Message from Bishop David Anderson

Bishop Anderson Dear brothers and sisters in the Anglican family, Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It occurs that the growth and health of our Christian and Anglican community globally is threatened by several forces. My list may not be long enough, and you may think of more yourself, but here is my short list for starters. 1. Our own lack of spiritual investment in our faith. 2. The corrupting perversions some Anglicans are introducing into Anglican practice - spiritual as well as moral. 3. The growing anti-Christian attitude of the American government, media, and courts. 4. The growing welcome of Islam and Muslim beliefs and practices into our legal system, and a tolerance of such introduction where such requests to similarly accommodate Catholic or Jewish law into everyday law would be seen as offending the First Amendment non- establishment clause. The above issues really aren't political in the sense of Democrat or Republican, and indeed people from most political parties may find grounds for concern together on these issues. A quick look at the news of this past week finds the Anglican churches in Northern Virginia now being told when their eviction day is: apparently April 30, 2012. The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia had demanded a turnover by March 30 to deny the Anglicans the use of their former property for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter.

This same tactic was tried by the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee just before Christmas with regard to St. Edmund's Church, Elm Grove. In neither case did the diocese prevail, but it shows the mean-spirited, hateful manner in which they wage their church war on the faithful departees. The Diocese of Virginia will have to sell off the properties and assets gained in the final court decrees to pay off their huge $4-plus million litigation debt. They used properties of the diocese as collateral to secure the borrowing for litigation, and soon that money will have to be paid back. At least some of the Northern Virginia Anglican congregations will be so burdened by the court's punishment and the diocese's demands that they may be pushed into bankruptcy, since they are being stripped bare of their savings, assets, and pretty much everything by the Diocese of Virginia. When the breach first occurred there was a protocol in place between the Episcopal Diocese and the departing churches which included negotiation on compensation to the diocese for the loss which it would incur. Then Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori intervened with a phone call to the then Virginia bishop, Peter Lee, causing him to cancel the protocol and commence litigation. The Episcopal Church didn't want a win-win solution; they wanted total war and win-lose. They got their wish, and legally in many situations, but not all, they have prevailed. Yet someone's hand of judgment seems to be upon them for the Episcopal Church is shrinking faster than ice on a hot sidewalk. Stripping the Anglicans bare of their buildings, prayer books, bibles, crosses, candlesticks, vestments, chalices, etc. has humbled and purified the Anglicans involved, and having stripped away any false pride, left them more focused on Jesus Christ and his message to the lost. Actually in the end, those who have seemingly lost will be seen to have prevailed, and those who seemingly prevailed will be seen to have lost their way, if not their souls. I am very sad to report the death of a close friend and colleague of mine, Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of the Anglican Diocese of Recife, Brazil. He was an outspoken advocate for Jesus Christ and the Gospel, and spoke against the leaders of his own former province of Brazil, who work hand in glove with the American Episcopal Church. Bishop Cavalcanti assisted the American Anglican Council in an extra-canonical confirmation service that we held in Ohio some years back, bringing in retired or overseas orthodox Anglican bishops to do confirmations instead of the local heterodox Episcopal bishop. After it became known that Cavalcanti had assisted us, the province of Brazil made many attempts to remove or throw out Robinson Cavalcanti, but instead he cut his diocese's ties with the province and sought fellowship with orthodox Anglicans globally. He and his wife were murdered in their home, reportedly by their adopted grown son who was briefly visiting them. At last report the son was in police custody in Recife. I would like to draw your attention to events in Pennsylvania and a group of stupid actions conducted by several people. First, in an atheist Parade, one fellow dressed up in mockery of the pope, and a second man dressed up in mockery of Muhammad. In our society it is still constitutional (freedom of speech - First Amendment to the Constitution) to mock important religious personages, but clearly it isn't respectful, it does needlessly offend, and a Christian ought not to do it - but this was an atheist Parade! No Christian jumped out to assault the pope mocker, offended though they might have been. A Muslim man, a recent immigrant who thought that America must be like back home, did attack the Muhammad mocker, and both of them then called the police, each on the other. The Muslim man called police to arrest the Muhammad mocker, for surely this was a capital felony and back home would require death. The atheist called the police because he was concerned for his own safety. The policeman interviewed both men and wrote a report and went to court prepared to give his witness testimony. Instead the District Judge, Mark Martin, who in the audio tape of the trial seemed to say he was a Muslim himself, but now insists that he is a Lutheran, scolded the atheist victim who was set upon by the outraged Muslim, and showed an incredible lack of understanding about the First Amendment issues of both free speech and non-establishment. He even called the victim a "doofus." Although the Washington Post covered the event it was also covered somewhat more fully by ABC 27 television. The judge told the victim that in many countries his actions would result in the death penalty, but why is that relevant? Since when do Sharia law punishments have any relevance in a U.S. court of law - except that perhaps some judges would wish it so. The "Lutheran" judge then dismissed the case without allowing the policeman to offer his testimony since the facts clearly didn't matter. I have just about had it with judges who won't recuse themselves voluntarily when they have a conflict of interest or are pro-Sharia law. What law school did they go to anyway, and who were their professors? Another story to look at, this time covered by the Los Angeles Times, involves the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals court ruling that blocked the implementation of an Oklahoma State Law barring judges and courts from using either international (such as European Union Law) or Islamic law in their decisions. Wait a minute! Why should our courts, supposedly operating under state and U.S. Federal laws, consider any other entity's laws? I don't think that Roman Catholic canon law, or Jewish law, or Sharia law has any place in the conduct of a U.S. trial. Just because no one in Oklahoma has already tried to use Sharia law, or some other law, doesn't mean they won't, so why shouldn't forward-looking legislators pass a law that sees trouble ahead and nips it in the bud? Who appoints these judges anyway? Well maybe that is the problem - they are appointed and have life tenure. There are some safeguards built into life tenure, and certainly those with life tenure like it because it insulates them from the foolishness they can stray into, but does it provide significant safeguards for those the law is meant to protect - We The People? I don't know how to functionally address some of these gross injustices in our legal system; this seems to fall fully into my opening list item 4. I do know how to address item 1 above in the list, and since this is Lent, it's time for me to continue work on my spiritual issues. Blessings and Peace, David The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr. President and CEO, American Anglican Council