The Episcopalians have a new sacrament: abortion.
Their new dean of Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge proudly states that abortion is a blessing; those who provide it are saints, providing abortions is holy work, we need more of it, not less, and doctors, pharmacists, and other medical professionals should not have the right to abstain from partaking of this blessed sacrament. No, really. She actually said that, and wrote it, and posted it on the internet.
[UPDATE: Ms. Ragsdale deleted the sermon, but on the intarweb things have a zombie-like way of coming back to get you. Cached copy is here. And for posterity, here's a PDF of the cached page with Our Work Is Not Done. Why do you think she deleted it? Oh, and perhaps a little rebellion is brewing. Over at MCJ, commenter Doug Stein wrote: "Speaking of the true Church in conflict with a false “church”, is anyone planning to jam up the “proceedings” at GenCon 2009? I’m talking about full-on Elijah-proclaiming-the-Word-to-Jezebel-and-Ahab preaching. None of this “collegiality” crap. We see how much good that has done. Someone needs to speak the truth loudly and repeatedly to the HoB and HoD. If you get tossed out and inhibited on the spot, big deal - it’s not as if Laud is burning you at the stake." Interesting!]
h/t The Anchoress via Via Media, via Midwest Conservative Journal.
Well, we’ve had pro-abortion Christians in the public arena before, although perhaps not quite this radical. But it was this reaction at MCJ that really heartened me:
This is, of course, one more thing for conservative Episcopalians to rationalize away. And in this particular case, I don’t really want to hear, “Well, that’s horrifying and I certainly don’t agree with Katie Rags!”
Because the fact is that a principal seminary of the organization in which you think you’re called to remain thought that hiring this vile, disgusting piece of moral crap was a perfectly splendid idea. Like it or not, this is what you’re yoked to.
Enjoy.
Yes. I am so sick of this postmodern “what’s true for you” mindset that prevents people from calling out evil in the name of tolerance. Aside from “Katie Rags” blessed sacrament of abortion, though, obviously the American church continues to weaken. We’re so seeker-sensitive, tolerant and multi-culti we scarcely bother to defend it. Success is too often defined by butts in the seats – an easy metric to quantify – not true discipleship, which is less metric and more “I know it when I see it.”
The Episcopalian church today is radically different from the church of say, fifty years ago. While mainstream American Christianity has had some pretty significant cultural challenges, the truth is there’s no new thing under the sun. There’s no heresy or perversion or sin being practiced today that hasn’t been done before. Look at the sins of the nations God ordered Israel to wipe out. But in the last fifty years, some denominations have changed what used to be core beliefs. They willfully disregard clear biblical mandates because they’re not tolerant or political correct. And the reason they do so is some time back when that weed started to grow, nobody pulled it.
That Rick Warren and Joel Osteen (and this, and this), have such huge followings is a testament to the fact that nobody has effectively called them out for how they’re leading people astray. And, yes, within the church, we ARE called to judge:
For it is no business of mine to be judging those who are outside; but it is yours to be judging those who are among you; As for those who are outside, God is their judge. So put away the evil man from among you.
1 Corinthians 5:12-13Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:3-4
When the notion of sin disappears from Christianity as it has from Joel Osteen’s church, what use is it to preach salvation? Salvation from what? Warren’s kindly “Noah makes me smile” grandfather of a god? Why again did Jesus have to die?
It’s really deplorable, the depths to which many leaders have sunk. Unfortunately, there is very little impetus for them to change their message because people are funding it by buying their books and attending their conferences in droves. It’s too bad that people would rather readily accept a feel good, “I’m OK, you’re OK” message than deal with the depraved state of their lives and souls. If they would only stop to realize the peace that comes with accepting the true gospel of salvation from sin . . . I suppose that’s where Matthew 7:21-23 comes in:
Tiffany´s last blog post..Through The Eyes of A Child
Worst
denomination
ever.
Drew´s last blog post..Honoring Gaia
Who knew? I (a deist) am far more pro-life than the followers of a creed that demands it.
Someone please tell me what the point of belonging to a particular faith is if you’re simply going to flaunt the most sacred and self-evident teachings of it?
This is bad, but it gets worse.
Tom Coburn proposed an amendment to a bill to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals who cannot perform abortions for moral/spiritual reasons. But the democrats voted it down.
Full story is here:
http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/democrats-vote-to-force-health-care-providers-to-perform-abortions/
Tiffany – amen, sistah! Preach it!
ECM – that’s always baffled me too, why people don’t just leave when they begin to understand that they disagree with core doctrine. I know Catholics – and lots of ‘em – who don’t believe that the Pope is infallable or that missing Mass is a sin, or in purgatory or in any particular value of “relics” of dead saints. But they stay Catholic. Go figure.
Wintery Knight, yes, I’ve been following that for a while. But taking away the conscience clause is the next step in achieving government control of about a third of the hospitals in the country, currently owned by the Catholic church.