High Church

The smart and normally sensible New Donkey is skeptical of Hanna Rosin's contention that the Christian Right is mellowing. One couple Rosin interviews who exemplifies her thesis is the Hasslers, Christian Right types who have settled down and even converted to the Episcopal church. The Donkey is non-plussed:

Smart as Rosin is, she seems to miss the joke: the particular church the Hasslers are attending is the notorious Truro evangelical Episcopal parish, home to Ollie North and Clarence Thomas, and one of the main protagonists of the right-wing movement to pull congregations out of the Church to protest the ordination of a gay bishop, and other offenses to cultural conservatism. Entering mainline Protestant Christianity through Truro is sort of like getting to know African-American opinion by listening to a lot of Armstrong Williams. I noticed looking at the church's calendar that it's featuring a Jews-for-Jesus presentation on Maundy Thursday (the day before Good Friday). That shows a fine sensitivity to Jewish concerns about the supercessionist themes that have so often led to anti-Semitic violence during Holy Week, eh?

The difference between the evangelical world and even a conservative Anglican parish like Truro is about five country miles. Everything from the aesthetics to the centrality of the liturgy to the sense of a hierarchical church. There is a gigantic difference. For the Donkey to conflate the two just because they agree on the ordination of gay priests is a misjudgment. As for the stuff about Jews-for-Jesus and anti-Semitic violence, does the Donkey really think that the Truro parish is sponsoring anti-Semitism? Or that these meetings will result in anti-Semitism? Or that these meetings will cause, somewhere down the line, anti-Semitism from people in and around Truro? I doubt it.

I understand that the Donkey is uncomfortable with the Christian Right, but this by-the-numbers attack is beneath him. (Or is it her? Damn these anonymous blogs!)