at least 11 presidents among its constituents. We support our current President George W. Bush and honor his leadership at this difficult time in the nation's history. I will shortly visit our military chaplains in all the services as they set out for service to their nation. God bless you all and pray for me as your Presiding Bishop for wisdom and grace. Pray for our president. Pray for America. +Frank Griswold Presiding Bishop From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:32:19 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:32:19 Subject: My Encounter with Jerry Falwell by David W. Virtue Message-ID: MY ENCOUNTER WITH JERRY FALWELL By David W. Virtue This week Fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell opined that the recent destruction of human life and buildings in New York and Washington, DC was God's judgment on America for abortion and its sexual sins. He got rightly taken to task for his statements, and later he and televangelist Pat Robertson, who made similar remarks, retracted them. Jerry Falwell is not a nice person. I can personally vouch for that, as I have been the object of his venom and anger. I personally came up against Falwell's hate and vitriol in 1994 at the time of Clinton's election as president of the US. Falwell was in charge of distributing videotapes alleging that Clinton was guilty of murder and other criminal wrongdoings including drug smuggling to support his political campaigns. No evidence was ever produced for these charges and because he was president, Clinton could not personally respond to them. But Tony Campolo did and he came to Clinton's defense and challenged Falwell to put up or shut up. I wrote the press release for Campolo. Now regardless of what you might think of Clinton, and most don't think much of him at all, he was never found guilty of any of the charges the videotapes allege. They were wrong and, in any other circumstances would have been deemed libelous. Campolo wrote Falwell, "We need to make a stand. People are confusing evangelism and the gospel with the values and political agenda of the conservative wing of the Republican Party, and this is not good for the Church of Jesus Christ. It is absolutely vital that we separate evangelism from political ideology. The gospel is neither Democrat nor Republican. Jesus stands above all political parties and calls them to be accountable to the Biblical standards of justice." Campolo then challenged Falwell to a public debate on the content of the tapes. Falwell declined. I wrote the press release and put it out under my name with a telephone number. (In hindsight the latter was probably stupid.) That night I got a call from Falwell himself blasting me out of my seat. What he said in essence was, "I will get you. I will see you never preach in America again and I will turn my 300,000 pastors and supporters against you. You're finished." I must confess I shook in my boots. My wife made a pot of coffee to console me. Campolo was kind, thoughtful and very supportive. Coffee helps. Getting hammered by a revisionist ECUSA bishop pales next to getting whacked by a super-Fundamentalist minister with enormous personal, ecclesiastical and financial resources at his disposal. I did not fall apart and my life did not come to a grinding halt. In fact, over the years it has improved quite dramatically. The lesson in this is that people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson do not reflect the kind of thoughtful evangelicalism found in the worldwide Anglican Communion. They represent themselves, their camp followers and their own distorted view of Scripture. Episcopalians have Scripture as their primary source (though not all would now agree with that) followed by reason, tradition, history and a Prayer Book that doesn't allow one to wander to far from the truth and the Faith once delivered. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:32:33 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:32:33 Subject: FROM AROUND THE WORLD Message-ID: FROM AROUND THE WORLD Compiled by David W. Virtue Ecumenical Service, St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. Statement from The Most Reverend Peter Watson, Archbishop of Melbourne (who was unable to attend the service) [Anglican Media Melbourne] We are deeply shocked and dismayed at the appalling tragedy and loss of life in the United States on Tuesday. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:39:37 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:39:37 Subject: Two Bishops at Odds Over Meaning of AMIA Consecrations in Denver Message-ID: TWO BISHOPS AT ODDS OVER MEANING OF AMIA CONSECRATIONS IN DENVER By David W. Virtue Two Episcopal bishops, sharply at odds over the recent Denver consecrations of four Anglican Mission in America bishops have exchanged letters each critical of the other over what the consecrations mean. The Rt. Rev. A.C. "Chip" Marble, Jr. Bishop of Mississippi in a letter to retired Bishop Alex Dickson of West Tennessee questioned Dickson's authority for participating in the consecrations. He writes, "I feel violated personally and corporately by your righteous actions in establishing another schismatic group in the United States and outside of ECUSA. I'm sure you and Fitz (Bishop C FitzSimons Allison Bishop of South Carolina ret.) are acting in accord with your conscience, but you are violating the church's unity and discipline, let alone your vows as a bishop. You act with no authority but your own. Previous unilateral actions by other bishops cannot be used as an excuse and pale against what you and Fitz have done and are doing." Marble then makes the following confession. "At least bishops ordaining homosexual clergy and blessing same gender relationships have acted with canonical support of their Standing Committees and parish vestries, if not the larger church. I have not been willing to take such action and have said so publicly." Marble then charges Dickson, "Are you a bishop in good standing with ECUSA or with the Anglican Mission in America? I couldn't help but feel you participated in the ordination in Memphis as an act of "in your face" defiance and left before communion, perhaps because you are not in communion with us. I must admit I felt used by you, whether intended or not. I would like to know what your behavior was trying to communicate?" Marble concludes, "I know the Episcopal Church is in continual need of repentance and reform, as is my own life. I think you and Fitz are in the same boat, and your current actions increase the need for forgiveness and reconciliation." "What are you doing? Guarding the faith, unity and discipline of the church? I think not! To say I regret what you and Fitz have brought into being isn't adequate. It is shameful and I am deeply disappointed in you and Fitz, two persons I deeply care about and for whom I pray for forgiveness and reconciliation, I feel sad and angry about what you have done and the fact that you feel so righteous about it makes is even more difficult to swallow. I know you and Fitz feel you are trying to save the church; however, the church, you and I already have a savior. I look forward to your response." BISHOP DICKSON REPLIES "I welcome a chance to discuss these questions with you. I want to raise some questions for you also. Were the actions of leaders in the Church of England in the Sixteenth Century schismatic, or were they faithful and responsible actions taken to bring about reformation of the Church in reaction to the heretical actions and teachings of the Medieval Church? If you feel these actions were schismatic, then I suggest you need to take off your collar and your purple shirt and go kneel down before the Bishop of Rome, seek his forgiveness, and ask for restoration to the Roman Catholic Church. Our consecrations as bishops for the Episcopal Church in the United States are in the succession begun with the consecration of Samuel Seabury by the Scottish Bishops without the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Who elected Seabury to be a bishop anyway? Was it not a handful of clergy in Connecticut? Do you then have any question about the validity of your own Orders? Our promise to "guard the faith, unity and discipline of the Church" places a commitment to "guard the faith" as our first responsibility. Unity in the Church proceeds from unity in "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints". When there is not unity in the Faith, there can be no discipline (order) in the Church. Have we then been faithful as bishops in the Episcopal Church when we have allowed the "twelve theses" of Jack Spong to go unanswered? You know that Fitz Allison and I have on three occasions tried to get the bishops of the Fourth Province to deal with this issue, to no avail. Have we been faithful as bishops when we have allowed teachers like Marcus Borg who deny the divinity of Jesus Christ to enter parishes time and time again and corrupt the faith of the people we are called to shepherd? Have we been faithful as bishops when we have knowingly allowed professors in our theological seminaries who openly deny the resurrection of Jesus to shape the minds of the clergy who will lead the congregations of the Episcopal Church? You wondered why I came to Memphis to participate in the consecration of the Third Bishop of West Tennessee. I came because I was the First Bishop of West Tennessee. I came because I believe Don