Hey Anglicans, hearing the Benghazi testimony, how ‘bout that IX Commandment?

from Stand Firm by Timothy Fountain 

The claims made by President Obama’s administration, blaming last September’s assassination of American diplomatic staff on a YouTube that hurt Islam’s feelings, are in tatters.  It is clear that the story was made up; to what end is “the rest of the story” we should be anxious to hear.

Meanwhile, let’s not forget that a gaggle of Anglicans, some of them prominent and well respected, swallowed the Presidential fib and wrote to the United Nations, calling for international curbs on freedom of speech.

As an attempt to avoid future hostility, Bp Anis united with fellow bishops and has written a letter to Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, asking for a declaration that outlaws “intentional and deliberate insulting or defamation of persons (such as prophets), symbols, texts and constructs of belief deemed holy by people of faith”.

European Anglicans have also responded to the video. The Bishop in charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, denounced the film by issuing a statement from Paris on 17th September.

In it he said: “This crude bit of anti-Islam propaganda is nothing more than hate speech, and in France and several other European countries the producers would be facing charges. In the United States, it is famously illegal to cry “fire” in a crowded theater — freedom of speech does not cover every expression”.

Wonder if the authors will repudiate their letters and statements, now that they know that their position was in reaction to a lie?

Wonder if we will hear some Anglican statements to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and to a confused world, warning about a really vile kind of speech,

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)