A riddle:
Query: How are you going to inform the distinction between a liberal Democrat and an Episcopal bishop?
Reply: An Episcopal bishop wears a humorous hat.
On my tortuous street to the Catholic Church, I abided for a time with the Episcopalians. Whereas learning at Harvard, I went by way of affirmation courses at Boston’s Trinity Church. I used to be attracted by the pageantry of Trinity’s non secular providers and by the Episcopal liturgy.
In time, nevertheless, I turned disenchanted. I noticed that being an Episcopalian was little or no completely different from being a progressive Democrat. Thus, I left the Episcopalian and have become Catholic.
Different Episcopalians have turn into disaffected with their denomination. One article reported that the venerable denomination fell from a peak membership of three.4 million in 1959 to 1.58 million in 2020. Certainly, the Episcopal Church is shedding members so quick that one commentator predicted its demise by 2040.
Nonetheless, the Episcopal hierarchy is unbowed, and the elaborately robed bishops proceed to guide their flocks towards oblivion. On this spirit of self-destruction, Bishop Mariann Budde delivered a disrespectful lecture (disguised as a sermon) to President Trump on the Washington Nationwide Cathedral in Washington, DC. President Trump demanded an apology, which he’s unlikely to get.
Bishop Budde made two foremost political factors. First, she expressed worry for homosexual, lesbian, and transgender People, saying:
I ask you to have mercy upon the individuals in our nation who’re scared now . . . There are homosexual, lesbian, and transgender kids in Democratic, Republican and impartial households, some who worry for his or her lives.
Second, the Bishop challenged President Trump’s immigration coverage. “The overwhelming majority of immigrants aren’t criminals,” the Bishop exhorted and begged the President to indicate mercy “on these in our communities whose kids worry that their dad and mom shall be taken away, and that you just assist those that are fleeing warfare zones and persecution in their very own lands to seek out compassion and welcome right here.”
I need to briefly problem Bishop Budde’s political themes. First, I do not imagine that American gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals worry for his or her lives. Nor do I believe President Trump has ever mentioned or completed something that ought to frighten our nation’s LGBTQ communities.
Second, Budde’s insinuation that Trump would harass or deport immigrants who entered this nation to flee persecution shouldn’t be fully correct. The President is merely requiring immigrants to comply with established authorized processes and attempting to cease the entry of criminals and drug traffickers from coming into the USA.
Deportation processes could certainly disrupt some immigrant households, however I imagine our authorities can take away unlawful immigrants humanely. We’ll quickly see.
Talking as a Catholic and ex-Episcopalian, I counsel Bishop Budde pursue her political agenda as a layperson. Maybe she ought to turn into an worker of the Democratic Social gathering. I am positive the Democrats could be comfortable to rent her and permit her to proceed sporting her humorous hat.
