Thread by @MBurtwrites

Glad to see this panel @The_ACNA

Cancel-culture efforts & demands for apologies leave me wondering: is the goal to get any initiative that tackles sexism/misogyny cancelled?

B/c if ppl can't even hear those words w/out melting down, it only shows how much we need this panel🧵

https://twitter.com/The_ACNA/status/2021657574085656966

Over the yrs, countless people have contacted Bp Dobbs about the online behavior of Fr. Matt Kennedy.

I myself have done it publicly in the past. ⬇️

And I'm doing it again today, b/c I hope the province won't bend to cancel culture. 2/

https://x.com/MBurtwrites/status/1575014413706219520?s=20

Fr. Matt & Rev. Anne have again taken on the role of self-appointed ideological judge & jury, demanding a public apology & calling for the entire discussion to be shut down.

This is the opposite of cultivating healthy communities, let alone allowing for critical thinking. 3/

This is the opposite of good faith discussion & debate.

I don't care if ppl like or don't like the book. Maybe it's terrible or good or (likely w/any book) a mix.

But the idea that Matt & Anne will determine what ppl in the @The_ACNA should read & discuss is a problem. 4/

Most if not all the ppl signing the cancel petition haven't read the book. But the fruit of following Matt is concluding: "disgusting," "horrifying," "apostasy" "C4S0 must go"...all b/c Matt & Anne didn't like it.

The online fruit is to argue about WO & stir the pot. 5/

For instance, Mark Marshall hastened to produce this acerbic piece, where he concludes he is most upset that the panel setting out to address sexism/misogyny in the church has failed to take into account the feelings of traditionalists & men. 6/

Mark feels so strongly about this, in fact, that he imitates Matt and Anne, suggesting that two bishops, the provincial office, and the entire ACNA "repent of this forum."

Look. In one sense, I know it's just social media. How many ppl are even aware of this? 7/

I recognize that online activity isn't representative of the whole & I hope the province does too.

But the longstanding knee-jerk reaction to the very mention of women's ordination in a province where the COB has *unanimously* agreed to diocesan sovereignty, is a problem. 8/

I don't know why Bp Dobbs, the acting Abp of @The_ACNA, seems fine w/ the clergy under his care in the @The_ADLW being known for online quarrelsomeness & FB groups that bite & devour ppl, but I have come to accept that he seems uninterested addressing it. 9/

He's not alone. Bps who take on episcopal authority & imagine they have the luxury to absent themselves from social media are part of the problem

I get that bishops are stretched too thin & many ppl don't want to engage this on socials. But this is where your ppl are. 10/

Reality is that any female clergy who show up in ACNA online spaces get bulldozed. I've witnessed it time and time again & most ppl understandably log off permanently.

It's a problem @The_ACNA, & not just for the women who must navigate that, but for the culture it reveals. 11/

In that sense, the crashouts, the petition, the scornful laughter, the outraged demands or apologies all perhaps only underscore how much we need panels like these.

I hope the @The_ACNA decision makers have eyes to see it. /end

Note: I directly called out 3 individuals in this 🧵, all public writers/teachers. I know all three agree w/me that public teaching/writing can & should be addressed publicly.

Even so, I wish I could tag them directly here as a courtesy, but they've all previously blocked me.

@threadreaderapp please unroll