Johnson to be an orthodox man. I came because I was invited. I came because of the good people of the Diocese of West Tennessee. I came because God called me to do so when I prayed about coming. I felt that if I came we might begin to talk about the crisis in our Episcopal Church - the crisis of Faith and Leadership. It was not intended to be an "in your face" act, but an honest and prayerful attempt top "guard the faith, unity and discipline" of the Church of God. You say that "the church, you and I already have a savior". You are correct. His name is Jesus. He is the incarnate Lord of heaven and earth who died on the Cross for you and me and all mankind, and on the third day He rose bodily from the grave. This is the "faith once for all delivered to the saints" that you and I must guard with our lives. There are many in the leadership of the Episcopal Church who do not believe this. That is why we have a crisis. That is why this Church needs a new reformation. Fitz Allison and I along with the Archbishops of Rwanda, and South East Asia and the bishops we have consecrated stand with the vast majority of the bishops who attended Lambeth (94%). We are in communion with them and those who believe as they do, and not otherwise. I remain your brother in Christ and your friend. +Alex Dickson From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:41:54 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:41:54 Subject: The AMIA Responds to Recent AAC Criticisms Message-ID: The Anglican Mission In America Responds To Recent American Anglican Council Criticisms The AMiA Council of Bishops recognizes, blesses and supports the efforts of the AAC to work for transformation and reform within the ECUSA. In this work, we urge the AAC?s Board of Directors to recommit to the "Kingdom Norms" established at the Anglican Leader's Summit on 29 November 2000 in Atlanta. Together, we agreed 'to honoring one another's ministries in word and deed, even where disagreement exists', 'to consulting personally where malice is alleged or perceived', 'to not speak 'll of one another', and 'to working together in mission.' We find the AAC's recent public and widely circulated [The Living Church, etc] critical statement expressing 'sadness' and 'disappointment? over the Denver consecrations of June 24, and characterizing them as 'divisive of our common life in Christ', a breach of the 'Kingdom Norms.' This statement, following as it does on the heels of last spring's AAC's newsletter quoting the Archbishop of Canterbury's criticism of the AMiA, presents us with a clear pattern making the hope of 'working together in mission' increasingly difficult. Moreover, we find their statement both puzzling and inconsistent with previous statements made by the leaders of AAC as recently as one year ago. In November 1999, at a meeting of Primates in Kampala, Uganda, two major statements were made by the four AAC Bishops present. One, 'We in ECUSA are in a deplorable state theologically. There is no accountability among us.' And two, 'The orthodox ECUSA bishops welcome intervention of foreign primates to protect the orthodox in the USA and to restore accountability in the Communion.' In August 2000, the AAC Board of Director's issued the following statement: 'Resolved, the Board of the American Anglican Council, meeting in August 2000, recognizes the consecrations of the Right Reverends Charles H. Murphy, III and John H. Rodgers, Jr., and their deployment and ministry as Missionary Bishops from the Provinces of Rwanda and Southeast Asia to the United States of America as a faithful, orthodox expression of biblical Anglican Christianity, and be it further 'Resolved, that the American Anglican Council shares with the Provinces of Rwanda and Southeast Asia their concern for supporting and expanding within the United States of America a faithful, orthodox expression of biblical Anglican Christianity.' We were present with the AAC bishops in Kampala [November 1999] when they welcomed and requested an 'intervention of foreign primates.' We note with dismay that as recently as last year [August 2000] the AAC leadership officially recognized the Singapore consecrations and the work of our two supporting Provinces in expanding their Anglican witness in America. It is therefore troubling and confusing to read these recent and persistent criticisms calling the work of AMiA divisive. In a recent AAC address by Bishop Peter Beckwith, he said, 'Up to a certain point you can open your parachute, and you can land safely, but there comes the point when it is too late.' We recognize that the AAC leadership 'does not believe that point has yet been reached.' Yet, the AMiA also notes that for many Anglicans in the United States, that critical time for action has now in fact been reached. Therefore, in a spirit of 'working together in mission' as reflected in the 'Kingdom Norms', Archbishop Yong Ping Chung met with the AAC Bishops prior to the Denver consecrations in Nassau and Miami. In his own words, 'I tried, prior to the consecrations, to consult with the orthodox bishops of ECUSA ? to listen to them and look for alternatives before I would proceed with the consecrations.' His greatest concern was to find a 'workable solution that could protect the 8000 souls' who had found refuge as Anglicans in the AMiA. On finding no alternative, and yet reaching out to work, consult, honor, and respect the AAC Bishops, he decided with Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini to proceed with the Denver consecrations. We, therefore, ask the leadership of AAC to stop the negative rhetoric against the AMiA, to recommit to both the values expressed in the 'Kingdom Norms' and their earlier understanding and support of this Anglican Mission in America. This commitment would enable us to work together to find positive and fruitful ways to move forward in mission even as the larger issues, such as the place of gospel truth over institutional unity, are worked out among the Primates at the highest levels of our Communion. We remain committed to standing together with the AAC and other orthodox Anglican voices in the bold witness of 'proclaiming the Gospel, challenging false teaching, and working collegially in the development of mission strategy' as expressed in last November?s 'Kingdom Norms.' In the fellowship of Jesus Christ, The Council of Bishops 18 September 2001 From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:49:11 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:49:11 Subject: (no subject) Message-ID: Service of Remembrance with UK American Community A Service of Remembrance with the American Community in the United Kingdom The Archbishop of Canterbury St Paul's Cathedral We have gathered today, not only inside this great Cathedral but outside as well, to share in America's grief and to mourn the loss of so many lives. Like millions of others I watched in horror, as the towers of the World Trade Centre disappeared under a cloud of dust and smoke. A modern icon of America had been reduced to rubble. A senseless evil had been perpetrated against America and against the free world. In the aftermath of such shocking events, various emotions arise within us. We may feel despair at man's inhumanity to man. We may feel helpless that we can do so little for those who have suffered so much, among them hundreds of British people; they and their families are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this time. We may feel anger against those who planned and carried out such evil, despicable deeds. We may want to see revenge. We may just feel numb. But my first word today - echoed I know by every faith leader present and by us all - is a simple message to the people of America through the American ambassador: a message of love and solidarity; a message also of hope. What you have gone through in these last few days is beyond our imagination. As we gather with Her Majesty the Queen, Government and other political leaders, our hearts go out to you; you are all firmly in our prayers. We hope you know that we are with you in your hour of need. And next let me affirm that true faith is never overcome by disasters of this kind. There is something unconquerable about the faith we share. With St Paul we trust that 'neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers...nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.' And even in the darkest hour, such faith in God gives birth to hope. So into the trauma of the people of America let us declare the hopeful words of the prophet Isaiah, first spoken at a time of disaster and despair in the life of his own people: They shall build up the ancient ruins, They shall raise up the former devastations, They shall repair the ruined cities... I am hopeful for the people of America: hopeful that as ruins are rebuilt, so also a shaken people will be restored. For, as the twin towers of the World Trade Centre disappeared amid the smoke and carnage, across a short stretch of water another, older, American icon was not submerged. The September morning sun continued to shine on the Statue of Liberty, her torch raised like a beacon; a beacon of hope, and to millions around the world, a symbol of all that is best about America. Liberty has always been at the heart of the American vision. That liberty must be defended. It is the awesome responsibility of the leaders of America to decide how to respond to this evil inflicted upon their