There used to be a joke told about the Episcopalian who ended up in hell because he once used the fish fork to eat the salad. We don’t hear gags like that anymore, whatever trappings of genteel behavior formerly associated with the Episcopal Church are long gone. So given the detestable enormities found in the rest of the bishops' statement released from Camp Allen on Tuesday, one could easily overlook their brash request +Rowan come to the US and meet with the bishops "at [their] expense." Since the ABC is the head of the Anglican Communion doesn't protocol dictate the Americans petition to meet him over there?
Protocol aside, if +Rowan did elect to come to the States, I'm sure being the Archbishop and all and despite living in that backwater called England, he has a reasonable and generous expense account. Even absent the offer to pay, I don't think he will have to hit up the Queen or dig around under the sofa cushions for airfare. The HOB's offer to pay the Archbishop’s expenses, even if well-intentioned, suggests his decision could be influenced by it making the HOB appear patronizing, crass and arrogant; in short, like "ugly Americans." Didn't that occur to any of them when the idea was first broached?
No comments:
Post a Comment