I enjoy getting under someone’s skin

Particularly when it’s the skin of a person who revels in  this kind of extraordinary delirium:

I would have thought that the American Episcopalians who are attending the ECNA services already knew the hideous truth about Archbishop Akinola, but now I am not so sure. It is hard for me to believe that the Archbishop of Canterbury actually knows the details about the career of this terrible, evil man. How could he not know that this man is accused of ordering the rape and murder of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent Muslim victims–hacking children to pieces, raping pregnant women, burning bodies in the streets?

The corybantic denunciations don’t stop there: in the fevered imagination of this contributor to the Tucson Liberal Christian Examiner (obviously there is at least one liberal in Tucson), yours truly has become plural; perhaps, in her exasperation the author is seeing double:

and they describe me as erroneous here: www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/. I wonder when the ECNA will decide to do research and inform themselves–or have they done it already, but they think that rape, murder and torture of Muslims is fine with them, as well as persecuting homosexuals.

Rather, if you read this story, the author concludes with a paragraph describing how praiseworthy Archbishop Akinola is.

To make sure I was under no illusions about the sense of welcoming inclusion I could reasonably expect to find in the excitable Margot’s version of church, she sent me an email:

Thanks for the accurate and factual assessment of my position. Akinola is a maniac; the ACNA is based on no doctrinal issue at all. ACNA stands for bigotry in the Anglican Communion, that’s my line. Has Akinola become your prelate yet? Good riddance to you!

That cheered me up for the entire day.

5 thoughts on “I enjoy getting under someone’s skin

  1. David,
    One is defined by one’s enemies. Good on you!
    Margot is one ignorant vitriolic piece of work.
    Peace,
    Jim

  2. Besides, how can you take someone seriously who can’t tell the difference between an ACNA official statement and a personal blog?

  3. Not speaking about Margot, here, but it seems like Akinola might very well be responsible for anti-Muslim pogroms in Nigeria.

    When asked if those wearing name tags that read “Christian Association of Nigeria” had been sent to the Muslim part of Yelwa, the archbishop grinned. “No comment,” he said. “No Christian would pray for violence, but it would be utterly naive to sweep this issue of Islam under the carpet.” He went on, “I’m not out to combat anybody. I’m only doing what the Holy Spirit tells me to do. I’m living my faith, practicing and preaching that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to God, and they respect me for it. They know where we stand. I’ve said before: let no Muslim think they have the monopoly on violence.”

    • The author of the article you quote from is Eliza Griswold, daughter of Frank Griswold former Presiding Bishop of ECUSA – hardly a recommendation for unbiased reporting.

      The Nigerian Church countered the article with this:

      Griswold’s recent attempt to demonise the Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria by publishing an article raising issues of religious violence is most unhelpful. As CAN president, one of the challenges the Archbishop faced was that of persuading youthful Christians to stop revenge attacks.

      While the very sad ethnic/religious Yelwa incident took place in 2004, the statement about no religion having a monopoly of violence was made in 2006 when Nigerian Christians were being slaughtered because of some cartoons published in Denmark.

      As at February 2007 however, Abp. Akinola (along with many Anglican bishops) was in the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria’s overall Islamic leader on a friendly visit. Archbishop Akinola has not and does not encourage violence but continues to maintain peaceful cordial relationship with every peace loving Nigerian irrespective of tribe, creed or gender.

      The Western press should learn from the Danish cartoons saga that articles they publish whatever the motive might be, can be responsible for the death of many innocent lives hundred of miles away.

      The Ven. AkinTunde Popoola
      Director of Communications
      March 2008

      The contention that he was “responsible for anti-Muslim pogroms” is, to put it mildly, a bit of a stretch.

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