people, this assault on their freedom and security. The leaders of America need our prayers. May God give them wisdom to use their great power in such ways that further evil aggression is indeed deterred, and the security and well-being of all is advanced in our interdependent world. For the flower of democracy to flourish it must grow in the soil of justice. Yes, those responsible for such barbaric acts must be held to account. But we must be guided by higher goals than mere revenge. As we battle with evil, our goal must be a world where such violence is a thing of the past. The ideal of liberty at the core of America's greatness - the liberty symbolised by that statue emerging unscathed from the pall of devastation - was founded on a noble community of values in which we are proud to share. Values like tolerance and compassion, justice and mercy. Values at the heart of the Christian faith and also of other faiths. Let us keep them before us now - like a torch, like a beacon - even as we mourn and grieve. For if we are steadfast we know that, by the grace of God, no darkness, no evil can ever extinguish that beacon of hope. ****** Special Report from Anglican Communion News Service Queen and Archbishop join thousands in service of remembrance at St Paul's for American dead "An international day of mourning" - BBC By J M Rosenthal in London They stretched all the way down to Ludgate Circus. Thousands of people stood outside the great landmark Anglican Cathedral of St Paul in London as nearly 3000 worshippers inside participated in a service of remembrance and prayer for those killed, injured and traumatised by the events in the US. All were required to pass through security stations and metal-detectors before coming near the cathedral. Some carried American flags including Pearl Annis of Washington DC, who waved a large flag much to the approval of many passers-by. This young student is stranded here and eager, but "fearful", of flying home. In attendance at the service was Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh as well as the Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie. Mrs Carey and Mrs Chartres, wife of the Bishop of London, were also present. The Bishop of London was attending an urgent session of the House of Lords at Westminster. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd George L. Carey, gave an address and pronounced the blessing at the end of the one hour televised service. The rafters of the Wren masterpiece of architecture shook as the service began with the Star Spangled Banner. Immediately following the singing a young American student living in London, Lauren Willoughby of Chicago, lit the towering paschal candle, symbol of the resurrected Christ, as the entire assembly remained absolutely silent. England, of course, joined with the rest of Europe in observing a three minute silence at 11am. The haunting words of the first hymn echoed through the spacious Cathedral. "To all life though givest-to both great and small; in all life though livest, the true life of all; we flourish as leaves on the tree, and wither and perish-but not changeth thee". The Ambassador of the US, the Honourable William Farish, read from the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 61, and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, read a passage from St Paul to the Romans, Chapter 8. The renowned Choir of men and boys sang a setting of Psalm 23 by Father Joseph Gelineau as well as anthems by Edgar Bainton, "And I saw a new Heaven", and "Hear my Prayer, O Lord" by Henry Purcell. Mrs Marcia Molloy joined the Canons in Residence in offering prayers for the departed for those injured and for those "broken hearted in their grief and loss". In the prayers thanksgiving was also offered for "the sacrifice and skill of the emergency services and all who risked their lives to rescue those in danger". In his address Archbishop Carey stressed the need to pray for those making "awesome" decisions in the aftermath of this tragedy. Using the image of the Statue of Liberty he said, "Liberty has always been at the heart of the American vision. That liberty must be defended." His Grace spoke of the attacks as "a senseless evil". Following the Archbishop's address the popular American hymn "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord", a hymn sung in the very same cathedral at the funeral of Winston Churchill many years ago. Tears flowed and many embraced as the words echoed through the vast cathedral and breaking through the ancient walls into the streets of the City of London, the "Wall Street" area of London. Following the singing of the United Kingdom National Anthem, sung powerfully by all present, Her Majesty, along with the Dean and Chapter and the Archbishops, made their way to the porch of the Cathedral and greeted members of the wider American community who live in England or who happen to be here as tourists. Tony Blair and his wife also met many people and lingered for on the steps and offered sympathy and condolences to many Americans. The Prime Minister has consistently said that the UK would remain "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States in their time of need. Dr Michael Dickens, senior warden of Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesille, Virginia, and his wife, were among the many Episcopalians at the service. A parishioner from All Saints Episcopal Church, Chicago, said, "I work in a completely English environment. I came to the cathedral as I needed to be with Americans at this time of such tragedy". Many American students were in the crowds and spoke of anguish of being "away from home" and feeling alone. Outside St Pauls one Anglican priest was asking students if they had housing and food and if they were stranded. The service was conducted in a somber tone yet with signs and symbols of the message of Christian hope. Organ music at the service included "Amazing Grace" by Don Hustad, "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber, "Elegy" by George Thalban-Ball. Just before the address by the Archbishop of Canterbury the congregation sang these words, "Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us, o'er the worlds tempestuous sea. Guard us, Guide us, Keep us, Feed us, For we have no help but thee - Thus provided, pardoned, guided, nothing can our peace destroy." Interfaith representatives from the Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist communities as well as Christians leaders, including the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, were present and processed with the Anglican clergy. People began forming queues (lines) at 8am for the 12 noon service. Many commented on the warm welcome the Cathedral gave the American community, as it always does on American Thanksgiving Day, and appreciated the fact that all those who could were able to attend could come on a first come first seated basis. This is not usual in some Cathedrals for a service in the presence of royalty or that are deemed special in nature. One American said, "I came today because I can't be with my family in the USA. I feel this gathering became a family to me." In his words the Dean of the cathedral said this, "We pray also for all the peoples of this world. For a new vision, a new obedience, to God's love and new determination to stand firm in the ways of righteousness and new hope. The cathedral houses an American Chapel in memory of American servicemen and women who died in World War II, some 28,000 names, all who gave their lives while in the United Kingdom. Flowers continue to mount and candles are being placed at the American Embassy as many gather there to show solidarity and share their grief. A Book of Condolences has been opened for the public to sign. 20,000 have signed as of Friday noon. Services have been held in places of worship throughout the United Kingdom and Europe today. Police guarded Muslims coming from London's largest mosque, where prayers were said for America. The Church of England has issued special forms for prayer to used in churches this coming Sunday. The prayers and the complete text of the (Courtesy of ACNS) From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:52:59 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:52:59 Subject: Why did it have to be such a perfect morning? By Andrew Sullivan Message-ID: Why did it have to be such a perfect morning? By Andrew Sullivan On the streets of New York City and Washington D.C. and in countless other towns and cities in America, the day was one of those September idylls we almost take for granted. I was still sleeping, hundreds of miles away. A close friend was in a plane flying into New York. Another friend who had waved goodbye to me only two days before leaving the gym on his bike, had just left Boston for Los Angeles. A friend of a friend was drinking coffee and staring out of her office on the 102nd floor. Commuters were rushing into work; the children of businessmen and traders were hurrying to school; train stations and airports were bustling with early morning life. A routine fire drill in downtown Manhattan was filming a training video. And in a clip I have now watched so many times with a numbness close to dread, a firefighter heard a sound and looked up into the clear blue sky, with a kind of insouciant curiosity. And then as a plane passed through the glass wall of the vast building, as seamlessly as a champion diver into