“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it.”

Josef Mengele, WWII Nazi SS Officer and physician at Auschwitz-Birkenau, known as “The Angel of Death.”

Last week in an article entitled, The Great Ocean of Human Affairs, an analogy was made between the construction of an ocean-going vessel and our Rule of Law.  Of the four bundles of Law that make up our Rule of Law, the one that undergirds all is Moral Law – what is right, and what is wrong.

There can be no more stark example of what is morally wrong than Resolutions passed by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, July 2022, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring,

“That the 80th General Convention celebrates the diversity of human experience, recognizing that we are all made in the image of God, and be it further Resolved, that the 80th General Convention calls for the Episcopal Church to advocate for access to gender affirming care in all forms (social, medical, or any other) and AT ALL AGES as part of our Baptismal call to “respect the dignity of every human being”; and be it further Resolved, that the 80th General Convention affirms that all Episcopalians should be able to partake in gender affirming care with NO RESTRICTION ON AUTONOMY, MOVEMENT, OR TIMING; and be it further Resolved, that the 80th General Convention understands that the protection of religious liberty extends to all Episcopalians who may need or desire to access, to utilize, to aid others in the procurement of, or to offer gender affirming care; and be it further Resolved, that this 80th General Convention supports public policies at the local, state, and national levels in all our countries to support gender affirming care.”

What does this Resolution, passed by the Episcopal House of Delegates and confirmed by the House of Bishops, say?  It says that a child should be able to seek gender-altering drugs and surgery as health care.  It also says that persons who help influence, procure, or deliver drugs and surgery that alter gender are acting within the bounds of “religious liberty.”  Parents are not mentioned.

So, children whose biological development precludes them from the ability to make life-changing judgments might be castrated, might have double mastectomies, might take puberty blockers, among other bizarre and experimental procedures, and medical professionals with a duty to do no harm would be morally able to provide these irreversible services, conscience free.

“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it.”

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring,
“That the 80th General Convention recognizes that pregnancy and childbirth are dangerous undertakings that risk permanent disability and death for those who bear children; and be it further Resolved, that the Episcopal Church reaffirms that parenthood “should be initiated only advisedly and in full accord with this understanding of the power to conceive and give birth which is bestowed by God” (1988-C047); and be it further; Resolved, that the Episcopal Church recognizes that access to abortion is a key element in preserving the health, independence, and autonomy of those who can bear children; and be it further; Resolved, that the 80th General Convention affirms that all Episcopalians should be able to access abortion services and birth control with NO RESTRICTION on movement, autonomy, type, or TIMING; and be it further Resolved, that the 80th General Convention understands that the protection of religious liberty extends to all Episcopalians who may need or desire to access, to utilize, to aid others in the procurement of, or to offer abortion services.”

What does this Resolution say?  It says that women should be able to abort a full-term fetus, at will, using any method of killing (“type”) chosen by the provider without regard for the child’s life, conscience free.  Those aiding this choice or who participate in performing the abortion are acting within the bounds of “religious liberty.”  Selling late-term fetal tissue is not mentioned.

“Respecting the dignity of all human beings” is accepting their inherent status, whether male, female, transgendered, disabled, or otherwise.  Moral Law makes judgments about behavior, not status.  Genital mutilation of children and fetal murder of the fully developed are behaviors that are unacceptable within our Moral Rule of Law and unrelated to Constitutional rights to “religious liberty.”

“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it.”  The “Angel of Death” now lives in a Church that apparently “knowest not the works of God who maketh all.”  Eccl 11:5