Charlotte - Too Good To Be Buried In The Comments

From the post titled "Politeness and the Death of the Church of England" at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong in which MadPriest says:

The Grand Tufti's response to the votes taken at TEC's general convention understandably resulted in many of my American friends saying "Well, stuff them all. We'll go it alone." As my main fear in this ongoing battle is that the US church will adopt an isolationist policy and leave the rest of the world's progressives high and dry, I called them to task on this.

Charlotte has left a new comment on the post "politeness and the death of the church of england":

Indeed we in the Episcopal Church are running out of patience with the ABC and the C of E. But that's not all. Now that the C of E is beginning to suffer the depradations of FoCA-UK, its members are beginning to see what we've had to live through. They could have avoided this by helping to defend us earlier, but they didn't. (MP, you and a few others excepted.) They loved all those lurid tabloid stories about Those Awful Americans too much. Or something.

Well, minds are changing. So any in the C of E who wish to do so are welcome to make as many polite and ineffective gestures of sympathy for TEC as they feel they have time for in their busy schedules. But perhaps we should refer these English offers of help to Dr. Johnson's reply to Lord Chesterfield:

"Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it: till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that to a patron, which providence has enabled me to do for myself."

Indeed, to his credit, MadPriest been at the forefront to stand with the Episcopal Church in the US against the depredations of our many adversaries. Pluralist, and others whom I don't mention, have stood with us. I'm grateful, and I thank them. They foresaw that what was happening in the US was a vision of the future in which the Church of England would face the same adversaries, with only the names being different.

However, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his sidekick, Bishop Tom Wright, have exacerbated the troubles in TEC by their confusing, intemperate rhetoric, thereby encouraging the breakaways and wanna-be breakaways to believe that they will soon be part of the World Wide Anglican Church Communion without the onerous burden of having to be part of TEC. Others in England, even those in high places whom we might have expected to share our concerns, have remained silent or were just not paying attention. Where were you when we needed you?

That's not to say that those of us in the US should return like for like and turn away from our brothers and sisters in the Church of England. I go on record to say that we must take note and do what we can to help them in their present hour of need.