TEC and the C of E: Taking Cues From Cuckoos
EDITORIAL
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
June 15, 2010
Liberals always play the same game, both in the Church and in the social mainstream – and it is a very profitable one.
First, they ask for a bit of tolerance, say on the issue of women’s ordination. And because Episcopalians have a natural desire to be tolerant, and because they are endlessly compassionate (about almost everything except orthodoxy), their wishes are usually granted.
When the "Philadelphia 11" women were ordained priests in 1974, before the Episcopal Church approved this break from apostolic order, holy hands were raised against such "irregular" ordinations. But then, as the pain of women ostracized from the pulpits became a human/civil rights issue, and women priests won approval by a slim majority vote in 1976, some tolerant orthodox folk said okay, so long as you respect our consciences on the matter and don’t force us to ordain women or accept their ministry.
It was not long, however, before an innovation permitted in TEC began to be expected, and faithful clergy, would-be clergy, and laity in TEC who had earlier shown tolerance ceased to be afforded the same by the liberal/revisionist forces now at the controls in TEC. A few years back, the national church even dispatched a squad of would-be enforcers out to what were, by then, just a handful of dioceses still resisting women's ordination.
A similar path has been followed to alter TEC's doctrine on human sexual behavior.
Some will trace TEC's devolution in this area to the relaxation of marital discipline in the 1970s. The line against sex (homosexual or heterosexual) outside holy matrimony seemed to be more or less held until the passage of Resolution D039, in Denver 2000 which recognized that there were sexual relationships going on outside of marriage, while not expressly okaying them, but not rebuking them either. That was the thin end of the wedge. Today, in TEC a homosexual man and lesbian serve among TEC's bishops, and there are numerous active homosexuals serving as Episcopal priests and deacons. TEC orthodox clergy, aspirants and laypeople are steadily leaving or being deftly sidelined or weeded out by the liberal powers that be.
All the time the liberals demanded the orthodox must keep paying and paying and paying to support the changes they disagreed with. It’s a bit like paying a mortgage on a home you don’t own.
Despite the cautionary tale offered by TEC's recent history, the Church of England has recently entered its darkest hour by pushing women bishops onto the church - never mind ecumenical relations with two leading Christian communions in the world, or promises it made to protect the consciences of C of E clergy and laity who also side with the Universal Church on the subject of female ordination.
So let me tell you how this works in the animal kingdom and see if you can connect the dots.
Do you know about the habits of cuckoo birds? It is an interesting bird, because it doesn't build a nest. It is a brood parasite, which lays its eggs in the nests of other bird species. Female parasitic cuckoos lay eggs that closely resemble the eggs of their chosen host, usually Reed Warblers.
At the appropriate moment, the hen cuckoo flies down to the Reed Warblers' nest, pushes one Reed Warbler egg out of the nest, lays an egg and flies off. The whole process is achieved in only about 10 seconds.
“The cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the host's. The cuckoo chick grows faster and methodically evicts all host progeny from host nests. The cuckoo chick will roll the other eggs out of the nest by pushing them with its back over the edge. It is a much larger bird than its hosts, and needs to monopolize the food supplied by the parents. At 14 days old, the cuckoo chicks are about three times the size of the adult Reed Warblers. The numerous and rapid hunger calls of the single cuckoo chick, and to a lesser extent its colored gape, encourage the host parents to bring more food.” (Text from Wikipedia)
The host parents are confused, not knowing what to do but keep feeding the chick, as it resembles their own brood, not realizing they are feeding a monster that has totally usurped and seized their nest and their own children.
Now, if this doesn’t ring bells about what has been happening for the last 40 years in The Episcopal Church and more recently in The Church of England, then you haven't really been paying attention.
END