Post millennial blues

We all thought the world was going to collapse with the Y2K change. But here we still are ten years later. What is changing is that the world is becoming more and more conservative. I dread to think of where it will be in another ten years.

In today's paper: Catholic Bishops Elect Dolan

'The election consolidates the gradual shift in leadership and priorities for the bishops conference. From the 1970’s through the 1990’s, the conference was a center for progressive Catholicism in a distinctly American guise, releasing ambitious teaching documents on issues such as economic inequality, workers rights, the environment, peace and war. While the bishops still do take up issues such as immigration and poverty, they are far more focused on shaping public policy to stop abortion and prevent the legalization of marriage between same-sex couples.'

Yup, it is way, way more important to regulate the expressions of human sexuality (i.e., one would not have to deal with abortion if contraception were permitted in this value system).

In this day and age, The Episcopal Church can no longer count on disaffected Catholics crossing the street. They walk out the door to become part of the great de-churched alumni/ae association because institutional religion is seen to be too bigoted. We've got an archbishop across the pond in England who is trying to emulate the Roman hierarchy while making Anglicans into confessing people. And he is trying, through the dint of repetition, to create ex nihilo the Anglican 'Church,' as though this communion is a monolithic church rather than the collection of provincial expressions throughout the world. Then there is this proposed covenant which should never have gained traction but it still seems to have a life of its own.

We have so much work to do.

But will there still be a church?

Or is the millennium a decade or two behind in arriving for the millennialists?