water, something in the soul of America ended. We did not know this could happen to us. We did not know that we too were passing through a pane of looking glass into another time, another place, another world. And as I write these words, the throat chokes and thickens, the computer screen shimmers and blurs before my eyes. What was once unimaginable is now something that needs no imagination. Why did it have to be such a perfect morning? I wish it were possible to look at these words and regard them as melodrama. But how else can we account for the most searing experience in American life in modern times? When we write and analyze this event, we keep using terms that are inadequate to the task. This was not a terrorist incident. This was not a massacre. This was the first act in the first war in which America itself is at stake. This has never happened before. People keep talking about Pearl Harbour, as if it is a parallel. It is no parallel. Yes, there are resemblances. In the recent film of that name, the scenes that affected American audiences the most were the scenes of everyday life as the bombers approached: children playing, lovers cavorting, washing on lines, troops in practice runs. We saw in that moment the soft carelessness of a democracy still absorbed with itself, protected by two vast oceans, a hemisphere away from real danger. . But that is where the resemblance ends. In 1941, the world was already at war on one continent. Americans, conflicted about their role in it and their responsibilities, were in some sense girded for something profound and deadly. And yes, the attack was strictly speaking on American soil. But it was on Hawaii that the bombing began - the most remote part of the United States, separated from the mainland by thousands of miles of ocean. Even reeling from the shock, Americans saw it as an attack on their military, but not on their heartland. And it was an attack on armed forces, not civilians. And even this near-miss was never to be repeated. In the conflict of the Second World War, and afterwards in the Cold War, there was never an attack on America itself - its soil, its cities, its land. Even in the tensest moments of the Cuban missile crisis, no-one in America was harmed. And the sanctity of this continent - a sanctity embedded deep in the American soul - is hard to convey to outsiders. But it is at the very center of what America means to Americans. Its founders saw this new continent as a place apart, a place unlike the old world, a place whose geographic distance and defensive inviolability was intrinsic to its attraction. The Pilgrims came here to escape persecution, to a place where their tormentors could not follow. The Revolutionaries fought the British to insist on their burgeoning difference from the trappings of monarchy and established church. The forces of the Union in the Civil War triumphed in the bloodiest event in American history in order to preserve the unity of this sacred space and to affirm its unique role in the preservation of liberty not merely for Americans but for the world. And the wave after wave of immigrants who followed arrived to claim a fresh start, a new beginning. They left their old lives behind, as I did mine, when I arrived here almost two decades ago. This place, they believed, was not merely somewhere. It was always, in some sense, an elsewhere. It was the place that would always be different, the place in which a secure refuge could always be found, a place where a new world was not just in existence, but ripe for reinvention with each passing day. And so when hostages were taken in foreign lands, Americans knew that, whatever happened, if the hostages could be brought home, they would be safe. Whatever horrors lay out there, there was always this place, where no external force could harm them, where no foreign threat could ever intrude. Yes, much of this is myth. But myth matters. A nation that is not built on race or creed or an ancient history must build itself on something else. And Americans built themselves on an idea of liberty and wrapped it in the myth of elsewhere. Their most inspired leaders - from Washington to Lincoln, from Teddy Roosevelt to FDR, from John Kennedy to Ronald Reagan - knew that this myth was central to the success of America, to its self-confidence and cohesion and strength. While others around the world scoffed at the platitudes of cowboys or the rhetoric of log-cabin pioneers, the greatest American presidents spoke to their people in the language of these dreams. This was the myth of the place apart, the city on the hill, the eternal elsewhere. And when you saw the squeamishness of Americans to intervene abroad, their often dangerous reluctance to embroil themselves in foreign entanglements, it was at some level this myth that prompted them. Isolationism, for all its faults, was always the flip-side of American exceptionalism. It was a naivete that was nevertheless founded on a dream that refused to die. But in one morning, this dream ended as America was wakened from its long sleep. The elsewhere is now somewhere. The refuge is now insecure. The threat from without is now also within. The new world is now just the world. Isolationism is no longer even a choice. It is lying in the rubble in downtown Manhattan. An American writer last week used, perhaps typically, the metaphor of a movie. This one begins with a young woman in a home alone at night. She gets threatening calls. She dismisses the first. She ignores the second. Her fear grows. The threats get more intense. She calls the police and asks them to trace the calls. She locks the doors. She seals the windows. She sees her boyfriend masked and tied to a chair outside in the garden. The police call back. They have traced the calls. They are coming from inside the house. What these demons have done is something that reflects not an ignorance of America. The war they have launched is based on a fierce insight into the American psyche. They have attacked from within. Because they have no ability to match American military force, they chose to use no weaponry at all. They used airplanes - civil airplanes - as flying bombs. Their only weapons were box-cutters and razor blades. The message this sends is a simple one: American military and technological might is irrelevant. If criminals are prepared to die, if they can infiltrate American intelligence, then no weaponry is necessary. Why didn't the Japanese think of that? Why didn't the Soviets? In one brilliant stroke, the enemy has shown that the way in which America had come to defend itself is completely obsolete. It is as we had confronted the Nazis with swords. This is designed to encourage defeatism. It is designed not merely to terrify but to make an argument. That argument is that the very citadel of American democracy - its very Capitol - is defenseless. The plane that eventually crashed to a halt in the Pentagon had previously circled the Capitol, the Mall, and the White House, as if to show us what was possible. Only a few years ago, a light plane had crashed into the White House grounds themselves. Reagan National Airport is just over the river. I cannot tell you how many times I have landed in Washington and looked out the window to see the Washington Monument all but staring me in the face. What were the authorities supposed to do? Shoot down every commercial flight that could be steered a few miles in the wrong direction with barely a warning at all? For any nation, this possibility is terrifying. For Americans, it is world-changing. The country that can send a missile half-way across the globe and hit a target with an accuracy of inches cannot defend its own White House. The country that has pioneered technology that has revolutionized the world cannot defend itself against razor blades. The eloquence of this is peerless. It is an argument that technology and power are irrelevant in the new war. To tell Americans this at the dawn of the new millennium is to tell them that their current way of life is unsustainable if an enemy is willing to disable it. In this sense, the new security precautions that went into force this week are laughable. There will no longer be curbside check-ins! How any government official could have announced that with a straight face is beyond me. And the other weapon is America itself. Like a commandeered plane, America itself was hijacked for its own destruction. A free country with open borders and a multi-racial population carries within it its own self-detonation button. It seems clear now that several of the hijackers were trained in American flight schools. Others had lived here for over a year. The Muslim sect that pioneered the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 was connected to Osama bin Laden, but had as its inspiration a demonic mullah who lived in New Jersey! This is not an enemy in a uniform. It is not an enemy that in the ethnic cauldron of New York City even stands out an inch. And in a country which pioneered religious freedom, and guarantees it in its Constitution, there is no ability to deter or even stamp out even the most crazed religious sect. The enemy knows this. Like judo fighters, they used the might and freedom of the United States as a lever to fight back. This first strike was not the first. We so easily forget that those very buildings were targeted before and that the bombs that went off contained cyanide that was never fully activated. American