Monday 28 July 2014

Doublethink

"... the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. ... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies—all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth..... "
George Orwell: '1984'  
cf. 
"..In a letter sent to Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said he hopes the vote to allow the ordination of women bishops would not prove a stumbling block to future “full communion” between the Anglican and Catholic churches.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the Most Rev Justin Welby admitted in the letter that the vote at the General Synod earlier this month to allow women bishops was a “further difficulty” as far unity is concerned.
In the letter to Francis and other church leaders from around the world, the Archbishop said: “We are aware that our other ecumenical partners may find this a further difficulty on the journey towards full communion.
“There is, however, much that unites us, and I pray that the bonds of friendship will continue to be strengthened and that our understanding of each other’s traditions will grow. It is clear to me that whilst our theological dialogue will face new challenges, there is nonetheless so much troubling our world today that our common witness to the Gospel is of more importance than ever.”
Archbishop Welby referred to regions of the world currently affected by conflict, poverty and unemployment and said that the Anglican and Catholic Churches “need each other as we, as churches empowered by the Holy Spirit, rise to the challenge and proclaim the good news of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and strive for closer fellowship and greater unity.”  [here]
One can respect someone when he says what he really believes. Clearly, by his wholehearted support of the recent decision of the Church of England's General Synod to proceed to the ordination of women to the episcopate, the Archbishop of Canterbury believes - without even the slightest hesitation - that the recently invented Anglican 'tradition' of women bishops and clergy is of infinitely more importance than unity with the ancient Churches of East and West. 
That, however, is not what he says ... is it?

For the modern Anglican 'liberal' (and no one now becomes an Anglican (Arch)bishop in the west without being such to all intents and purposes) ecumenism is an excellent goal and an engrossing hobby but, regardless of the dominical command, in terms of theological substance it is as light as a feather when weighed in the balance alongside the demands of the zeitgeist. The uncritical adoption of the modern rights and equalities agenda means that the goal of full and visible unity - "full communion" - has been postponed to an indefinite and indeterminable future. And those who are in support of this generation's radical breaking and remaking of Anglicanism know that very well. 

And as for the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch, in a re-united Church along modern Anglican lines, they could look forward eagerly to being granted some kind of a Code of Practice so they might (if they can jump through the required hoops)  keep their quaint and outmoded views alive - for the time being ... as long as the culture allows ... for in the long term the 'new religion' will allow no competitors ...


1 comment:

  1. I think you hit the nail on the head, Father. His Grace, like his genuinely devout and very brainy predecessor, somehow seems to have missed completely the awkward fact that actions have consequences. The reaction of the RC hierarchy of England and Wales, composed of English (and presumably Welsh) gentlemen, has been "more in sorrow than in anger". Metropolitan Hilarion, spokesman of the Moscow Patriarchate, has been much more outspoken, saying bluntly that the innovation has put the kibosh on any recognition of the validity of Anglican orders.

    When will the C of E finally realise that you can simultaneously please feminists who use "patriarchy" as a cussword and a body whose gaffer is called a "Patriarch"?

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