Posted on 08/06/2003 3:10:28 AM PDT by tdadams
We had hoped to comment this morning on the meaning of the Episcopal debate over the nomination of the Rev. Gene Robinson to be bishop of the New Hampshire diocese. Why is it happening now? What does it portend? Is the Episcopal Church, as it often has before, signaling a significant change in the social fabric of American life?
That was before Robinson was ambushed, hours before the House of Bishops was to take the final vote on his nomination, by the most scurrilous smear: He was accused of linkage to a porn Web site and of inappropriately touching another man. The church investigated both charges and cleared Robinson. The House of Bishops then voted to accept his elevation to Bishop of New Hampshire. End of story? Not quite.
The Every Voice Network Web site, a liberal Anglican site, reported Tuesday that the alleged inappropriate behavior "occurred when Robinson touched a married man in his 40s on his bicep, shoulder and upper back in the process of a public conversation at a province meeting around two years ago." Oh, please.
The phony accusation that Robinson was linked somehow to porn on the Web was easy to track down. It was a deliberate, calculated lie, apparently held in reserve until the last minute in case the first vote, in the House of Deputies, went against those opposed to Robinson's elevation to bishop -- which it did on Sunday.
The question of whether Robinson should be a bishop is -- and probably will remain for some time -- an issue for the Episcopal Church. But the smear is an issue for the larger community as well, for it demonstrates just how low some people will stoop when honest, reasonable debate is going against them. In fact, it links to the same sort of behavior in the American body politic.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
But then again, so was Jayson Blair.
Imagine a "close" vote in the Republican Party about whether Hillary Clinton and her historical slant should represent the GOP. Wouldn't you be wondering about whether the Republican Party had lost it's way? In such an example, smearing Hillary in order to avoid Republican Party collective suicide seems to be attacking the symptoms and not the cause.
Whatever the episcopalian institution was at one time, it has clearly lost it's way.
I suppose it means something positive that porno sites and "touching" might be considered a smear in episcopalian circles. The thought that it might even influence somebody's thinking is almost encouraging until I begin to wonder: did it discourage or encourage voters in the final vote. :P
If that is indeed the case, why, pray-tell haven't we seen details of this "clearing" action? They say this website "was easy to track down" yet provide no supportive details. I mean, I may quote the Minn. Red Star when it supports what I think as well, but I'm going to have some degree of guilt since they have little credability.
The speed with which the Episcopal Church confirmed this guy after this "smear" came up, less than 24 hours, real or manufactured also speaks volumns on the agenda of the Episcopal Church.
You may feel victimized that "the debate is going against you", which you are correct, but I sense something entirely different.
A cover-up.
Do you really believe that this matter is now at rest and there will be no other alligations against this adulterer/sodomite?
He believes that is "semantics" SkyPilot, so that is a big hearty no.
You see, it doesn't matter to this apologist that this post is total opinion, pulled out of the Red Star's butt (no punn intended given the subject. Hi-oh, rim shot. I'm sorry I digress)
What matters is that he agrees with it. That he has been having his feeling hurt on FR, and that he can "cite" this to justify his original standpoint that has been defeated.
Now that is a display of a failing arguement indeed!
The claim of inappropriate touching was e-mailed to Vermont Bishop Thomas Ely by David Lewis of Manchester, Vt. A family friend said Tuesday that Lewis never intended the allegations to go public.In the e-mail, Lewis said Robinson "does not maintain appropriate boundaries with men." He said he met Robinson at a church event and "he put his hands on me inappropriately every time I engaged him in conversation," which Lewis termed "sexual harassment."
Scruton said he spoke with Lewis by phone Monday afternoon and Lewis told him that, at a public church event in November 1999, Robinson "put his left hand on the individual's arm and his right hand on the individual's upper back" as Robinson answered a question Lewis had asked.
Scruton said the other encounter occurred when Lewis turned to make a comment to Robinson and the clergyman "touched the individual's forearm and back while responding with his own comment."
Scruton said he asked Lewis if he wanted to proceed with a written complaint and he "indicated he had no desire to pursue the matter any further."
