Feb
22
Sideshow Bob
February 22, 2006 |
It looks like there’s a chance that there will be another actively gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. Robert Taylor, dean of St. Marks Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, is one of five finalists for bishop in the Diocese of California, according to a story in the Seattle Times. Although some would say that such a consecration in the wake of all the troubles stirred up by the consecration of Gene Robinson would be somewhat impolitic, ol’ Bob Taylor sees it somewhat differently:
I would say that the major global issue for the Anglican Communion is not the discussion of human sexuality. That’s a side show. It’s about the ministry we should be engaged in in ending global poverty.
Sure, Bob, go ahead and end global poverty. You could probably do it just by redistributing the resources of the members of the Episcopal church. This kind of statement says something about the person who made it. Either he’s completely out of touch with reality, or he’s desperately hoping that nobody will notice the elephant in the room. That one over there, defecating on the carpet.
The announcement of the finalists was made Monday morning at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, home of the Diocese of California, which has about 27,000 members in the Bay Area.
No, not at Grace Cathedral! Surely you’re joking! What a coincidence!
Also among the finalists is Bonnie Perry, rector of All Saints’ Church in Chicago, who is also openly gay (kills two birds with one stone).
That’s not meant to be a political statement, said the Rev. Jack Eastwood, an adviser to Bishop Swing.
Bishop Swing. This just gets better and better.
Becoming embroiled in his denomination’s battle over gay clergy “is not a role that I’ve certainly sought in any way,” [Taylor] said. “It is my hope that if I were to be elected, we would be putting energy — and I want to put energy — into much more vital, pressing, interesting conversations.”
Sure, let’s just ignore the whole thing. Folks who think that Christianity is about following Christ and his teachings are not vital, they’re boring, and we don’t want to have any uninteresting conversations with them.
That would just be a sideshow, Bob.
