MUST READ
There is a new "must read" at hand. This one is from Steve Skardon at scepiscopalians, "Lawrence Allies Lash Out at Bishop Adams," July 20, 2018. Find it here .
Skardon analyses a letter from Lawrence ally Dr. Peter Moore who has joined the Diocese of South Carolina's despicable smear campaign against Bishop Skip Adams. Find Moore's letter here . They are accusing Adams of selling a vacant church in Binghamton New York to Muslims rather than to the breakaway congregation. Turns out DSC is twisting a true story to suit their own momentary need to demonize the Episcopal Church bishop. The facts of the case are not what DSC is telling its communicants. Adams did indeed try to let the remnant breakaway congregation buy the property, but could not do so from complications, then put it on the market to the highest bidder.
The DSC leadership has turned their new religion into a fundamentalist sect. Fundamentalism defines the universe as a set of dualities. Everything is oppositional: black and white, good and evil, God and Satan, Heaven and Hell, saved and unsaved etc. There are no shades of grey, no in between. In order to have opposition, there must be an opponent, a bête noire, an enemy. If he or she does not exist, they must be created in order to have a dualism. That is what we have here with Adams.
This is what we have had for a long time in South Carolina. In the 1980's, Bishop Allison carried on a long and loud crusade against his chosen opponent, Bishop John Spong. Spong wisely ignored him. In 2003, it was Gene Robinson. From 2006 to 2015 it was Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. How the DSC leaders demonized her is a story in itself. Read my history of the schism.
On August 2, 2017, the South Carolina supreme court published its ruling in favor of the Episcopal Church. Suddenly Justice Kaye Hearn was the enemy, according to DSC the sole cause of their defeat. The smear campaign against her was, well I should not get started on that. So, now that Bishop Adams is targeted should surprise no one. He is now the declared enemy of the fundamentalist prophets on Coming Street. They are conducting a no-holds-barred, all out campaign to destroy his reputation in the minds of the 13,000 communicants in the 29 parishes that have been legally returned to the Episcopal Church. As Adams and the Episcopal Church diocese prepare to ease these parishes back into TEC, the DSC leadership is doing everything it can to prevent that. In a nutshell, that is what is going on now in the Lowcountry.
Thus, Moore's letter to virtueonline makes perfect sense in the broader picture. It is par for the course in this schism. Skardon has dissected Moore's writing and everyone should read it.
Why anyone would believe anything at all coming from the DSC leadership at this point is beyond me. They lost credibility long ago. So many of the things they said before the schism have been shown to be untrue. They said the diocese was independent and did not have to follow the national church. False. They said the local parishes owned their properties in disregard of the Dennis Canon. False. They said the diocese could leave TEC whenever they wished. False. They said Church leaders drove Lawrence out of the church. Not true. They said TEC no longer believed in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ or in the Bible. Wrong, wrong. They said they were the "orthodox" Anglicans while TEC was unorthodox. Ridiculous. They said God was on their side and would lead them to courtroom victory. We saw where that went. Now, the DSC leaders are scrambling to construct a new false narrative to justify their bad choices and direction and keep as many as possible of the 13,000 communicants with them, even if that means pulling these people out of their home churches. Hence, the smear of Adams. It is part of a pattern. The truth is their ill-conceived experiment has failed and they refuse to admit it.
Why anyone would believe anything at all coming from the DSC leadership at this point is beyond me. They lost credibility long ago. So many of the things they said before the schism have been shown to be untrue. They said the diocese was independent and did not have to follow the national church. False. They said the local parishes owned their properties in disregard of the Dennis Canon. False. They said the diocese could leave TEC whenever they wished. False. They said Church leaders drove Lawrence out of the church. Not true. They said TEC no longer believed in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ or in the Bible. Wrong, wrong. They said they were the "orthodox" Anglicans while TEC was unorthodox. Ridiculous. They said God was on their side and would lead them to courtroom victory. We saw where that went. Now, the DSC leaders are scrambling to construct a new false narrative to justify their bad choices and direction and keep as many as possible of the 13,000 communicants with them, even if that means pulling these people out of their home churches. Hence, the smear of Adams. It is part of a pattern. The truth is their ill-conceived experiment has failed and they refuse to admit it.
