Monday, November 20, 2006

Episcopalians' new poobah: Catholic = dumb****. Literally.

The money quotes from the New York Times Magazine piece:

How many members of the Episcopal Church are there in this country?

About 2.2 million. It used to be larger percentagewise, but Episcopalians tend to be better-educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than some other denominations. Roman Catholics and Mormons both have theological reasons for producing lots of children.

Episcopalians aren’t interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?

No. It’s probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion.

You’re actually Catholic by birth; your parents joined the Episcopal Church when you were 9. What led them to convert?

It was before Vatican II had any influence in local parishes, and I think my parents were looking for a place where wrestling with questions was encouraged rather than discouraged.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is an unfortunate but proven fact that as populations become more educated and more wealthy they produce fewer children. Most of the countries in Europe are now demonstrating this pattern by committing collective suicide through failure to reproduce. Episcopalians are the Americans most likely to keep pace with European trends.

Bp. Schori's recognition of these facts just shows she doesn't have her head in the sand. And her attempt to rationalize the disfunctional behavior of her flock is pretty much what one would expect of a weak, democratically elected leader.