"He said he was thankful the church had taken this seriously and that he felt `listened to,'" Scruton said.
Separate concerns were raised about Robinson's connection to the Web site of Outright, a secular outreach program for gay and bisexual youth that Robinson helped found in Concord, N.H.
Scruton said he had investigated the Web link "at the request of an American Anglican Council representative." The council, which represents conservative parishes and bishops, has been among the most outspoken opponents to Robinson's confirmation.
Scruton said Robinson ended his association with Outright in 1998 and "was not aware that the organization has a Web site until this convention."
The claim of inappropriate touching was e-mailed to Vermont Bishop Thomas Ely by David Lewis of Manchester, Vt. A family friend said Tuesday that Lewis never intended the allegations to go public.Scruton said he asked Lewis if he wanted to proceed with a written complaint and he "indicated he had no desire to pursue the matter any further."
"He said he was thankful the church had taken this seriously and that he felt `listened to,'" Scruton said.
Separate concerns were raised about Robinson's connection to the Web site of Outright, a secular outreach program for gay and bisexual youth that Robinson helped found.
Bishops learned of the porn link claim from David Virtue, a conservative Anglican activist and writer who has been among the harshest critics of Robinson and of Episcopal gay activists. Virtue said a bishop whom he would not identify alerted him to the link.
A member of the group's board of directors said Robinson hasn't been involved with the group for several years and had no role in developing its Web page.
The link is on an unaffiliated site that had resources for gay youth, Baxley said. That page provided resources for bisexuals that, a few links away, provided access to porn.
Bishop Gordon Scruton of Western Massachusetts, who conducted the investigation, determined Tuesday that there was no need for a full-blown inquiry and the debate on Robinson proceeded immediately after.Scruton said the touching incident "was in public view and was brief" and happened at a church meeting where Robinson put his hand on a man's back and arm while engaged in a conversation.
Members of Robinson's congregation and the greater Episcopal community stood behind him through the investigation.
"Were there any whiff of scandal, it would have come to light before this," Rev. Susan Russell, an Episcopal priest told CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers.
He [Robinson] also said that the last-minute allegations that delayed the confirmation vote for a day “turned into a wonderful thing, as difficult and painful as it was for me and my family.” He said that procedures for investigating such allegations that he had helped put in place worked well to quickly resolve the matter.He said that the charge that he had any responsibility for a gay youth group’s Web site, which included links that eventually could lead a user to a pornography site, was found to be baseless, but apologized to a Vermont parishioner who felt that Robinson had “inappropriately touched” him on the arm and back during a conversation.
TOUCHING NOT ‘HARASSMENT’
“For whatever reason this gentleman found himself uncomfortable with what I do all the time and I think most people do,” he said. “... It clearly did not rise to the level of harassment, though I’m very, very sorry that it made him uncomfortable in any way.”
TWO DAYS OF TURMOIL
Robinson, whose appointment had already been approved in a preliminary vote Sunday, was formally confirmed after two whirlwind days during which allegations abruptly surfaced and then were dismissed that he inappropriately touched another man and was affiliated with a group whose Web site could indirectly link users to pornography.
A hastily arranged investigation of the eleventh-hour allegations threw the church meeting into turmoil after several days of intense debate over whether Robinson’s election would strengthen or shatter the church.
“In both allegations, it is my conclusion that there is no necessity to pursue further investigation,” the bishop who led the investigation, Roger Scruton of the Western Massachusetts diocese, said Tuesday in a speech to bishops.
The most serious allegation surfaced in an e-mail message sent Sunday to Bishop Thomas Ely of Vermont by one of his parishioners, David Lewis of Manchester, Vt. Lewis asked Ely not to consent to Robinson’s election because Robinson “does not maintain appropriate boundaries with men.”
Lewis said Robinson “put his hands on me inappropriately” at a church event “a couple of years ago” and described himself as “a straight man reporting homosexual harassment.”
But Scruton said Lewis refused to lodge a formal complaint when Scruton interviewed him by telephone Monday afternoon.
