Wednesday, July 15, 2009

An Open Letter to the Right Reverend Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham Concerning His Recent Essay in The Times

Your Grace,



Piss Off!



Respectfully,

F. Douglas Blanchard, Episcopalian
Brooklyn, USA

The opinion piece can be found here.

Madpriest has a more detailed and nuanced opinion here.

The best reasoned and nuanced reply to Bishop Wright, in my opinion, is from Scott Gunn.

Stephen Bates has another fine opinion piece in the Comment Is Free section of The Guardian.

I'll leave the reasoned arguing to the professionals.  I live in Billyburg in Brooklyn, a place not renowned for nuanced discussion, but more for declarative statements like the one in my open letter above.

27 comments:

Rick+ said...

Dear Doug,

     Well said! I hope it's concise enough for Tom.

June Butler said...

Says it all, really.

We are occasionally treated to Tom's DVDs in our adult class at church. I have stopped attending when the lectures are by Wright. He runs on at great length about how Jesus hung out with the outcasts and undesirables, but I know his views on gays, so he seems a tad, just a tad, hypocritical to me.

I'll probably write something about the piece in the Times with the target in mind of the few local folks who read my blog, not because I'll say something superior to what has already been said.

Counterlight said...

Mimi,

I suspect that things get a little lonely for you in Thibodaux, though I could be wrong.

June Butler said...

Doug, it does get lonely. That's partly why I spend so much time in Blogland.

It's odd, and I didn't intend this when I first started blogging, but since a few local folks read my blog, they have become my target audience. I'm not always preaching to the choir with them.

MadPriest says that I'm a different person on his blog than on mine, and that's true in a sense. If I get too edgy at WB, the local folks will go away, and those are the folks I hope to persuade. I believe that I have helped to move a couple of people an inch or two in the right direction.

Counterlight said...

Mimi, I shudder to think what Louisiana would do without you.

I blog for similar reasons. My students are a captive audience, and I'm reluctant to opinionate with them for that reason.
Michael and I don't really share all that many interests, certainly not art or the Episcopal Church. My colleagues at the college are a pleasure to talk to, but we're all usually too busy to sit down for much more than a chat.
I love my parish pals dearly, but I have lots of interests beyond the bounds of the parish that not all of them share.
So blogging for me is a perfect opportunity to think out loud and sometimes to hold forth.

Thanks for being such a faithful reader... and from the beginning. This blog turned a year old on June 21st.

June Butler said...

A belated congratulations on the 1st anniversary. I'm so pleased that you started your own blog. You have so much to say that is worth reading. I've received an education here, and not just on the subject of art.

By the way, MadPriest is a different person in real life than he is on his blog. Just sayin'.

Counterlight said...

"MadPriest is a different person in real life than he is on his blog."

Why am I not surprised?

Let me guess, he's really a rather shy mousey parson.

June Butler said...

My lips are sealed. I wouldn't, for all the world, want to ruin the reputation he has made for himself on the intertubes.

Counterlight said...

I won't pry any further. I'll bet he made you swear on your first born.

Rick+ said...

Let me add my congratulations on completing your first year blogging, Doug! As I've told you before I appreciate that I'm getting a full art education from you.

What made your Tom Wright post all the more funny is your posts are usually extremely erudite and so informative, and it's brevity startled me. I laughed myself sick.

IT said...

Happy anniversary Doug

I hang out on the blogs for lots of reasons, but I've decided that a big one is that most of my colleagues are much more interested in science to the exclusion to all else. Maybe I'm not that interested in science any more, but I am interested in bigger questions and political issues and how faith issues impact our lives (even if we aren't faithful). I certainly can't talk TEC politics with anyone I know except BP. I don't fit in so well IRL with my colleagues and aside from BP, I have very few friends.

BP says also that I'm very spiritual despite my lack of faith.

June Butler said...

IT love, you are one of the most spiritual people I know. I loved meeting you and BP, and I'm so pleased that we had more time together than just the gathering at Bar Louie. Mwah!

toujoursdan said...

I am so glad you're here too :)

Counterlight said...

Mimi got to meet IT and BP. Now I'm jealous. I agree with Mimi, IT is very spiritual, as are many atheists.

Thanks Dan, that made my day.

Thanks Rick+. The letter was my pleasure. I doubt the Bishop will read it, or even notice it. I am but a pew sitter with no ambitions to be anything else.

June Butler said...

When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!


Think of it! What fun!

Doug, I hope I get to meet you before the sweet bye-and-bye.

Anonymous said...

Let's hope he listens to you!

Counterlight said...

"Doug, I hope I get to meet you before the sweet bye-and-bye."

I expect that we will meet much sooner than that. Come to NYC next year sometime. You're already a celebrity in my parish.

JayV said...

Every good (belated) wish on your
anniversary. I've enjoyed the show for many months!

Counterlight said...

Maybe I should have made an anniversary post. I was too distracted around June 21st.

Well, there's always next year.

Thanks everyone, and thanks for watching my show.

June Butler said...

Come to NYC next year sometime.

It could happen.

IT said...

Thank you Doug
and thank you Mimi, I feel that everyone should be envious of me and BP, who were able to monopolize you for several hours to ourselves!

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

What the others said!

And congratulations on you first birthday ;=)

motheramelia said...

My congratulations too. I learn so much by reading your post. Loved your reply to +Tom Wright.

June Butler said...

IT, the pleasure of meeting you and BP was all mine.

Now we argue back and forth about who had the most pleasure in meeting the other/others. Better yet, let's just agree that it was lovely for the three of us.

David G. said...

I'm REALLY TIRED of all the Cry Babies lately, and it's usually a so-called christian doing it.

There REALLY DO need to be mental tests done before someone can become Clergy in any Church in the AC, if they want to get that way!!

Rick+ said...

I don't know what they do in England or the rest of the Anglican Communion, David, but in Nevada, we have to pay for our own $500 psych evaluation before we will be accepted for postulancy. I kid you not. I always joke that I'm not crazy, and I have papers to prove it... at least before ordination.

James said...

Of all the comments about the right-wing spin on GC, your letter is the absolute best. I laughed till I had to pee! Thank you.