embassies were bombed. The USS Cole was bombed. The latest attack was an exponential leap forward, and, as such, it was more than a mere atrocity. It was an argument, a threat. If, as some intelligence experts are already speculating, this leap in ambition, with intelligence that extended to knowing top secret White House code, then we are fools to think it is the last. And yet already in America and around the world, there is a sense that this event was a single one, that it is some sort of unique occurrence from which we will now recover. One commentator in America even suggested last week that, given increasingly fast news cycles, this won't even register as a news item in a couple of months. The only word for this is denial. What has happened so far is, in all probability, merely the latest in a slowly escalating scale of attack. We have been put on notice tha every major Western city is now vulnerable to anything - chemical, biological, even nuclear. We knew this was a possibility and National Missile Defense is a pathetically inadequate but still necessary part of our self-defense. But against the rest we are now clearly with our backs against the wall. It is no longer a matter of whether these weapons will be used against us - but when. In that sense, this is clearly not an American problem alone. It is a problem for civilization itself. If the effect of this day is to collapse the distinction between the new world and the old, it follows that we are in this together. And if the ultimate symbol of that free way of life is America, and if America is the only power capable of resisting and defeating this in alliance with its friends and allies, then something else profound has happened. In one sense, the Guards at Buckingham Palace who played the Star Spangled Banner last week got it right. We are all Americans now. For the United States itself, however, this means one central thing. Isolationism is dead. Even the distinction between foreign and domestic policy is moribund. Last Thursday up to 50,000 reservists were called up to release active military for war. The streets of Washington are now regularly policed by armed guards familiar in London and Tel Aviv but still chilling in D.C. The question now is simply whether the current administration and Congress are up to a truly mobilized war, a war that could well mean American civilian and military casualties that make the World Trade Center seem like a training exercise. The only honest answer to that question is that we still do not know. No-one should mistake the current lull for defeatism, or the lack of an immediate response for lassitude. The public mood is still one of the deepest shock imaginable. But there is, among the public, a unity that does not seem as if it will evaporate soon. Everywhere you go, you see American flags. They are draped on roofs, hung on fences, crammed into cracks in walls, stuck on lamp-posts. This tells you something. The response to previous acts against Americans was different. The hostage crisis, the last major event that deeply affected Americans' sense of vulnerability, was greeted with millions of yellow ribbons. But now of course the safe home that those ribbons represented has been attacked. So the symbol now is the brute one of American patriotism and pride: the flag that is the only national symbol in this country of the sacred. Along with this, there is a sense of solidarity that is hard to convey. Perhaps those in Britain who still recall the Blitz have a sense of what is going on. I haven't been able to get to New York, but the mood of everyone I have talked to is of heroism and rage. Rudy Giuliani was made for this moment. He is New York's Churchill. Barely sleeping, charging through the streets, directing every detail, knowing every inch of his city, he is the only leader in America who has so far visibly grown and dominated the scene. He has reassured and commanded in a way that will never be forgotten. His combination of chutzpah, practicality and deep, deep compassion is the essence of New York City. His troops - the firefighters and cops and medics and volunteers of the city - would make the Londoners of 1940 proud. If New York alone were a nation - and it has almost twice the population of Israel - then this war would already be well under way, and its outcome in no doubt. Bush himself has so far passed the test. The criticism of his flying to Nebraska on Tuesday rather than to Washington is specious. When given coded warnings that Airforce One and the White House were targets, he would have been criminally irresponsible to cripple the country's command center by putting himself immediately in harm's way. No-one knows yet the extent of the preparation for war that is now underway. But Bush's skill is in executive management. He is right not to strike out counter-productively. But he suffers from one critical weakness. He has yet to speak in a way that commands reassurance let alone resurgence. By Thursday, in an unscripted talk with reporters, he was beginning to improve. We know one thing about him: he can grow as a leader. What we don't yet know is whether he can grow quickly enough. He doesn't have the instinctive grasp of crisis that a Thatcher or a Giuliani or even a Blair has. That is not his style. But if ever there was a moment in which Americans needed to be told that they face a challenge unlike any in their history, it is now. They need to know the reasons for the sacrifices they may now face. But in one sense, the terrorists have now done this for the president. No eloquence can match the impact of their evil. Americans' critical weakness in the past two decades has been their reluctance to shed blood for their goals. They believed they could construct a huge military and never have it fight real wars and suffer real casualties. They thought they could alter history and advance their interests from the air alone. With the exception of the Gulf War, which they hesitated to finish, they have shrunk from the fight. When the current enemy struck again and again throughout the 1990s, Bill Clinton responded without real credibility, struck back without real endurance, enraged the terrorists without truly hurting them. We are now living with the consequences of his appeasement, and of his refusal to challenge Americans beyond what the polls said they already wanted to do. Whoever launched this war on Americans has now accomplished the task Clinton didn't dare embark on. America has been bloodied as it has never been bloodied before. I would be a fool to predict what happens next. But it is clear that Bush will not do a Clinton. This will not be a surgical strike. It will not be a gesture. It may not even begin in earnest soon. But it will be deadly serious. It is clear that there is no way that the United States can achieve its goals without the cooperation of many other states - an alliance as deep and as broad as that which won the Gulf War. It is also clear that this cannot be done by airpower alone. As in 1941, the neglect of the military under Bill Clinton and the parsimony of its financing even under Bush must now not merely be ended but reversed. We may see the biggest defense build-up since the early 1980s - and not just in weaponry but in manpower. It is also quite clear that the U.S. military presence in the Middle East must be ramped up exponentially, its intelligence overhauled, its vigilance heightened exponentially. In some ways, Bush has already assembled the ideal team for such a task: Powell for the diplomatic dance, Rumsfeld for the deep reforms he will now have the opportunity to enact, Cheney as his most trusted aide in what has become to all intents and purposes a war cabinet. The terrorists have done the rest. The middle part of the country - the great red zone that voted for Bush - is clearly ready for war. The decadent Left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead - and may well mount what amounts to a fifth column. But by striking at the heart of New York City, the terrorists ensured that at least one deep segment of the country ill-disposed toward a new president is now the most passionate in his defense. Anyone who has ever tried to get one over on a New Yorker knows what I mean. The demons who started this have no idea about the kind of people they have taken on. But what the terrorists are also counting on is that Americans will not have the stomach for the long haul. They clearly know that the coming retaliation will not be the end but the beginning. And when the terrorists strike back again, they have let us know that the results could make the assault on the World Trade Center look puny. They are banking that Americans will then cave. They have seen a great country quarrel to the edge of constitutional crisis over a razor-close presidential election. They have seen it respond to real threats in the last few years with squeamish restraint or surgical strikes. They have seen that, as Israel has been pounded by the same murderous thugs, the United States has responded with equanimity. They have seen a great nation at the height of its power obsess for a whole summer over a missing intern and a randy Congressman. They have good reason to believe that this country is soft, that it has no appetite for the war that has now begun. They have gambled that in response to unprecedented terror, the Americans will abandon Israel to the barbarians who would annihilate every