[Anglican Mainstream] 19 Mar 2008--There have been two significant responses elicited by recent developments within the Anglican Communion. I would like to analyse what has been said – and left unsaid – and where it’s all heading. The first response is that of the Statement by the Province of SE Asia. I begin, though, with the second, the Reflections of Bishop Mouneer Anis on the Joint Standing Committee (JSC) where he shared with the world his bleak perspective on the future of the Anglican Communion (AC). Given the present trajectory of the ‘progressive’ TEC (and of other Anglican spheres, as well), there is little to give hope to the conservatives within the AC. He knows it and now publicly acknowledges it. The Communion’s future is at stake. Though the good bishop does not indicate whether or not he is au fait with the literature related to psychological manipulation and social engineering, he has actually revealed in this commentary something of ‘how it is done’ by the professionals. And though we are speaking about progressives within the AC, these ‘tips-for-takeovers’ are useful across the board, regardless of the organizational entity, denomination or group.
First, there are the elements of time and will-power. Time is on the side of the ‘progressives’ (Ps) who unremittingly chip away at the ‘establishment’ (whose members I will call Es) by wearing them down and wearing them out. Es may well feel strongly about the issue but not nearly as strongly as Ps, whose self-evident truth is non-negotiable. And it is irrelevant how often Es re-state core convictions or re-affirm essentials. Bishop Anis and the Province of SE Asia Statement gave only a partial history of the attempts to ‘call a halt’ – see below - but none of them have caused Ps to modify their behaviour (with the possible exception of slowing the rate) or change the ultimate terminus, have they? Ps know better! They know that, at the end of the day, they care far more than Es about ‘their issue’. It cuts to the quick – it is what they are about - and that will be the determining factor for the outcome. So the future is theirs, if not the present. In the meanwhile, simply getting a place ‘at the table’ with the rest is the goal. And they have reached it now.
There is also the element of presence. Notice how inhibitory the Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefforts-Schori’s,(Katie’s) sitting there in the midst of the group was – and did she not half know it! She was playing both the Listening and the Gender Cards. In relation to the former, she was saying in effect, ‘I represent Anglican GLBTs, historically victimized and oppressed by an uncaring church – and I hope you feel really guilty about that past – you ought to!’ In relation to the latter, she was insinuating, ‘As a woman I represent another class of historically victimized people and thus I ought to be treated with greater leniency by you than if I were a man’. These chaps are from the old school, after all; they grew up in the days when ‘good’ men respected and honoured women. And they got the message. Given the above, as well as the subtle but powerful rules of The Club – Children, be nice to each other now! – Katie was home free. She knew how effective simply her presence would be in muzzling the potential opposition, and it paid off, as Bishop Anis noted.
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