Peace on Earth, Good Will To Men...and Women

Here's some more Peace on Earth, Good Will for you.  The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Fort Worth is bent out of shape over the Christmas card sent by our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the bishops of the Episcopal Church, including Fort Worth's Bishop Iker.  In fact, they got so upset about Janet McKenzie's image of three wise women, they had to do something with all that upsetness.  So they spread the good cheer with their clergy and delegates as follows:

 To the Clergy and 2007 Convention Delegates,

The members of your Standing Committee thought you should be aware of this.

The Presiding Bishop has done something which defies explanation. This is the Christmas card she sent to Bishop Iker and presumably other TEC bishops. Given the increasing polarization in TEC (and the Anglican Communion) today, the only reason we can see for her to make this choice is that she is only interested in pushing the polarization just that much further.

The Presiding Bishop is an intelligent woman, so this reinterpretation of Scripture to exclude masculine images must be intentional. This card illustrates in many ways the core problem of the General Convention Church. Scripture cannot be made to conform to us, we must conform our lives and our faith to Scripture. We will continue to stand for the traditional expression of the Faith.

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth

Commentary on this silliness can be seen at Lisa Fox's blog entry Fort Worth Outraged at My Manner of Life which provides links to some other very entertaining articles.  Be sure to check out  Danger! Wise Women Ahead! by Andrew Gerns at Andrew Plus and Katie Sherrod's hilarious joke Can't Even Swim at Desert's Child.

Shocking as it may be, Fort Worth is a diocese that does not ordain women.  It would appear that the image of a female magi sent by the female head of the Episcopal Church drove these guys into a tizzy.  You have to give it to Bishop Jefferts Schori.  She has spunk.  So does the thought provoking image of the artist lost in this frenzy.