NO INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS
Lewis said he was “made uncomfortable” by two brief encounters with Robinson at a church event in November 1999, both of which took place in public, Scruton said.
Lewis, whom Scruton referred to only as “the individual,” told him that Robinson “put his left hand on the individual’s arm and his right hand on the individual’s upper back” as Robinson answered a question Lewis had asked.
Scruton said the other encounter occurred when Lewis turned to make a comment to Robinson and the clergyman “touched the individual’s forearm and back while responding with his own comment.”
No inappropriate sexual comments were made, Scruton said.
Scruton said Lewis acknowledged that other people could have seen the incidents and viewed them as “perfectly normal.” He said Lewis told him that he “regretted using the word ‘harassment’” in his e-mail message.
Lewis “indicated he had no desire to pursue the matter any further,” Scruton said. “He said he was thankful the church had taken this seriously and that he felt ‘listened to.’”
Scruton said questions about Robinson’s role in the Web site for a gay and lesbian support group he founded also appeared to be moot because Robinson’s involvement with the group ended four years before the Web site was created.
Oh Emmylou, didn't you get the memo that its whether the victim feels uncomfortable by inappropriate contact that defines: Sexual Harrassment? You're rationalizing this offense away makes you an insensitive bigot, probably vote Republican.
Joking aside, lets cut through the bull here, its not "sexual abuse" because he is a white male, who is straight. The rules don't apply to them and the hypocricy is exposed.
Late Sunday evening, David Lewis sent an e-mail to Bishop Thomas Ely of the Vermont diocese alleging that he was inappropriately touched.Lewis is an Episcopalian lay leader and has been a member of a diocese in Manchester, Vermont, about 10 years.
Scruton, without giving Lewis' name, said the e-mail "stated that 'I am a straight man reporting homosexual harassment by a gay male priest from another diocese.'"
Ely contacted the sender that evening and again Monday morning to inquire further, Scruton said.
"The individual then indicated to Ely he had sent the e-mail to many bishops," he said.
Ely informed the proper officials to begin the investigation, Scruton said.
Accuser was touched on arm and back
Scruton spoke with Lewis by speakerphone in the presence of Ely and other church officials, and asked him to tell his story.
Scruton, referring to Lewis as "the individual," said this story was laid out:
In 1999 at a convocation in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Lewis asked Robinson a question about the schedule or procedure of the evening "or something of that nature," and Robinson put his left hand on Lewis' arm and his right hand on Lewis' upper back as he listened and answered.
"This incident was in public view and was brief," Scruton said Lewis told him.
Later, "during a light moment," Lewis turned to Robinson to make a comment, and "in response, Robinson touched his forearm and back while responding with his own comment."
Lewis, according to Scruton, said Robinson's hand placement made him uncomfortable and "did not seem appropriate, given that they did not know each other and assumed a far greater familiarity.
"He acknowledged that other people could have seen the exchange as natural and normal," Scruton said.
But after the House of Deputies, comprising more than 800 priests and lay leaders, voted Sunday to approve Robinson for the post, "he found himself late Sunday night in need to tell someone of his experience. He observed that when he wrote the e-mail he was feeling upset. ... He thought the church would close ranks and not listen to him.
"I asked him whether he wanted to bring a formal charge of harassment. He said very clearly 'no.'
"He said he regretted having used the word 'harassment' in his e-mail."
'Intelligent man full of integrity'
Scruton said he explained the disciplinary process and asked Lewis whether he wanted to file a written complaint.
"Again he indicated he had no desire to pursue the matter further."
He was thankful the church had taken the matter seriously, and indicated he was "not seeking any personal attention or notoriety," Scruton said.
Ely is remaining in contact with Lewis, Scruton said.
Robinson said through a spokesman that he did not recall Lewis, though he remembered the event Lewis described, which took place in a large public room with about 300 people.
On the second allegation, involving a Web site brought to bishops' attention by a member of the American Anglican Council, which opposes Robinson's ratification, Scruton said Robinson helped found a chapter of the organization Outright in 1995, and ended his involvement with the group in 1998.
In 2002, the group established a Web site that linked to another site, which in turn linked to a site that included what Scruton called "graphic sexual materials."