Jew on the planet, and trade away their freedom for a respite from terror in their own land. We cannot forsee the future. But we know the past. And that past tells us that these people who destroyed the heart of New York City have made a terrible mistake. This country is at its heart a peaceful one. It has done more to help the world than any other actor in world history. It saved the world from the two greatest evils of the last century in Nazism and Soviet Communism. It responded to its victories in the last war by pouring aid into Europe and Japan. In the Middle East, America alone has ensured that the last hope of the Jewish people is not extinguished and has given more aid to Egypt than to any other country. It risked its own people to save the Middle East from the pseudo-Hitler in Baghdad. America need not have done any of this. Its world hegemony has been less violent and less imperial than any other comparable power in history. In the depths of its soul, it wants its dream to itself, to be left alone, to prosper among others, and to welcome them to the freedom America has helped secure. But whenever Americans have been challenged, they have risen to the task. In some awful way, these evil thugs may have done us a favor. America may have woken up for ever. The rage that will follow from this grief and shock may be deeper and greater than anyone now can imagine. Think of what the United States ultimately did to the enemy that bombed Pearl Harbor. Now recall that American power in the world is all but unchallenged by any other state. Recall that America has never been wealthier, and is at the end of one of the biggest booms in its history. And now consider the extent of this wound - the greatest civilian casualties since the Civil War, an assault not just on Americans but on the meaning of America itself. When you take a step back, it is hard not to believe that we are now in the quiet moment before the whirlwind. Americans will recover their dead, and they will mourn them, and then they will get down to business. Their sadness will be mingled with an anger that will make the hatred of these evil fanatics seem mild. I am reminded of a great American poem written by Herman Melville after the death of Abraham Lincoln, the second founder of the country: "There is sobbing of the strong, And a pall upon the land; But the People in their weeping Bare the iron hand; Beware the People weeping When they bare the iron hand." END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:55:33 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:55:33 Subject: War may split clergy, faithful Message-ID: War may split clergy, faithful By Larry Witham THE WASHINGTON TIMES The nation's faiths have united around messages of resolve and prudence, but if America goes to war, clergy and churchgoers may diverge as they have in past conflicts, historians said yesterday. "There have been arguments among the churches in every one of America's wars," said the Rev. Douglas Strong, a church historian at Wesley Theological Seminary in the District. He said that historically, Christians have opted either for pacifism or a belief in a "just war" when faced with the moral implications of Americans going into battle. Today, Christian thinkers mostly lean to pacifism, he said. But the Cold War's "holy crusade" against atheistic communism still resonates with many Christians, and people in pews usually think that defending the national interest is enough to justify a war. "I wonder now if we're looking at Islam as a counterpart to communism," Mr. Strong said. "Some Christians might feel there is a crusade against us, so it is right to start a crusade against them." Up until World War II, the "peace churches" such as Mennonites, Quakers and Brethren had stood alone for a doctrinaire pacifism. However, liberal mainline Protestant leaders today sound increasingly as nonbelligerent as the older pacifist churches, said Douglas Jacobsen, a church historian at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. "That distance has closed between pacifists and the mainline," he said. And since the Vietnam War, "peace churches felt they had to speak [in opposition] to government" in times of military conflict, Mr. Jacobsen added. Pacifist Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim leaders are signing by the hundreds a "Deny Them Their Victory" statement that offers "a word of sober restraint as our nation discerns what its response will be." The guilty must "not escape accountability," it said, "but we must not, out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate" and harm innocent people. The U.S. Catholic hierarchy has backed Pope John Paul II's call to "conquer evil by good," and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington drew on the "just war" tradition by saying a U.S. response to last week's terrorist attacks must come "within the boundaries of our system of law" and values and avoid "killing of the innocent." American Jewish Committee Director David Harris emphasized the ethical demand for justice, and that the U.S. government "take measures necessary to punish the individuals, groups and countries responsible." The polarizing debate over America's involvement in the Vietnam War opened a wide gap between clergy and churchgoers, said Mr. Jacobsen, because of the anti-war activism of many ministers. "That contributed to people listening less to what's said in the pulpit," he said. However, in the past week, "people are pretty much in sync with what they hear in the pulpits," he said. "In the months ahead, my hunch is that there may be more tension." Historically, the country's Roman Catholics have been both divided and united in war, depending on the particular conflict, said Harold D. Langley, a historian at Catholic University of America. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 01:59:54 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 1:59:54 Subject: Deny Them Their Victory: A Religious Response to Terrorism Message-ID: DENY THEM THEIR VICTORY: A RELIGIOUS RESPONSE TO TERRORISM We, American religious leaders, share the broken hearts of our fellow citizens. The worst terrorist attack in history that assaulted New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania has been felt in every American community. Each life lost was of unique and sacred value in the eyes of God, and the connections Americans feel to those lives run very deep. In the face of such a cruel catastrophe, it is a time to look to God and to each other for the strength we need and the response we will make. We each must dig deep to the roots of our faith for sustenance, solace, and wisdom. First, we must find a word of consolation for the untold pain and suffering of our people. Our congregations will offer their practical and pastoral resources to bind up the wounds of the nation. We can become safe places to weep and secure places to begin rebuilding our shattered lives and communities. Our houses of worship should become public arenas for common prayer, community discussion, eventual healing, and forgiveness. Second, we offer a word of sober restraint as our nation discerns what its response will be. We share the deep anger toward those who so callously and massively destroy innocent lives, no matter what the grievances or injustices invoked. In the name of God, we too demand that those responsible for these utterly evil acts be found and brought to justice. Those culpable must not escape accountability. But we must not, out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate in ways that bring on even more loss of innocent life. We pray that President Bush and members of Congress will seek the wisdom of God as they decide upon the appropriate response. Third, we face deep and profound questions of what this attack on America will do to us as a nation. The terrorists have offered us a stark view of the world they would create, where the remedy to every human grievance and injustice is a resort to the random and cowardly violence of revenge - even against the most innocent. Having taken thousands of our lives, attacked our national symbols, forced our political leaders to flee their chambers of governance, disrupted our work and families, and struck fear into the hearts of our children, the terrorists must feel victorious. But we can deny them their victory by refusing to submit to a world created in their image. Terrorism inflicts not only death and destruction but also emotional oppression to further its aims. We must not allow this terror to drive us away from being the people God has called us to be. We assert the vision of community, tolerance, compassion, justice, and the sacredness of human life, which lies at the heart of all our religious traditions. America must be a safe place for all our citizens in all their diversity. It is especially important that our citizens who share national origins, ethnicity, or religion with whoever attacked us are, themselves, protected among us. Our American illusion of invulnerability has been shattered. From now on, we will look at the world in a different way, and this attack on our life as a nation will become a test of our national character. Let us make the right choices in this crisis - to pray, act, and unite against the bitter fruits of division, hatred, and violence. Let us rededicate ourselves to global peace, human dignity, and the eradication of the injustice that breeds rage and vengeance. As we gather in our houses of worship, let us begin a process of seeking the healing and grace of God. Drafted and signed by: The Rev. Jim Wallis, Call to Renewal and SOJOURNERS The Rev.Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, Reformed Church of America Rabbi David Saperstein, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism Dr. Bob Edgar, National Council of Churches Dr. Ron Sider, Evangelicals for Social Action The drafters of this joint statement submit that our collective prayers and common belief in God challenge us, more than ever, to work to heal the wounds of a broken nation. With this in mind, they invite you to join them in signing the statement. Please respond by email to either the office of Jim Wallis ( mailto:jwallis at sojo.net ) and/or Bob Edgar ( mailto:redgar at ncccusa.org ), if you are willing to add your name. PROVIDING HOPE TO THOSE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS: Gospelcom.net In the aftermath of last week's tragic events the Gospelcom.net alliance of over 300 Christian ministries has rallied to provide spiritual answers to the question of why tragedies happen. A new site is in place at http://www.gospelcom.net/crisis featuring numerous biblical references, links to Christian resources, breaking news and the opportunity to make a commitment to "pray for America." The highlight is a prayer forum where Internet users from around the world can share prayer requests and concerns for those touched by the tragedy. Already large numbers of people have written including one who said: "I lost my mom today. Please pray for me." The president of Gospelcom.net, Billy Zeoli, said, "I am encouraging everyone to make the commitment to join together in prayer for our nation in this time of turmoil and tragedy. Let us agree together to pray as we have never prayed before for the people who have had loved ones killed and for the security of our nation itself... "In this time of pain and tragedy we [at Gospelcom.net] desire to reach people and clearly communicate the hope we have which is found only in Jesus Christ." A STATEMENT FROM THE U.S. DIRECTOR OF ARAB WORLD MINISTRIES As we view war-like images splashed across every major channel on every TV, we seek God and his perspective on these unprecedented events. As we cry out to our Heavenly Father, our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by yesterday's attacks on New York and Washington. We petition God on behalf of the families and friends of the victims. We pray for the rescue workers, government leaders, and everyone affected by this carnage and destruction. Speculation abounds concerning the ethnicity of the terrorists. Should this speculation prove true, the nature and location of any U.S. response could have a ripple effect on our personnel... Moral outrage at these unspeakable acts should be solely directed toward the appropriate people - the terrorists and their accomplices. At the same time, we implore all Americans to resist the mistake of blaming all Arabs and Muslims or to paint them all with the same broad brush as "terrorists." I ask that we not stigmatize Arabs or Muslims in the same way our nation stigmatized Japanese-Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor or German-Americans who were blamed for Hitler's evil deeds. Can you imagine the fear of reprisal being experienced right now by Muslims living in the U.S. or by Arab-Americans, many of whom are Christians and patriotic Americans? Today, I received an email from an American living in the Middle East quoting Nelson Mandela, who himself experienced ethic hatred firsthand: "Love is stronger than hate. Life is stronger than death. God is stronger than all." Jesus Christ is our model for love and compassion, and now is a critical time for Christians to follow his example by reaching out in like manner to Arabs and Muslims. We are receiving messages from Christian workers who live among Arab Muslims. God is opening doors of opportunity for friendship with Arab Muslims who are themselves expressing outrage and sadness over the loss of American lives in the attacks. I invite the American and world Christian community to open their hearts to what God is doing to raise up the good from the ashes of this evil. We are counting on your support and prayers for AWM and the Arab world. END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 02:06:41 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 2:06:41 Subject: Tough Time for Atheists by The Rev. Gary L'Hommedieu Message-ID: TOUGH TIME FOR ATHEISTS By The Rev. Gary L'Hommedieu I wouldn't want to be an atheist today, or a moral relativist. I would hate to have to say of the recent atrocities in New York and Washington, "Well, they weren't really bad. That's just your opinion. Your opinion is valid, but you mustn't impose it on others. Some people might think the bombings were good. That's their opinion, and you have to accept it." This shows how trivial our discussion about issues has become, how the "public square" has been scrubbed clean of substance, how issues of life and death have taken a back-seat to issues of "choices" and "opinions." Such "choices" generally are limited to consumer choices ("Will it be chocolate or vanilla? Ford or Chrysler?"), or "lifestyle" choices ("Are you gonna be gay or straight? Are you terminating the pregnancy or keeping it?"). These last "choices" used to be moral choices, but moral discourse has lately been restricted. Moralizing has been restricted to guaranteeing the "rights" of people to choose this our that; and anything that might inhibit such choice is quickly rooted out of public discourse. Still, I'd hate to have to get on a streetcorner and preach the fundamentals of atheism. Just imagine the following sermon: "There is no God; or if there is, He can't be known; or at least you can't presume to know Him. There is no right or wrong. These are old fashioned ideas that have no place in a scientific society. All opinions about right and wrong, good and evil, are equally valid (and hence all equally invalid). The only leftover from our religious past that has any place are the words of Jesus (taken out of context), 'Judge not.'" I can just see standing room only at the new atheist mission houses all over the country as this "gospel" is proclaimed. On the other hand, tragedy and injustice, even on a massive scale, does not prove God's existence, or any attribute of God's character (He is good or loving or just). Tragedy, when it's ours, hits home. We we're the ones wronged, the need for justice is felt. While the recent tragedies in our country do not prove God, they may prove us. We have tried a long experiment of believing in nothing, or at least believing publicly in nothing. This has failed. In order to affirm one's own right to exist, or one's determination to exist, one has to risk standing up for something. The risk is that we become targets that can be knocked down. As Christians we have crept timidly away from the public square. Perhaps we've been wise to do so, for in evil times the prudent man keeps his mouth shut (Amos 5:13). Some of us are enjoying "coming out" as Christians during this national tragedy. It's the atheists who seem to be creeping into the shadows. But let's not kid ourselves: our Christian rhetoric won't be popular for long. "God bless America," even when sung with conviction, is not a risky statement. "I believe in God" will soon mean having to say "I am willing to stand up and be counted as one who believes in God and in what God has told us to do as His children. I am willing-in fact, required-to take my belief to the public square and to the ballot box, to the school board and to the company board or directors." We may be approaching a time when our willingness to stand up for what we believe becomes a matter of our own survival. "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." (Mark 8.38) The Rev. L'Hommedieu is rector of Church of the Redemption, Southampton, PA END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 02:10:29 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 2:10:29 Subject: New Hymn offers faith in the wake of disaster Message-ID: New hymn offers faith in the wake of disaster by Jan Nunley (ENS) A prolific Episcopalian hymnwriter has written a new hymn to commemorate the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon September 11. The hymn debuted at the noon eucharist at the Episcopal Church Center on September 18. The hymn, entitled When sudden terror tears apart, was written in the days after the disasters by the Rev. Carl P. Daw, Jr., currently executive director of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. The text is in Common Meter (C.M.). Suggested tunes are Bangor (The Hymnal, p.164) and Detroit (The Hymnal, p. 674). Contact Church Publishing Incorporated for information about using the hymn. Reprints must include copyright information and a notation identifying the source of the music. WHEN SUDDEN TERROR TEARS APART C.M. (suggested tunes: BANGOR, DETROIT) When sudden terror tears apart the world we thought was ours, we find how fragile strength can be, how limited our powers. As tower and fortress fall, we watch with disbelieving stare and numbly hear the anguished cries that pierce the ash-filled air. Yet most of all we are aware of emptiness and void: of lives cut short, of structures razed, of confidence