The Presiding Bishop's Easter Message

Since this is a rant, I decided to move it here, from my other blog site. (It was from April 2nd.) As a background, here is the link to The Presiding Bishop's Easter Message.

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I started a blurb, and then deleted it. It ended up being a diatribe about the typically disrespectful/hateful comments I found on the conservative blogs. I'll wait until I can simply state why I was happy to read the Presiding Bishop's Easter Message. I know why I was. I'm not so sure that I'd want to post it here. Maybe I'll let the positive reside on my March 23rd blurb with the excerpt that can speak for itself. Maybe I'll concentrate on the negative comments I read, instead, since I don't feel like posting my opinions on their blogs, and subject myself to the self-righteous pyranhas. I need to get some sleep.

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Added 4/5/08:

In response to those who ripped the Presiding Bishop apart because her Easter Message wasn't "Christian-enough" for their taste (and nothing she could ever do or say would make them happy anyway), I would simply say that she was speaking to Episcopalians, who already know what Easter is about. Anyone who goes to church once or twice a year knows about Jesus' death and Resurrection. She was saying things that most Episcopalians do not seem to know about -- or care about. Why Easter? Why not? It is a time when churches traditionally do baptisms. Maybe people who read the Easter Message had a chance to hear this for the first time:

"Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?"


"I renounce them."

One thing I found so potentially important about the message, is that we are big into the MDG's. I am hopeful that her message will encourage charitable people in our churches to find ways to support the MDG's that not only help the poorest of the poor, but do not hurt the environment, or add to animal suffering. If the higher-ups in the Church take her message to heart, maybe we can stop encouraging people to support "buy a cow for a poor family" schemes. Maybe ERD will phase out their "animal slavery project". Maybe the creator of the animal-exploitive Advent Calendar that is posted every year on the Diocese of Washington's website will update the daily outreach suggestions. Who knows what could happen, when someone in a position like hers actually goes out on a limb to speak to a topic that even our environmentalists who talk about Climate Change won't touch?

(Go ahead and eat your Easter hamburgers out of contempt for our Church leader, you self-righteous, self-indulgent, hard-hearted brood of vipers. Why not throw in a gluttonous Turducken while you're at it, just for spite? How many creatures of God are you willing to corrupt and destroy, just so you can dehumanize another Christian who doesn't fit your mold?)


The Easter Message came to my attention just at a time when I was ready to drop out, because I've been so impatient with, and disillusioned by the Church's silence (and "imposed silence") on these topics -- eternally displaced by more important topics of the day like "sex and schism" that is a smoke screen that diverts attention from everything else, and is generally out of touch with anything other than its own self-interests. I'm back, because she opened a door!


I was reminded of these old posts:


- An Open Letter to Episcopalians (and other charitable people) in support of MDG's

- The other "Inconvenient Truth" -- a message for the Church (and the world)


- MDG's: A few cruelty-free international relief and development organizations