A.S. Haley, an attorney from California who blogs under the name, the Anglican Curmudgeon, has posted a most interesting column in which he demonstrates that at the same time the Presiding Bishop and her Chancellor were telling the House of Bishops meeting in Salt Lake City that “a majority of the whole number of Bishops entitled to vote" means a majority of those present and entitled to vote, David Booth Beers’ firm submitted a brief on behalf of the Presiding Bishop in the Virginia property case asserting that the virtually identical language in the Virginia statute (“a majority of the whole number entitled to vote”) meant a majority of the members of a congregation who are entitled to vote, whether or not they were present.
Anyone, including the media (hint) can check the facts for themselves. But it appears to me that the House of Bishops has, at the very least, been misled; and an injustice has been committed against the three bishops (Duncan, Cox, and Schofield) who have been deposed under this (intentionally???) erroneous interpretation of the Canons.
Read the whole thing and decide for yourself.
1 comment:
Don't know if it was the custom where you were raised, but in Southern New Jersey where I grew up, if you were quick and able to multi-task a major change to the rules of any game could be affected by a fast declaration of the new rule followed by the loud statement, "No changies!" The deal was sealed by whistling through ones fingers and then touching the fingers to the sole of ones foot. If this all was done before someone could intervene or object it was a done deal and set in concrete. TEC must have its roots in a similar culture as it seems to be quite comfortable with intellectual contortions such as David Booth Beers exhibits so frequently on TEC's behalf.
Then again, when one objectively considers the 'new' Christianity TEC has declared to be its evolving 'theology' it all sort of makes sense.
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