destroyed. From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Wed Sep 19 02:15:04 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 2:15:04 Subject: Devotional - Being Silent Message-ID: DEVOTIONAL - BEING SILENT "But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." - Habakkuk 2:20 In 1990, Robertson McQuilkin resigned as president of Columbia International University. He was 57 years old, but his son recently had died in a diving accident and his wife had advanced Alzheimer's disease. He left his position to be her full-time caregiver. He recalls: "I was numb. Not bitter, let alone angry. Why should I be? That's the way life is, life in a broken world. But the passion in my love for God had evaporated; leaving a residue of resignation where once had been vibrant faith. I knew I was in trouble, and I did the only thing I knew to do - I went away to a mountain hideaway for prayer and fasting. It took about twenty-four hours to shake free of preoccupation with my own wounds and to focus on the excellencies of God. As I did, slowly love began to be rekindled. And with love came joy. I wrote God a love letter, naming forty-one of his marvelous gifts to me, spotlighting eleven of his grandest acts in history, and exulting in ten of his characteristics that exceed my imagination. Surely he enjoyed my gratitude - who doesn't appreciate gratitude? But I discovered something else. Something happened to me. I call it the reflex action of thanksgiving. My love flamed up from the dying embers, and my spirit soared. I discovered that ingratitude impoverishes - but that a heavy heart lifts on the wings of praise." It is especially true that during times of trouble, we need to withdraw to a quiet place, to be silent, and to spend time seeking God's face. Are you troubled in spirit? Today in prayer, find a quiet place, pour out your heart to the Lord, and in silence seek Him. "The very best and highest attainment in this life is to remain still and let God act and speak to you." - Meister Eckhart God's Word: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm 46:10 END From DVirtue236 at AOL.COM Sun Sep 23 01:32:41 2001 From: DVirtue236 at AOL.COM (David Virtue) Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 1:32:41 Subject: Opening Comments 9-23-2001 Message-ID: Dear Brothers and Sisters, The furor over the Rev. Jerry Falwell's words this past week that the attack on America was a sign of God's judgment on her sins especially abortion, homosexuality, feminism and the ACLU prompted cries of both outrage and support from around the world. Most Christians were uncomfortable with Falwell's words even though he apologized for saying them, but not all rejected Falwell's notion that this attack might not be God's wake up call to Americans to forsake their sinful ways. How should we view what happened this week in America from a Biblical and historical perspective? The opening story reflects on that. Are We Responsible for Another's Sins? I have also included a story by Julia Duin of the Washington Times that balances mine. This past week I wrote an article critical of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold's handling of the attack on America in New York City. The point of the article was to say that he fell down on the job by not appearing publicly to minister to those in need, while a Roman Catholic Cardinal delivered the last rites and a Catholic priest died of a heart attack while ministering to firemen on the streets. Griswold was amazingly absent, only appearing out of his bunker when the all clear signal sounded and then wandering around New York City in his cassock announcing "I have been here" to anyone who would listen and dining with Rowan Williams the Primate of Wales declaring that we should not act too hastily and that he saw evil being counterbalanced by generosity. Of course the opposite of evil is not generosity it is good. The opposite of generosity is stinginess, somehow the obfuscation of language and opposites was no doubt designed to put a spin on the events taking place. Look for the pluriform silver lining in an event that resembles the holocaust and we can still go on feeling good about ourselves. Well Virtuosity has learned that Griswold was even more egregious in his behavior on Sept. 11. It has been learned that on the very day the planes hit the twin towers Griswold actually signed the Title IV Review Committee statement exonerating Bishop Jane Dixon of presentment charges and then he waited two days to FAX it to Accokeek lawyer Chuck Nalls. He was signing the death warrant of an orthodox Episcopal parish in Accokeek, MD while thousands died just a few blocks down the road. By liberating Dixon from ecclesiastical constraints, and doing it before Judge Messitte makes a ruling on her case against the vestry and parish at Accokeek, Dixon believes she is now in a position to do whatever she can to retrieve the parish from Fr. Edwards. The timing could not have been worse. Under cover of the worst atrocity to happen on American soil Griswold showed his true colors. Is there language here to describe such behavior? I doubt it. Robert Stowe England has a story on what might happen if the Accokeek parish sues Dixon. He also has a story on the suspension of services at the Pomonkey chapel. One has to ask oneself, is the pathological hatred of orthodox believers so deeply ingrained in revisionists like Griswold that he will do ANYTHING to smash and destroy them, even on the worst day in American history? Apparently not. Just to demonstrate how frightened revisionist bishops like Dixon are, she decided that the cathedral in Washington could be a target and, after discussing options, she closed the cathedral and worship outside the buildings. She then said churches in the diocese are packed and people face the difficult task of sorting through the differences between justice and revenge. Really. People do know the difference they are not stupid, and they are filling churches looking for hope, and a transcendent word from God. The tragedy is that they won't get it from most of the Episcopal churches in Washington, DC because most of them have no category for absolute evil, and because they have none, they have no understanding of the supreme good, the Christ who saves, the cross, substitutionary atonement, and the conquering of sin and death through the bodily resurrection of Jesus. You can be sure that once this crisis is past the churches will once again empty because people know intuitively that truth does not lie there. Right now people are hungry and desperate and they will clutch anything, even the husks of lesbigay priests because they want something to hold onto. The tragedy is they are clutching at straws and many will drown and die in their sin and fears with no salvific word. And that is a tragedy beyond words. As if to ice the cake on lesbigay concerns and the continued mortgaging of the Episcopal Church's historic teaching, Virtuosity has learned that Bishop Clayton Matthews, Griswold's development officer and point man for sexually wayward bishops, made a cameo appearance in the Diocese of Colorado recently, at the request of Bishop Jerry Winterrowd, who is off to lick his wounds in retirement. He was there to press for additional five or six representatives of the gay and lesbian community as an aid in decision making for the election of the next bishop. The Standing Committee apparently had no qualms about this and so you can be sure that the next bishop will not be remotely biblical or faithful to the creeds, but he/she will be faithful to the new ECUSA doctrine of Resolution D039 and lesbigay concerns. Another diocese heading down the drain and another victory for Integrity. Is it any wonder evangelical priests are leaving the diocese and heading to the AMIA. Allied to Griswold's moral failure this weak is a letter Virtuosity has obtained written by NY Bishop Mark Sisk washing his hands of the whole Grein affair. Grein, as you know was New York's previous bishop who resigned and now faces both ecclesiastical and civil charges for his behavior in firing a thoroughly evangelical woman priest in his diocese and putting in her place what is being described as "a close personal friend" in the person of Anne Richards at Grace Church in the East Village. There must be something in the water in NYC that seems to bring out the worst in episcopal leaders. They are either spineless, adulterous, theologically weak or all three wrapped up in one. Paul Moore, the bishop before Grein, was not much better than Grein and Sisk has the moral backbone of a jellyfish. There is something to the truth that when they consecrate these guys they perform a spinectomy at the same time. You can read all about Sisk's I'm-washing-my-hands Pilate story today. But there was some good news from my hometown Philadelphia this week. On a night when President Bush addressed Congress and the American people about what comes next in the war against terrorism, the Flyers and their fans displayed extraordinary patriotism at the First Union Center. Given the choice of watching the preseason game against the New York Rangers or a telecast of the President's address last night, the fans overwhelmingly opted for the latter. Bush's address, which was shown on the Jumbotron, began about eight minutes before the start of the third period. But as the players skated onto the ice, a message on the screen said the game would resume and the remainder of Bush