1988 the Witness, Vol. 71, No. 10. October 1988
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VOLUME -71 NUMBER* 10 OCTOBER 1988 publication. Oand n the road reuse for again . required Permission DFMS. / Church Episcopal the of Archives 2020. The Rev. Barbara C. Harris, Executive Director Episcopal Church Publishing Company elected first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion Copyright The politics of intolerance • Manning Marable 'Last Temptation of Christ' • Paul Moore, Jr. Lambeth's new face • Barbara C. Harris • Susan E. Pierce Letters Maurice and Mosley ing classes were not yet ready to be which we can be sure. As such, his The rather moving testimony of Carter given the right to vote that the Chartists work for justice was flawed. But then, Heyward to Bishop J. Brooke Mosley in were demanding. Maurice and Com- so too was the splendid ministry of the May WITNESS employed a number pany defended the right to vote as a Brooke Mosley, and so is my own and, of metaphors and comparisons to illus- privilege that necessitated education I dare say, Professor Hood's as well. trate the several passions of the "bishop and superior intelligence because politi- Which is fine, as long as, in our own for all seasons," including one of the cal issues were so complex. historical moment, we are willing to 19th century Church of England social The misnomer "Christian socialism" build, gratefully and critically, on the thinker, Frederick Denison Maurice. actually comes from pamphlets and contributions of those who have gone The rhapsodic cadences of her attribute tracts written mostly by Maurice, begin- before — attempting to continue the publication. conveyed the continued myth about the ning with his Christian Socialism. good they have done without repeating early Anglican Christian social thinkers Maurice, like many liberals, believed their mistakes. God knows, we shall and like Maurice; namely, that they were that social injustices and evils were make enough of our own! founded largely on irrationality and an The Rev. Carter Heyward reuse champions of the workers as founders ignorance of God's divine order. He Episcopal Divinity School for of the Christian Socialist movement. On the contrary, F. D. Maurice was understood Christian Socialism primar- Cambridge, Mass. more of an "armchair liberal" whose vi- ily as a renewal movement within the required sion of society included what the Marx- existing Anglican church and British Joins UFW boycott ists rightly described as "Utopian social- society, not as a revolutionary move- ment for empowering the poor and The July/August WITNESS article by ism." In Maurice's plan of brotherhood Pat Hoffman on the United Farmwork- and cooperation between the social women. Indeed, he defended private Permission ers and their struggle against pesticide classes, the elite and educated main- property as a cornerstone of British so- ciety as vigorously as the socialists and poisoning is right on! tained the leadership roles and the As a member of the National Farm- DFMS. workers and less educated were ex- working class movements attacked it as / workers Ministry Executive Committee, pected to acknowledge dutifully their a chief source of social injustice in that same society. I was in Delano where we visited with inferior station. Charles Raven, who Cesar Chavez and attended the daily Church wrote one of the most definitive books However, having said all of this, it evening Mass on the 18th and 19th days on Anglican Christian socialism, de- cannot be denied that Maurice and of his Fast for Life (He went on for scribed some of these early Oxbridge Company did articulate theologically more than 30 days.) Episcopal trained clerics and teachers of Christian the first social teachings of the Angli- Chavez explained his fast as 1) a pu- the socialism as "squarsons — someone can tradition in a deliberate manner. rification of his own body, mind and of who exercised himself in oratory on The Rev. Canon R. E. Hood soul, and 2) as a strengthening of re- Sundays and in flyfishing and foxhunt- General Theological Seminary solve for him and for all of us to resist ing during the rest of the week," not New York, N.Y. the scourge of poisons that threatens our Archives unlike some of our current-day patrician people, our land and our food. liberals in the church. To be in his presence was very ener- 2020. Heyward replies Actually, Maurice and the other An- I appreciate Professor Robert Hood's gizing. He reminded us of the church's glican Christian socialists began in op- useful assessment of Maurice's limits. long history of support for justice for position to an indigenous workers' I'm in complete agreement with him the farmworkers. We