Christopher Johnson: AFTER FURTHER REVIEW

From the Midwest Conservative Review (blog):

For most of its history, the Holy Roman Empire was a peculiar thing. It was created by the Pope when Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800 but its later emperors were enemies of the popes as often as not.

Charles V, that most devoted of Catholics who ended his life in a monastery and probably ruled over more of the world than anyone except Genghis Khan, was the emperor whose army sacked Rome in 1527 and took the Pope hostage.

As powerful as Charles was, though, he couldn't prevent Protestantism from taking root in his dominions and spreading all over Europe. Thereafter, the constituent states of the Empire were frequently at each other's throats and as time went on, the office of Holy Roman Emperor became less and less relevant to anyone or anything at all.

Fascinating history lesson, Chris, but what does this have to do with the Anglicans? Although it may not have occurred in the way we would have preferred to see(clean, official and final), one fact is now obvious.

For all intents and purposes, the Anglican split many of us hoped for has happened.

Let's be honest. The Americans and Canadians are going to continue to defy the Windsor Report. And Global South bishops are going to continue to pick off American and Canadian conservative parishs in defiance of the Windsor Report.

And nothing will happen to any of them.

Dr. Williams has not withdrawn Lambeth Conference invitations to anybody. So we're left to conclude that violations of Anglican pronouncements(Lambeth resolutions, the Windsor Report or anything else) carry no penalty.

Ever.

Therefore Rowan Williams and the other Anglican "instruments of unity" are irrelevant, Anglicans are officially free to do anything they want and Anglicanism is officially meaningless. The Anglican Communion is dead.

So what? So this. My gracious lord of Canterbury has a choice. If Dr. Williams wants the office of Archbishop of Canterbury to continue to mean anything at all, he has one last chance. The upcoming Lambeth Conference had better be a good deal more confrontational than he would like it to be or that will be the end of the Anglican game.

If Williams doesn't, conservative Anglicans are going to be begin to remake the Anglican tradition in whatever way they wish regardless of what the Archbishop has to say about it. The gap between liberal and conservative Anglicans will grow into an unbridgeable chasm and Dr. Williams or one of his successors will eventually find themselves the holders of a title that has no power and even less influence in Anglican affairs.

Holy Anglican Emperor, maybe.