Robinson "was not aware that the organization has a Web site until this convention," Scruton said, noting that Outright's response to investigators "emphasized to me" that Robinson had no part in the creation of the Web site.
Outright was founded to provide support and counseling for young people concerned about their sexuality, Scruton said.
All the major news outlets have posted plenty of details about this.
For easy reference, I have placed several excerpts on this thread.
For someone who warns others in their profile page not to launch ad hominem attacks, you are very quick on the draw to accuse others of being evasive, overtly critical, deceptive, and ill-natured. But, let's not 'quibble', shall we? Here is where we apparently diverge:
1. The word article....is merely a generic term for the thread topic. No. Using that logic, I can troll here on FreeRepublic posting Holocaust denial trash, and call it an "article." Moreover, your very post says this is an editorial from the Red Star. Editorial are not facts, they are by definition opinion.
2. The genesis of your post (I would infer, so forgive me for that) is that this "Bishop" has been thoroughly smeared, investgated, and then cleared in the tidy span of less than 24 hours. He was also allegedly "cleared" by members of the body that clearly supported him and moved mountains to elevate him. This is not an independent "investigation", this is what is known as a "cover up."
3. The heart of the matter is that the issue here (in my opinion, and this is my opinion) is an attempt to give legitimacy to an abhorent and degenerate form of sexual perversion (homosexuality). Further, this is but one battle in the war truth versus falsehood, and good versus evil. If you think that is lunacy, and there is no battle for hearts, minds, and souls here on earth, then you are entitled to that opinion.
I do not wish to be disrespectful to you, or to engage in quibbling, mendacity, or entrapment. But I cordially disagree with this "editorial" apeing an objective factual hard news representation of the tragedy this particular story.
Bishop Scruton, of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, said he had interviewed David A. Lewis, a church member in Manchester, Vt., who sent an e-mail message to bishops on Sunday night that accused Bishop-elect Robinson of harassment in November 1999 at a church conference in Holyoke, Mass.When Bishop Scruton called Mr. Lewis on Monday, Mr. Lewis said he "regretted having used the word `harassment' in his e-mail," Bishop Scruton said. Mr. Lewis described two conversations with Bishop-elect Robinson at the conference, Bishop Scruton said. Mr. Lewis said the bishop-elect had touched him on the arm and upper back during the talks, which were in front of other people.
Mr. Lewis said that the gestures struck him as too familiar and that they "made him feel uncomfortable," said Bishop Scruton. But he acknowledged that other people might view the exchange as normal and natural and told Bishop Scruton two times that he did not want to pursue the matter further, Bishop Scruton said.
Mr. Lewis said he sent his message on Sunday night after hearing that Bishop-elect Robinson had been approved by the House of Deputies, one of two decision-making bodies in the Episcopal Church, along with the House of Bishops. Mr. Lewis said that he "found himself late Sunday night needing to tell someone of his experience," Bishop Scruton said.
Bishop Scruton also cleared Bishop-elect Robinson of a second accusation, made late Sunday night by his opponents in the House of Bishops. Bishop Scruton said he had found that the bishop-elect had no involvement in a Web site for young gay people that also had links to a Web site that included pornography.
Bishop-elect Robinson helped found that the organization with the site, Concord Outright, meant to help gay and lesbian teenagers. Bishop Scruton said the bishop-elect had no involvement with it since 1998. The organization created its Web site last year.
Even the accuser regrets his wording:
When Bishop Scruton called Mr. Lewis on Monday, Mr. Lewis said he "regretted having used the word `harassment' in his e-mail," Bishop Scruton said. Mr. Lewis described two conversations with Bishop-elect Robinson at the conference, Bishop Scruton said. Mr. Lewis said the bishop-elect had touched him on the arm and upper back during the talks, which were in front of other people.Mr. Lewis said that the gestures struck him as too familiar and that they "made him feel uncomfortable," said Bishop Scruton. But he acknowledged that other people might view the exchange as normal and natural and told Bishop Scruton two times that he did not want to pursue the matter further, Bishop Scruton said.
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