rejoice in that — Copyright movement in England called the Char- that Maurice should not be interpreted but the time is now — for the church, tist Movement. The Chartists got their uncritically as a forerunner in the work and for us to declare non-cooperation name from the publication of a list of of justice. Like most Anglicans then with supermarkets who promote, sell reforms in 1838 called "A People's and now, Maurice was an idealist, and profit from California Table Charter," which called for opening up which limited the radicality of his com- Grapes. the political process to all classes. mitment to justice. His vision of the My own parish, All Saints, Pasadena, The famous "gang of three," (Mau- Kingdom (sic) of Christ and his praxis is in a process of education to ready rice, Ludlow, Kingsley) published a were limited by his class, race, gender, ourselves for the best plan of action. tract called "To the Workmen of Eng- culture, religion, nationality and gen- We are viewing the video, "The Wrath land" in which they said that the work- eration — to cite only those factors of of Grapes" in all grade levels and all THE WITNESS adult groups. We are promoting dia- sus' words very seriously that "whoever chatted briefly and as we neared the air- logue, trips to Delano for NFWM Semi- harms one of these," his little ones, it port you made a comment about the nars, Forums on Pesticides, etc. We can were better for them that a millstone be church's discussion of homosexuality. do no less. hung around their necks and they be You said you were worried because Millie Moser thrown into the sea. your teenage daughter has a teacher Altadena, Cal. I just received my post-Convention who is openly homosexual. "This mailing from the Prayer Book Society. I teacher uses the same address as an- ask myself, if Jesus were alive today, other teacher. They don't even try to Union seal of approval would he be more concerned with a hide it." You were concerned about the On behalf of the Committee of Interns book of prayers, or the fact that at this message being given your child. and Residents, I'd like to thank Susan publication. very moment some little child is being I should have said something then, Pierce for the excellent and insightful forced into a sexual encounter with a but I chose not to. I'm sorry. Please al- and article she wrote for the June WIT- poor sick adult? low me to say it now. NESS, "Union-busting at St. Else- And I am still left with one big ques- Homosexuality is not a choice. Your reuse where." tion: Who, with money and power in child is already either hetero- or homo- for The article was the perfect vehicle for sexual. Her teacher will not change publicizing what happened at St. John's this Episcopal Church, is concerned your daughter's sexual orientation — Episcopal Hospital. Its presentation of enough to do something about incest? It required but may save your child's life. both sides gave a very clear picture of is not just another women's issue — the issues and principles involved. though it would be a marvelous project If your child is a lesbian, the presence I'm following up on the people I met for bishops' wives. But please, who up of a happy, healthy role model could at General Convention who said they'd there is listening? mean the difference between life and Permission write a letter of protest to the adminis- An abbot said to me after he read my death. A disproportionate number of trator of St. John's. article in the April WITNESS, "Some- lesbian and gay teenagers attempt sui- cide. Imagine the lesbian teen trying to DFMS. thing must be done!" I invited him to / Please give my regards and thanks to remember both abused and abusers in come to terms with her sexuality in a the Episcopal Church Publishing Com- society that will not only tell her that pany and THE WITNESS staff for their his prayers daily. I ask the same of Church she is sick and immoral, but will also encouragement and support at the Con- readers of THE WITNESS. Roberta Nobleman suggest to her that she has no hope of vention. Again, thanks for standing with ever leading a happy and fulfilled life. us in solidarity against those who would Dumont, N J. Episcopal turn back the clock on workers' rights. I grew up when people didn't talk the Edna Williams about homosexuality and teachers of Hawkins to Canada CIR Contract Administrator didn't admit to it. God, I wish they had. The Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, Can- All that silence meant that I had no role New York, NY ada, would like permission to distribute (A glimmer of progress was noted in models. So I grew up believing that I Archives copies of the article, "Curing the sick- was destined to a life of isolation.