The following comes from this thread. Starting at #38, Tom Woodward, a priest and one of the leaders at the now-defunct 'Episcopal Majority', pops up. Hilarity ensues. For the record, any post by a smartass calling himself 'mousestalker' is me.
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Because I am slow, I just realized why it is revisionist priests and, presumably, bishops have such difficulty at reasserter sites. They are used to being treated with respect because of their office and to be deferred to as having authority.
Unfortunately, at StandFirm it's the American Revolution and they are Crown appointees. Their titles and ranks make them suspect and while they use roughly the same words, the accents and emphases are different, not to mention the goals.
Or to use another analogy: I used to be in a relationship with a drunk. She was sober when we started dating, but she turned to the bottle afterwards. It was a rather difficult time. My wife was in a relationship with an addict. He was clean when she met him, but he resumed his drug use and their relationship foundered. My wife and I share that same history and it's a commonality that has brought us closer as we both learned from the experience. Neither of us have any great desire to repeat our previous relationships.
I think the reasserter websites are healthier than revisionist ones because of the shared experience of pain. We have all been at least singed by bad religion and it has made us demand healthy religion, sound religion, Truth rather than bullshit. Generally, we are all on the same page and can provide support and comfort to one another. And it has made us skeptical of the odd revisionist parson who pops up and expects to be treated with as much deference as in his home parish.
To Tom Woodward and any other revisionist preacher who may come this way. I do not hate you. I am well aware of my sins. But you are not my confessor, spiritual guide or priest. I am not under your authority. And while I will always be civil, I do not trust you, intellectually or spiritually, unless and until you earn that trust.
You're the charming guy who has a flask in his pocket and is slightly slurring his words. And you've just crashed our Al-Anon meeting.
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One aspect of all revisionists that I truly detest is their desire to suborn perfectly normal words for their own use. This is their effort to make their views seem more mainstream.
Here, they are suborning 'orthodox'.
From Merriam-Webster:
"1 a: conforming to established doctrine especially in religion b: conventional"
So, when they use the word 'orthodox', do they REALLY expect that someone from 100 years ago would agree that their views meet the above definitions? I think not.
Likewise the other 'progressive' groups. The homosexual crowd suborned the word 'gay' in this fashion during the '80's. 'Gay' does not in any way describe homosexuality, but 'queer' comes much closer.
The word 'progressive' that has become a synonym for socialist is another example. Sorry, socialism is anything BUT 'progressive'. It is the oldest, most consistently unsuccessful social system man has ever devised.
But, I guess the TEC wouldn't like a more descriptive word like 'wacko' to describe their policies. Nor would the homosexuals feel more accepted labelled as 'queers'. And the 'progressives' purely HATE it when you call them socialists.
I suppose this will be labelled as 'hate speech' since they will feel offended.
Tom writes You are surely aware that the decline in membership in TEC mirrors similar declines pretty much across the board in Western Christendom. If there has been a contributing factor, that surely comes from the slanderous attacks from sites like yours.
"mirrors similar..." except that it was the fastest declining denomination. Because a lot of the mainstream denominations are declining, being the fastest is saying something. Also, that was last year. The loss of three or four whole dioceses, law suits galore, the June bride, etc., will make last years stats look all rosy.
And it is the "slanderous remarks" of conservatives that are at fault for the decline, dontcha' know.
"She was sober when we started dating, but she turned to the bottle afterwards."
If I continue to read Billy Ockham, will I end up disheveled, slurring my words, and dragging around an empty bottle?
Well, my wife hasn't turned to drink yet, and if I've ever given anyone provocation so to do, it's her. I'd say your odds are pretty good, then, of remaining sober.
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