So-Called Respect.

I see that someone on the Episcopal House of Bishops / Deputies (HOB/D) Listserv has taken to calling those congregations and persons who leave The Episcopal Church ™ due to the Current Unpleasantness, “so-called Anglicans”. As if they don’t count anymore.

I find this curious, since the whole position of those now in control of The Episcopal Church ™ - and almost all who post to the HOB/D - is that any attempt to define who is, or is not, an Anglican is against the very concept of Anglicanism itself. That is why they say they oppose the current draft of the Anglican Covenant, which is supposed to define who we are as Anglicans, and what we believe. It is not the Anglican Way, they claim, and to do so would make us no better than the Curia-run breeders Roman Church we broke away from a few centuries ago.

I am looking to stay and fight for the soul of the Episcopal Church ™ as long as I can; I am not looking to leave. (You will not get rid of my two cents that easily, Kate+.) But I understand what drives those who do choose to leave. They do not see themselves as having left The Episcopal Church ™, they see The Episcopal Church ™ as having left them. Why are folks on the HOB/D Listserv dismissing these voices by defining them in terms of smug epithets? Is that Christian behavior? What happened to all that talk of “dialogue? Is the “Listening Process” for one issue only, and only for one side of that issue? Is it easier to ignore the pain your decisions have caused if you can make those in pain sound illegitimate? Or is that line of thinking only important in one issue?

Just asking.