Schismatic Bishop MARTYN MINNS ¨assumes that his ecclesiastical opponents are as devoid of decency and morality as he is¨

CANA/Nigeria Bishop Martyn Minns (kneeling)

DELUSIONAL?

¨Delusional thinking is a difficult position to work from in trying to lead a community of churches. HERE CANA is what it is, and good and caring Christians belong to CANA. Fine. CANA got there by less than transparent means but then that can be said for most churches. But when its lead bishop feels it is necessary to repeat the dump again and again - that all is due to pollution by people who are ignorant, disregarding and disobedient (read the leadership of The Episcopal Church) - we might well begin to wonder. Perhaps he protests too much.

Maybe the decision was that he apparently could not get elected in a regular diocese of The Episcopal Church...¨ HERE

Nominees for Bishop of The Episcopal Church HERE

Martyn Minns

1999: Connecticut. not elected
2001: West Tennessee. not elected
2002: Western Louisiana. not elected
2005: Rio Grande. not elected
2006: Left The Episcopal Church, CANA/Nigeria Bishop

PROJECTING?

PROJECTION: "the operation of expelling feelings or wishes the individual finds wholly unacceptable . . .by attributing them to another.

¨Martyn Minns has fallen prey to an assumption common to many far right extremists. He assumes that his ecclesiastical opponents are as devoid of decency and morality as he is.

The schismatic bishop has recently accused the Episcopal Church of using Episcopal World Relief and other international mission funding to bribe African Anglicans "to embrace the TEC viewpoint."

Now, as a rule, I refuse to link to extremist websites, so instead I'll link you to Canon Mark Harris's Preludium blog, where he provides the entire delusional Minns quote, along with some helpful hermeneutic.

The thing is, I don't think Minns is actually lying. Technically, a liar must know that what s/he is saying is untrue. But I think the delusional Dr. Minns actually believes that the Episcopal Church would bribe African church leaders. After all, his gang have already done so.

Jim Naughton, formerly on staff with the Diocese of Washington, has fully documented the way that far right activists in the United States have used financial clout in precisely this sort of dishonest way as part of their campaign to marginalize the Episcopal Church. HERE

It's classical projection, of course. Minns and his fellow travellers are prepared to buy the support of African bishops like Peter Akinola and Henry "all that money" Orombi. Minns has some residual moral understanding that bribery (if not simony) is wrong. Therefore, instead of being accountable for the misconduct of his far right allies, he projects his guilt at the object of his hatred, the Episcopal Church.

Because the Episcopal Church, through Episcopal World Relief and other mission and partnership programs, provides financial aid to assorted African dioceses, Minns delusionally claims that any TEC dollars destined for Africa are part of a scheme to bribe people. Rather like the philanderer who suspects his chaste wife of infidelity, really.

The Episcopal Church is the single wealthiest Province of the Anglican Communion, so it isn't surprising that TEC provides resources to any and all other Provinces who are prepared to accept it. (In actions which vaguely resemble integrity, both Nigeria and Uganda refuse to accept money from the American Church.) Despite Minns ravings, there is no evidence at all to suggest that TEC has ever made a single dollar of their financial aid dependent on the recipients "embracing the TEC viewpoint." But then, Minns has never let truth get in the way of his race-baiting, gay-baiting propaganda campaign.

In the delusional mind of Martyn Minns, if the Episcopal Church sends any support to other parts of the Communion, it amounts to bribery...¨ HERE

Martyn Minns of Nigerias CANA Division with +Peter Akinola/Nigeria

PARANOID?

PARANOIA: The fuel of the Culture War

¨I have harboured the idea contained in the title for a while now and subjectively it has been proven correct time after time. It is uncanny when one has a grasp on the raison d’être of a social phenomenon and impertinently watch from the sidelines. There is a certain magical realism to it. One is both connected and unconnected, both objective observer and subjective participant. It might sound mutually exclusive but alas it is not.

Intent: the one word which makes the world’s difference. Intent is questioned ad nauseam by a great variety of demagogues, religious and other social conservatives, extremists of every hue, even some moderates and the Pink community sometimes – in a self-reflective way I guess.

After intent has been questioned, more than often being misinterpreted as offensive, contrary to family values, and/or against nature, some will inevitably conjure up outlandish conjecture and delusive interpretations. Those who feign a sense of credibility and scientific aptitude often distort, contort and miscontextualise valid scientific thought to create the illusion that there is factual basis for their conjecture and misrepresentations.

The Culture War thus became a war of words, a battleground of propaganda and counterpropaganda, limitless in its scope of malice and wanton abuse of rhetoric, concept and the lives of the real people caught in the crossfire... HERE

· Thanks to Mark Harris, Preludium, sidebar
· Thanks to Simple Massing Priest, sidebar
· Thanks to African Activist, sidebar
· Thanks to Cobus Fourie
· Thanks to Jim Naughton, Following the Money