An Aid To Memory

Charlie Wingate has posted some excellent observations on Episcopal church politics (and I think the post reflects mainline politics, and even all politics). The article is entitled, A Right-Wing Conspiracy, Of Course.

He is talking about accusations by a progressive Episcopal minister that the Institute for Religion and Democracy, a conservative mainline protestant interest group, is an angry, threatening organization motivated by fear. I am not a huge fan of the IRD myself. However, the condemnation of the IRD by the protestant left for using the left’s favorite tactics is ridiculous. Here is my favorite part of Mt. Wingate’s post, a true and cutting critique:

So let’s go back to Fr. Webster’s earlier article on the subject. At that time, he said:

But this article started with power and control. Liberation theology, feminist theology, inclusivity of all whether they be homosexuals, people of color, the poor, have all threatened the “power holders” throughout church history.

I shall be blunt: this is all so much bullshit. Liberation theology has been accused, in my opinion with utter justification, of being upper middle class dabbling in leftist politics. Feminist theology is likewise an upper middle movement, straight out of the academy, which is ensconced in the power structures of ECUSA in the form of the Office of Women’s Ministry: an organization seemingly impregnable in spite of numerous incidents of dabbling in non- and anti-Christian religion. Homosexuals in the church are not, by and large, powerless people. Black bishops in ECUSA are commonplace and unremarkable, reflecting their ascent into the gentry decades ago. Black bishops in the communion are of course the norm now– but that seems to have become a problem. All in all, the liberals are borrowing the grievances of the downtrodden, but without the actuality of oppression or poverty.

Exactly Charlie. As I have always said, a bunch of rich, white, highly-educated men and women in an air-conditioned suburban church moaning about “oppression” while drinking fine coffee and fancy pastries is totally hypocritical. Then Charlie goes on to say:

Given the actuality of strictly religious arguments about sexuality and femininity (race having, in practice, passed entirely out of the discussion in these latter days) I must conclude that the Real Agenda of the Wealthy Right Wingers is to protect their position and their pocketbooks. I’ve already discussed how they and the liberal powerful share position, so let’s move on to money. To a great degree, they share that too. Oh, the lawyer’s wives (and ex-lawyers) may not be living on trust funds, but the Ordination Process that prevails in the big, urban, liberal dioceses largely guarantees that only the comfortably well-off can afford to pursue ordination. It’s already clear that the powerful in ECUSA are not going to give up their bishop’s palaces and their beautiful old rectories and their handsome faux-gothic churches. They will not move into apartments and walk-ups and storefronts, but they expect the opposition to do so.

Once again, he is right on. The IRD behaves just like the liberal agenda groups, and both groups are run by wealthy folks who have known very little oppression in their entire lives. It is very expensive to get ordained in the Episcopal church. I can tell you this from first-hand experience. This essentially screens out poor applicants. I am sick of liberal mainline leaders complaining that conservatives have started using the same tactics they pioneered. Both sides are well-funded too, and there is nothing I dislike more than two angry rich people going at it, even if one side does claim to be on the side of the oppressed (but wouldn’t hang out with the oppressed if they had to)!

This entry was posted on Friday, May 12th, 2006 at 6:03 pm and is filed under Commentary on Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.