Peace, Love and Lawsuits
August 21st, 2007 by Peter
Pro same-sex “marriage” activists are all about peace, love, tolerance and diversity…until you resist them. Then they want the heavy hand of government to impose their supposed “tolerance” on you. I’ve already noted the lesbian couple who sparked a government investigation of a New Jersey church for refusing to allow their civil union ceremony at its pavillion. Now comes news that Connecticut’s pro same-sex “marriage” Episcopal bishop is suing a pro-family church in Bristol:
The lawsuit follows months of skirmishes between the parish and the diocese, part of a wider dispute unfolding within the Episcopal Church nationwide related to the 2003 election of an openly gay man as bishop of New Hampshire and the church’s blessing of same-sex unions.
At least 45 parishes across the country have left the Episcopal Church, and some that have continued to worship where they previously did have faced legal fights.
Trinity’s members voted in January to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America and announced the parish’s split from the Episcopal Church in May. The following month, Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith removed [The Rev. David] Helmandollar [Trinity Episcopal Church’s pastor] from ministry and informed Trinity that the diocese intended to take over the property July 8.
Oddly, there are actually sections of our State statutes (see Sect. 33-266) dealing with the polity of the Episcopal Church:
The manner of conducting the parish, the qualifications for membership of the parish and the manner of acquiring and terminating such membership, the number of the officers of the parish, their powers and duties and the manner of their appointment, the time of holding the annual meeting of the parish and the manner of notification thereof and the manner of calling special meetings of the parish shall be such as are provided and prescribed by the constitution, canons and regulations of said Protestant Episcopal Church in this state.
Here’s my short list of questions:
Will the State follow this statute, and is it even constitutional for Connecticut to have legislated in this manner?
What if the Episcopal Church has severed itself from the Anglican Fellowship worldwide?
What if Bishop Smith has acted improperly in taking this step?
In other words, should a Connecticut Superior Court judge be deciding this or should the Episcopal or Anglican bishops?
This issue is not a same sex marriage issue. This is purely an internal church issue, who owns the church properties. Is the person bringing the suit doing it because he supports marriage equality? No, it comes down to power and money, nothing more. To attempt to connect it with the marriage issue and to use it as a judgment on our supporters is just one more dishonest tactic. This is one of my major complaints with the “profamily” forces, you can’t make your case without exagerrating, twisting and fabricating.