Re: Those who live in glass houses

[Louie Crew <lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu>]

Gentle XXXX  XXXXXX,

Thanks for sharing your concerns.

Frequently we tell Palestinian Leaders that they should speak out against 
the youth who throw rocks at Israelis and against  those who become suicide 
bombers. We know that the terrorists do not report to and are not deployed 
by the Palestinian leaders.   Yet we rightly hold the leaders responsible 
for their public silence, which the hooligans take as tacit approval.

The nation rightly held responsible civic leaders like my father and our 
neighbor the mayor when the red-neck Adams Boys burned the Freedom Rider bus 
in my home town.  My father and the mayor had no use for the Adams boys, but 
when they did not speak out to assure safe passage of the Freedom Riders, 
the Adams Boys took their silences as a cue.  A year or so later, off the 
national camera but on the local one, the mayor, my father, and others 
safely escorted the first black patrons into the local Carnegie Library, 
which remains racially integrated without incident until this day.

I agree with you that The Episcopal Church has too often kept silence in the 
face of grave injustice.  Most notably we remained silent about slavery, and 
were the only denomination not to divide over it in the Civil War, much to 
our shame.   While we are not the nation's moral police force, scripture, 
tradition and reason hold us accountable for using our influence to address 
the public good not only with our lips in the lovely words of our Prayer 
Book, but also with our lives in public witness.  That's why General 
Convention passes resolutions addressing public policy, nationally and 
internationally. That's why the Episcopal Church maintains a Washington 
Office.

I agree with you that God's love of lgbt people is not a minor issue.  It is 
as huge as his love of the uncircumcised, and puts the church today into 
just as rigorous a reaction as did the Council of Jerusalem.  All the first 
Christians were Jews, but by the end of the first century, there were very 
few Jewish Christians, much to the loss of the Church, which needs still the 
Jewish perspective on the holy texts we share.   I hope that we can hold 
together as much as possible across the gulf that seems now to divide us. 
With God all things are possible.

May God use you to bless others.

Best wishes.

LC
Louie Crew
Member of Executive Council
Chair of deputation of the Diocese of Newark


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: XXXXX XXXXXX
  To: lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu
  Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 1:05 PM
  Subject: Those who live in glass houses


  Mr. Crew,

I usually pop in every so often to read your "natters" and then leave 
keeping my thoughts to myself.  However, I must respond today to your post 
"Those who live in class haouses" because your complete and total disregard 
for anything resembling the truth has reached a limit today that I find even 
shocking for you (perhaps I have not read enough of your previous works 
yet).

You link two news articles, one referencing the absolute horrors of the 
war in Uganda and another referring to the stoning sentence of a man who 
admitted to having sex with another man.  You imply in you post that the not 
only is the Anglican Church in these countries complicit in both of these 
acts, they are actively exporting this kind of behavior around the world.

Shame on you!  You make a point of saying the focus on LBGT people is a 
smokescreen, but what is this post?  You are attempting, as is the standard 
practice of LBGT movement, to weave into the debate two totally unrelated 
subjects and then paint all who disagree with you (yes the majority) with 
the guilt of the perpetrators of these dastardly acts.  To link the 
sentencing outcome of a Sharia Law trial to the legitimate argument of 
whether homosexuality is a sin is shocking.  Your post is intellectually 
dishonest and rather unchristian.  Again, shame on you.

I could list for you hundreds of articles from around the world of 
atrocities that the ECUSA has never commented on.  Does that mean the ECUSA 
and all associated, to include you, Frank, and Gene are equally guilty of 
those crimes? Have you or the ECUSA commented on the very stoning sentences 
of the 10 women mentioned in on of the above articles?  How about the 
millions of women that are violently oppressed throughout the Muslim world? 
What about the thousands of children that have been murdered by Islamic 
terrorists over the years?  Child porn and sex slaves?  Please!

The issue of homosexuality as a sin and whether unrepentant sin is a 
barrier to the Episcopate in the Episcopal Church is not and never has been 
a minor theological issue (after all we have been talking about it for 30+ 
years).  The LBGT interest groups cannot claim this is a smokescreen when 
all were warned, quite vehemently what would happen if they continued to 
push this agenda.  But the usual arrogance of the ECUSA leadership was to 
say the issue would be no big deal and when what you have reaped has come to 
fruition, you cry foul and attempt to avert everyone away from the true 
nature of the debate.  Frankly, this is typical and again, dishonest. 
Imagine God's glory if only the ECUSA would refocus its energies on trying 
to solve real and substantial problems in this world instead of pursuing the 
destruction of the Anglican Communion over an agenda pushed by a significant 
minority.

Finally, I think your quote is quite apropos so I will return it to you.

  "Whatsoever we sow, we shall reap.  Those who sow to destruction will reap 
  destruction."


  Sincerely,

  XXXXX  XXXXXXX
  XXXXXX Episcopal Church
  Charlotte, NC