Unholy Gale in Church of England
There’s a bit of a blow up in the Church of England. It seems the bishop of Exter decided to install wind turbines to meet the CoE carbon footprint goals. Oh sure there was that bit about it being a profit center but we all know that was a MINOR consideration in the face of carbon footprint shrinking and all that. In any event all this was done WITHOUTconsulting the mere pewsitters, especially those pewsitters, whose homes will be directly impacted by these 75 foot giants. While the tussle is on-going, it seems the bishop has taken a page out of the GLBTQI agenda book which requires they take immediate offense when caught overstepping.
It was at this point, claims the Bishop of Exeter, Michael Langrish, that things got nasty, and, in a letter read out in North Devon churches last month, he made his feelings known. “I have been grieved by the way some of those most opposed to our proposals have resorted to abusive and bullying tactics,” he said, with the same defensive tone as that used by TV presenter Fearne Cotton when she responded to critics of her Diamond Jubilee performance.
“I and many of my colleagues have received very unpleasant letters,” continued the bishop. “And those who have attended public meetings, in a genuine effort to explain the thinking behind our proposals, have been shouted down, and called liars.
“It grieves me, too, that in many ways the scale of aggression and hostility generated from a small amount of people was so far out of step with what we proposed.”
His observations have not gone down well. They could have been served up with a big dollop of mea culpa regarding lack of consultation, plus a promise to drop the turbine scheme forthwith, but the bishop’s remarks left villagers feeling he had taken his message not from the Book of Lamentations, but from the Gospel of Sour Grapes.
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5 comments
So, he made a decision which effects a significant group of people, without consulting them. They didn’t approve of his decision, quite intensely, it seems. And when these people make their disapproval known to his grace, he cries “foul”. Sounds like they did the right thing, even if the idea is in principle a good one.
Yours in Christ,
jacob
[1] Posted by Jacobsladder on 7-25-2012 at 12:51 PM · [top]
Good grief! Who made him (the Bishop of Exter) the despot who can declare that certain things will go his way??? Aren’t there local laws, zoning requirements and the such that need to be looked in to before he can just state this will be done.
[2] Posted by SC blu cat lady on 7-25-2012 at 02:18 PM · [top]
Hi Jackie, its the bishop of Exeter, not Exter…
They breed them tough and prickly down in Devon: Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and John Endecott, first governor of Massachusetts (no shrinking violet, apparently).
The bishop isn’t from Devon. He was born in leafy Hampshire and has a degree in Social Studies from Birmingham. I doubt he will intimidate these people!
[3] Posted by MichaelA on 7-25-2012 at 05:39 PM · [top]
British understatement:
<blockquote>“The villagers’ reaction to this wasn’t helped by the fact that, when the St Hieritha’s clock went wrong recently, it was they who had to pay up for the repair, not the diocese. The unanimous verdict at the meetings was that the warm, inner glow which would come from helping to balance the bishop’s books and lessen the C of E’s emissions guilt, would not, on the whole, outweigh the burning sense of resentment at watching these whirling giants slash house prices with every turn of their rotor blades.”</blockquote
[4] Posted by MichaelA on 7-25-2012 at 05:48 PM · [top]
He’s not addressed as Your Grace (reserved for the two Archbishops, but M’Lord. It’s funny to see these collared bank clerks get huffy when their omniscience and omnipotence is questioned by his own peasants.
Michael Langrish isn’t from the West Country anyway. Born in Hampshire.
[5] Posted by A Senior Priest on 7-25-2012 at 07:23 PM · [top]
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