Who or what is the most dishonest entity in your life?

From Hills of the North (blog):

Monday, June 23, 2008


Think for a moment: who or what is the most dishonest entity in your life?

Chances are it is not your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, because eventually most people cannot abide pervasive lack of trust in a relationship. They will simply end the relationship to protect themselves.

Chances are it is not your employer, because most people of even marginal scruples could not stand for long being part of an enterprise where each day one was left to wonder about one’s position and future. And no one wants to have tainted paychecks or be assumed by others to have or assent to the bad habits of a dishonest boss or company.

Chances are it is not a friend—because we tend to avoid forging friendships with dishonest sorts, and we tend to shed those friendships quickly where it’s plain we’ve been deceived, or very likely might be. And, as with our employer, most of us aren’t keen on absorbing the bad reputations of others as we’re judged by the friends we keep.

It’s probably not a political party or politician, either. We might want our political views to prevail, but we are deeply ashamed when the standard-bearer of those views turns out to be a dissembler. Both Nixon and Clinton discovered that they could not count on the loyalty of those they assumed would always support them, for just this reason. And politicians, for all their slickness, well know that lying can have serious political consequences, and if only for that reason try to at least appear as if they are being truthful.

The same is true of a government. For those of us in Western democracies, the tolerance for dishonesty in government is very slight. People do not like being lied to by their governments, and will demand reform. (And as the 20th Century showed us, even totalitarian governments are ultimately not immune from disgust at dishonesty.)

Likewise, it’s probably not a business, because businesses which make a habit of lying tend to destroy themselves, as they, too, depend upon trust. We simply don’t buy goods or services from those we don’t trust. Shareholders and investors demand transparency; customers demand the products and services they buy come as advertised. The consequence for dishonesty is ultimately the extinction of a business.

Think about all the other entities in your life, be they individuals or organizations. And then see how you can possibly avoid this conclusion: The Episcopal Church is the most dishonest entity in your life.

A shocking thing that is, of course—that what should be a part of the Body of Christ would be the most mendacious and untruthful part of our lives. But the number of lies—outright falsehoods—that emanate from our church’s leaders leaves for many of us no other conclusion. There are lies about how good the state of our church is, lies about the number of people who have left, lies to other provinces about our intentions as a church. A presiding bishop lied about the consecration of Gene Robinson, and then proceeded to be central to the very act he pretended to condemn. Another presiding bishop agrees to provide oversight and stop suing the orthodox, then promptly ratchets up her offensive against them, lying about what was agreed to. Numerous bishops and priests and lay leaders lie publicly about whether same-sex blessings are happening. (And even those who slip up and tell the truth quickly feel compelled to deny their honest statements with yet more lies.) There are lies in court proceedings. There are lies about whether the plain language of the canons is being followed. There are lies about votes required. There are lies about how money is spent. There are lies about who is suing whom. There are lies about “listening,” “conversation,” and “reconciliation.” Would-be bishops falsely pretend to be orthodox when they know they have little use for Scripture and believe very little of the Creeds. Bishops lie about being “Windsor” bishops. An entire “news” organization in our church bureaucracy exists to shade the truth, to spin, and at times tell blatant falsehoods. Truly, can you think of any organization where so much lying occurs so frequently, and with such seeming ease?

What enables such deep and pervasive dishonesty? Most assuredly it reflects a rejection of any notion of truth qua truth. Likewise, it comes from those whose very belief system is predicated on deconstructing that which others have accepted as truth—so to show their own intellectual superiority and cleverness. And should we really be surprised? If there is no truth, and words no longer mean anything in Scripture and the Creeds, how could they truly be expected to carry any meaning or reliability in everyday affairs? Words to such people are in essence nothing more than malleable tools to help one get one’s way—nothing more. Certainly this is not a Christian way of viewing language, or even a moral one. It dehumanizes and degrades those who receive those words and trust them, playing them for fools as it does. But it is self-evidently the way most of our bishops and their associates view words.

But in every other context cited above, there are governors on such dishonesty—consequences that deter those inclined to lie, or destroy them if they do. Why is it that those basic incentives and disincentives do not work in the context of the Episcopal Church?

The answer to that should distress anyone in the Episcopal Church. It’s not that there aren’t ample incentives to tell the truth, and ample disincentives to lying. Indeed, for those possessed of the Gospel, there could be none greater, because souls are at stake. But these supposed leaders of ours are not possessed of the Gospel. They do not care about the Great Commission. They do not care about bringing glory to God. They do not care if people come to salvation in Christ—indeed they deny that such a notion exists. They do not care if the church shrinks into oblivion. They do not really even care if the buildings survive, as the Presiding Bishop made plain in her deposition. And at the end of the day, most don’t even care that they have the Anglican pedigree—something that will be quite plain once Lambeth is over and they are unfettered for the next decade. Quite simply, they care about themselves—their political positions, their presumed stature, their frocks and perks. And even if the recognize that what they are doing is destroying the organization, they know the consequences are unlikely to ever reach them, financially or otherwise. They’re enjoying the game as they see it, and they’re really enjoying winning it. And why in what is basically a religion of self, should they act any differently?

Theology aside, it’s increasing difficult to see how any of us can remain part of an organization that is so dishonest at its core. After all, we don’t stay affixed to those other people or groups in our lives who cannot be trusted. We do we stay? We tell ourselves it’s because perhaps we’ll make a difference—although in most cases we know we’re not. We tell ourselves that as long as there are faithful orthodox about, things won’t be even worse—although there’s no evidence that’s worked at all. We might even say we’re there to keep our adversaries honest—although the lies have seemingly worsened. Most of us are well used to dealing with different opinions and perspectives, and probably as Anglicans have tolerance for theological waywardness far greater than we ought. But surely none of us like being continually lied to and lied about, or being associated with those who are so transparently dishonest.

Years from now, people will debate what caused the death of the Episcopal Church as an effective organization. There will be many opinions offered, from the theological to the financial—and most will have some validity, because nothing now appears healthy in the Episcopal Church. But to this observer, of all the cancers now afflicting our church, it is this metastasizing dishonesty that will be the ultimate cause of its demise.