February 25, 2005 - 00:15 [z-05:00]

       Don't really have much to say. Normally, there is a torrent of logic pouring from the fingers. Not today, though. Not today.

       The Pope is gravely ill - he may be dying. The Episcopal Church as we know it, is dead. The two events are unequivocably linked.

       JPII is a good man. He stood for everything that was good about organized religion. There are those who say that the church has outlived its usefulness. That's a crock. Look at the numbers of people who are turning to churches that preach the Gospel right out of the Good Book, itself. That includes the Roman catholics. There is one thing you can count on. When JPII dies, the Roman church will continue and the message will be the same.

       The American Episcopal Church (ECUSA), a church whose catholic roots go back to the very beginnings, will not be the same tomorrow. It has been, to the embarrassment of most moderates and conservatives, sent to the woodshed by the rest of the Anglican Community.

       Episcopalians call it "making" a bishop. All the other bishops get together and "lay" hands on a priest, just like the Romans and Greeks do. The Priest becomes a Bishop in the Church of God - their words. Only this time, 2003, they made a priest who was openly gay.

       Let me tell you a little ecclesiastical secret: the Episcopal Church invented "Don't Ask - Don't Tell." So it's no surprise that a Homosexual was made a Bishop. Up to now, though, nobody said it was ok to PRACTICE homosexuality, especially if you were a bishop. No Matter how gay, the Bishop was constrained to chastity. That doesn't mean he didn't fall off the wagon every once in awhile - who among us is perfect? - but he recognized his failure and crawled back on.

       The oldest continuing denomination in this state has now been told by the Church of England (it's spiritual parent), the Episcopal Church of Scotland (it's immediate forebearer), The Church in Australia, and every other Anglican National Church in the WORLD (except the Canadians who were also suspended) that they broke a very old and very important rule: Homosexual may be what you are, Anglican is what you do.

       In other words, if you want to play a christian gay, find another church to do it in. Real Anglicans, they say, still cling to the rules. For the Church of England, it's all about morals. For the Episcopal Church, it's all about what's happening now.

       Whether this is right or wrong is not my purview. All those years studying theology tells me that churches are far more political than politicians. The Gay lobby got what they wanted, for a while, anyway. And remember that neither side has any real science on its side. The political gays are like UFO believers - true to the bone. They have nothing to base their belief on, except pitiful academicians prostituting themselves for popularity's sake. There are many inferences in Scripture about homosexuality as a sin. For the church, that is enough.

       How the Gay lobby got what they wanted is a textbook study in liberal politics. 62% of Episcopalians consider themselves liberals, so this was not a stretch by any means. The Lobby sneered at the moderates and conservatives, saying that once a Gay bishop was consecrated, it would all blow over, just like the fight for women Priests.

       The Gay lobby was horribly, horribly wrong.

       They got exactly what they wanted, and it has killed the Episcopal Church in the US.

       Why so sure of this? Because the Episcopal Church will not recant. They are gay to stay. And because there are enough moderate and conservative Episcopalians who will ally themselves with Anglicans in Australia and Africa.

       It's not like the Episcopal Church was that big, anyway. Before the Gay lobby got their way, it was 2,000,000 people. Since 2003, a little over a third have fled or will flee. But those who are leaving simply cannot live with what the church has done, and they are saying it with money and lawyers. This latest move by the Church of England only solidifies things. Not just voting with their feet, conservatives and moderates are taking their property whenever they can, leaving the remaining Gay Episcopal church a starving pauper.

       Oddly enough, had the Gay lobby waited a few more years, there may have been scientific answers to back them up. Maybe not. In either case, they did not wait. They got their way.

       I guess I did have something to say today, after all.

       The Pope may die, but the Church he represents will go on. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopalians will go on, but no matter how he tries to spin it, the Church he represents is dead.